Save Federal Funding for Mentoring

Legislative Goal:

To overcome a proposed 50% cut in funding for mentoring, and encourage Congress to support $100 million in funding for mentoring in FY2008.

Latest Action:

June 27, 2008: Both the House and Senate Appropriations committees have moved forward on the annual federal funding for mentoring through the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill. Both the House and Senate bills recommend level funding for the US Department of Education’s Mentoring Programs grants and HHS’ Mentoring Children of Prisoners program, for a total of nearly $100 million in funding. In addition, the funding bill for the US Department of Justice included $80 million in funding for youth mentoring grants. These bills must still be taken up by the full House and Senate. It’s unlikely, though, that these bills will be passed until after the Presidential election as the White House and Congress are unable to come to agreement on overall spending levels.

May 12, 2008: MENTOR continues to work to sustain mentoring funding at $100 million for FY2009. Currently, Appropriations Subcommittees in both bodies of Congress continue to hold hearings and review the President’s budget before drafting their own FY09 Appropriations bills. We will keep you posted on the progress of mentoring funding.

March 13, 2008 - Senators Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) are circulating a letter to the appropriators in support of restoring federal mentoring funding to $100 million for FY2009. Please contact your Senators TODAY to ask them to sign on to this important letter. An easy-to-send letter is available at http://capwiz.com/mentor/issues/alert/?alertid=11146551.

Representatives Susan Davis (D-CA) and Ric Keller (R-FL) took the lead on a similar letter in the US House, and secured 27 signatures from their colleagues in support of mentoring funding.

In another development on mentoring funding, MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership was selected to give testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, and Education. On March 13, MENTOR testified about the impact that the President's proposed budget cuts would have on mentoring and encouraged the Appropriations Committee to provide $100 million in funding.

February 8, 2008 - Earlier this week, the President released his proposed FY2009 budget. This is the first step in the annual appropriations process that will determine funding levels for all federal agencies and programs. Unfortunately, the President's budget recommends major cuts to mentoring funding. Specifically:

The budget recommends eliminating the Mentoring Programs grants within the US Department of Education, a proposed cut of $50 million. This is the third year in row that this program has been slated for major cuts or elimination. Fortunately, Congress has thus far continued to restore the program's funding.

The budget does preserve funding for the US Department of Health and Human Services' Mentoring for Children of Prisoners program, and recommends a small increase that restores minor cuts during the last few appropriations cycles. This increase would bring the program's funding level back to $50 million funding.

The budget also recommends eliminating a new $70 million pot of funding for youth mentoring within the Department of Justice (see the last news item, Forecast of 2008 Funding Opportunities for more detail on this funding stream.)

These cuts, which represent over $100 million in federal funding for mentoring, would result in fewer mentoring programs and less mentors for America's young people. Over the next several months, Congress will hold hearings in the Appropriations Committee and work on developing their recommendations for funding levels. MENTOR will be working closely with leaders and grassroots supporters in the mentoring field to make the case for continuing the federal government's investment in mentoring.

We will be asking for your help over the coming year to let your Members of Congress know how important these federal grant programs are to the mentoring field. Stay tuned to the Mentoring Advocacy Network for more information.

Summary of the Issue:

In FY2008, important work was required to secure $100 million in mentoring funding. The President’s proposed FY2008 budget affirmed support for the Mentoring Children of Prisoners grant program in the Department of Health and Human Services by requesting $50 million for that program. However, the budget request also, for the first time, proposed zero funding for the Education Department’s Mentoring Programs grants.

After numerous Capitol Hill visits and communications by MENTOR and our online advocacy network, our efforts paid off in the inclusion of the $100 million in the FY2008 omnibus appropriations package – nearly $50 million each for the HHS and ED mentoring grant programs. We will persist in our efforts to continue this important funding in FY2009 and beyond.

The following bullets summarize what happened in the FY2008 appropriations process:

ED has held a grant competition for the FY2007 funds, for a total of $30 million. As these are three-year grants, it necessitates keeping Mentoring Programs grants past FY2008.
Both the House and Senate budget resolutions allow for increased funding in the Department of Education, giving appropriators more leeway to continue funding programs that have been proposed for elimination.
Both Chairman Harkin (IA) and Ranking Member Specter (PA) have expressed their support in the past for funding mentoring. And, throughout the spring, Senator Specter held hearings in Pennsylvania touting mentoring as a solution to youth violence. In addition, at an appropriations hearing on March 14, Specter cautioned Secretary Spellings of ED about eliminating funding for Mentoring Programs, and said that Congress would find a way to fund programs like these.
Senators Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) spearheaded an appropriations letter asking for $100 million in funding for mentoring. Twenty-six Senators in all, representing both Democrats and Republicans, signed on to the letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee. Hundreds of grassroots mentoring advocates helped make this happen.
MENTOR conducted dozens of meetings with House and Senate Members who sit on the Appropriations Committee to ask for their support of the $100 million. We received positive feedback from a large number of members, Democrats and Republicans alike.
The House of Representatives passed its version of the Labor-HHS appropriations bill on July 19, 2007. It included the $100 million for mentoring.
The Senate passed its version of the Labor-HHS appropriations bill on October 23, 2007. It also included the $100 million for mentoring.
The House and Senate negotiated a conference agreement, which incorporates provisions from the different House and Senate funding levels and provisions, which was sent to the President on November 8, 2007.
On November 13, 2007, the President vetoed the bill as it exceeds his budget request by $9.8 billion. As the House failed to override the veto, Congress must now develop a new version of the bill and pass it before sending it back to the President.

In the end, Congress and the White House went back to the drawing board after the President’s veto of the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill and packaged an FY2008 omnibus appropriations bill that funds most of the functions and programs of the federal government. The great news is, despite a 1.747% funding cut, the package contains the $100 million for mentoring – nearly $50 million for the Mentoring Children of Prisoners program at the Department of Health and Human Services and the restoration of almost $50 million for the Department of Education’s Mentoring Programs grants.

The Senate passed the omnibus appropriations bill on December 18th and the House followed suit on December 19th. We count this as a tremendous victory for mentoring advocacy and would like to thank all of you for your diligent efforts in contacting your Members of Congress and the President throughout the year. It was so critical to remind them that there are many in this country who care about preserving federal mentoring funds that will benefit young people across the country. By continuing to be a voice for mentoring with your elected officials, you helped made another year of $100 million for mentoring possible.

In addition, MENTOR is also working on the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, which is how Mentoring Programs grants were created. ED has proposed consolidating a number of programs, including Mentoring Programs grants, into one large fund. MENTOR is advocating that Congress maintain the Mentoring Programs grants as a stand-alone program, and make revisions to the law that would strengthen it. For more information on this effort, please visit our NCLB page.

Take Action - Funding

Save Federal Funding for Mentoring

Legislative Goal:

Latest Action:

Summary of the Issue: