[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 600 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 600
Recognizing January 2026 as ``National Mentoring Month''.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 5, 2026
Mr. Whitehouse (for himself, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Blunt
Rochester, Mr. Booker, Mr. Coons, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Durbin, Ms.
Hassan, Mr. Kaine, Mr. King, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Reed, Ms.
Rosen, Ms. Smith, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Lujan, Ms.
Cantwell, Mr. Ossoff, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Lankford, Ms. Collins, Mr.
Sullivan, Mr. Daines, Mr. Tillis, Mrs. Britt, Mr. Markey, and Ms.
Baldwin) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and
agreed to
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing January 2026 as ``National Mentoring Month''.
Whereas the goals of National Mentoring Month are to raise awareness and
celebrate the powerful impact of mentoring relationships, recruit new
mentors, and encourage institutions to integrate quality mentoring into
their policies, practices, and programs;
Whereas quality mentoring fosters positive life and social skills, promotes
self-esteem, bolsters academic achievement and college access, supports
career exploration, and nurtures youth leadership development;
Whereas mentoring happens in many settings, including community-based programs,
elementary and secondary schools, colleges, government agencies,
religious institutions, youth sports teams, and the workplace, and in
various ways, including formal mentoring matches and informal
relationships with teachers, coaches, neighbors, faith leaders, and
others;
Whereas effective mentoring of underserved and vulnerable populations helps
individuals confront challenges and display improved mental health and
social and emotional well-being;
Whereas studies have shown that incorporating culture and heritage into
mentoring programs can improve academic outcomes and increase community
engagement, especially for Alaska Native and American Indian youth;
Whereas mentoring encourages positive youth development and smart daily
behaviors, such as finishing homework and having healthy social
interactions, and has a positive impact on the growth and success of a
young person;
Whereas mentors help young people set career goals and can help connect mentees
to industry professionals to train for and find jobs;
Whereas mentoring programs generally have a significant, positive impact on
youth academic achievement, school connectedness and engagement, and
educational success, which lead to outcomes such as improved attendance,
grades and test scores, and classroom behavior;
Whereas research has found that young people facing risk of not completing high
school but who had a mentor were, compared with their peers, more likely
to enroll in college, to participate regularly in sports or
extracurricular activities, to hold a leadership position in a club or
sports team, and to volunteer regularly, and less likely to start using
drugs;
Whereas mentoring has long been a staple of juvenile justice and violence
prevention efforts and can offer comprehensive support to youth at risk
for committing violence or victimization, as mentoring can address many
risk factors at once;
Whereas mentoring relationships for youth facing risk, such as foster youth, can
have a positive impact on a wide range of factors, including mental
health, educational functioning and attainment, peer relationships,
employment, and housing stability;
Whereas mentoring programs have been found to have a meaningful positive impact
on mental health symptoms across a variety of outcomes, including
internalizing and externalizing mental health symptoms, interpersonal
relationships, and reducing parental stress;
Whereas mentoring is an innovative, evidence-based practice and, uniquely, is
both a prevention and intervention strategy that can support young
people of all demographics and backgrounds in all aspects of their
lives;
Whereas each of the benefits of mentors described in this preamble serves to
link youth to economic and social opportunity while also strengthening
communities in the United States;
Whereas, despite the benefits of mentoring, 40 percent of young persons in the
United States are growing up without a mentor, representing
approximately 1,800,000 youth who do not have someone outside of the
home to offer real life guidance and support;
Whereas this ``mentoring gap'' demonstrates the need for collaboration between
the private, public, and nonprofit sectors to increase resources for
relationship-centric supports for youth in communities, schools, and
workplaces; and
Whereas volunteer mentors report getting as much out of a mentoring relationship
as the young person, with 70 percent of mentors reporting finding the
relationship highly satisfying, 80 percent indicating they plan to
continue mentoring, and 76 percent recommending stepping up to be a
volunteer mentor to friends and family: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) recognizes January 2026 as ``National Mentoring
Month'';
(2) recognizes the caring adults who serve as staff and
volunteers at quality mentoring programs and help the young
people of the United States find inner strength and reach their
full potential;
(3) acknowledges that mentoring is beneficial because it
supports educational achievement, engagement, and self-
confidence, supports young people in setting career goals and
expanding social capital, reduces juvenile delinquency, and
strengthens communities;
(4) promotes the establishment and expansion of quality
mentoring programs across the United States to equip young
people with the tools needed to lead healthy and productive
lives; and
(5) supports initiatives to close the ``mentoring gap''
that exists for the many young people in the United States who
do not have meaningful connections with adults outside the
home.
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