Established in May 2006, the Federal Mentoring Council is a consortium of federal agencies that coordinates the development and implementation of federal policies and initiatives to ensure that America’s youth have the support and caring adult guidance they need to succeed in life.

The Council is chaired by the Corporation for National and Community Service and includes representatives of the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, and Labor. Through the Council, partner agencies share knowledge, experiences, strategies, evaluations, and research in order to strengthen federal support for mentoring and minimize duplication of efforts.

The Federal Mentoring Council is supported in its efforts by the National Mentoring Working Group, an advisory body made up of national, state, and local mentoring associations, as well as of foundations, academics, and other interested parties. The Council and National Mentoring Working Group hold joint public meetings each quarter, where innovative practices are presented and discussed and feedback is shared on concerns, successes, and relevant issues.

Learn who is involved and what they do in the Federal Mentoring Council and the Mentoring Working Group.

Resources

Impact Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Education’s Student Mentoring Program U.S. Department of Education, Institutes of Education Sciences
This report by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institutes of Education Sciences used an experimental design in which students were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group. Thirty-two purposively selected school mentoring programs and 2,573 students took part in the evaluation, which estimated the impact of the programs over one school year on a range of student outcomes. The evaluation also describes the characteristics of the programs and the mentors, and provides information about program delivery.

Federal Mentoring Council
The Council is chaired by the Corporation for National and Community Service and includes representatives from the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, and Labor. Through the Council, partner agencies share knowledge, experiences, strategies, evaluations, and research in order to strengthen federal support for mentoring and minimize duplication of efforts.

United We Serve
Provides basic information on mentoring, the Corporate Mentoring Challenge, and National Mentoring Month. In addition, provides information on how to become involved in mentoring.

Mentoring Children of Prisoners Program
Information on the background, purpose, services provided, and grant process is provided for the Mentoring Children of Prisoners grant program. This program awards grants to provide children and youth of incarcerated parents with caring adult mentors. Each mentoring program is designed to ensure that mentors provide young people with safe and trusting relationships; healthy messages about life and social behavior; appropriate guidance from a positive adult role model; and opportunities for increased participation in education, civic service, and community activities.

National Science Foundation Undergraduate Research and Mentoring in the Biological Sciences
The goal of the Undergraduate Research and Mentoring in the Biological Sciences (URM) program is to increase the number and diversity of individuals pursuing graduate studies in all areas of biological research supported by the NSF Directorate for Biological Sciences. Support will be provided to academic institutions to establish innovative programs to engage undergraduates in a year-round research and mentoring activity. Particular emphasis will be placed on broadening participation of members of groups historically underrepresented in science and engineering: African Americans, Alaska Natives, American Indians, Hispanic Americans, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, and persons with disabilities.

Office of Juvenile Justice and Youth Programs Mentoring Resources
Provides resources and information about mentoring and links to mentoring organizations.

Girls Health.gov
Provides brief descriptions on school- and community-based mentoring.

National Criminal Justice Reference Services(NCJRS): Special Feature on Mentoring
To mark the tenth year of National Mentoring Month in 2011, NCJRS provided a special feature on mentoring providing resources, funding opportunities, and related resources on mentoring.

Office of Disability Employment Policy: Career Focused Mentoring
Information is provided about mentoring, specifically career-focused mentoring.

Office of Disability Employment Policy: Cultivating Leadership
Information is provided on how mentoring can help to cultivate leadership skills. Different types of mentoring, characteristics of successful mentoring relationships, and the benefits of mentoring to both mentor and mentee are discussed.

Corporation for National & Community Service: National Mentoring Month
Provides information on National Mentoring Month which has occurred annually in January since 2002. Additional resources about mentoring and National Mentoring Month are available