The U.S. Department of Education Mentoring Program:
Helping Youth Get the Guidance and Support They Need
The Mentoring Programs discretionary grant competition makes awards to local educational agencies (LEAs) or non-profit community-based organizations (CBOs), or partnerships between the two to promote school-based mentoring programs for children with greatest need. These projects seek to assist children in receiving support and guidance from a mentor; improve their academic achievement; improve interpersonal relationships with their peers, teachers, other adults, and family members; reduce their rate of dropping out of school; and reduce levels of juvenile delinquency and involvement in gangs.
Projects must serve children with the greatest need in grades 4 – 8 that reside in rural or high crime areas or troubled environments, or who attend schools with violence problems. Applicants receiving awards under this program have developed projects that link children with mentors that will receive training and support in mentoring, have been screened using appropriate background checks, and are interested in working with children with greatest need.
Projects are designed to achieve one or more of the following goals: (1) assist these children in receiving support and guidance from a mentor; (2) improve the academic performance of the children; (3) improve interpersonal relationships between the children and their peers, teachers, other adults, and family members; (4) reduce the dropout rate of the children; and (5) reduce the children’s juvenile delinquency and involvement in gangs.
Since 2002, the Mentoring Programs initiative has funded over 300 mentoring programs around the country. You can learn more about the individual grantees by using the clickable map below.
All Grantees By State (2004, 2005 & 2007):
Grantee Locations, by Region:
- West Coast- Region 1
(Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming) - Midwest/South- Region 2
(Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin) - East Coast- Region 3
(Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington D.C., Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia) - Entire U.S. (including Alaska & Hawaii grantees)
United States Department of Education Contact Info:
Bryan Williams, bryan.williams@ed.gov
Earl Myers, earl.myers@ed.gov
Mentoring Programs Homepage on ED.gov.
(NOTE: all inquiries about the work of the MRC itself, should be directed to the MRC staff, not the U.S. Department of Education)