H.R. 811 — Mentoring to Succeed Act of 2025

This section establishes a youth mentoring grant program under subtitle D of title I of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) by inserting new section 172 (redesignating current section 172 as 173), authorizing the Secretary of Labor to award competitive grants to eligible entities—community-based organizations or covered partnerships (i.e., with industry or sector partnerships, local educational agencies, public entities, or private employers)—to establish, expand, or support mentoring programs for eligible youth. Eligible youth include in-school youth, out-of-school youth per WIOA section 129(a), and modified categories such as secondary school students at academic risk or with adverse experiences (e.g., gang involvement, parental incarceration, or substance use disorder); mentoring entails structured one-on-one, group, or peer activities lasting at least one year to promote educational and workforce success, social skills, and risk reduction, often paired with youth workforce readiness programming (e.g., job training, apprenticeships). Covered institutions of higher education eligible to issue credentials under the program are institutions of higher education, as defined in the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1001), or postsecondary vocational institutions (20 U.S.C. 1002(c)).

This section directs the Secretary of Labor, acting through the Chief Evaluation Officer of the Department of Labor, to conduct a study on mentoring programs that (1) identifies successful mentoring programs and evidence-based strategies for administering and monitoring such programs; (2) evaluates the role of mentors in promoting cognitive development and social-emotional learning to enhance academic achievement and improve workforce readiness; and (3) evaluates the effectiveness of the grant program under section 172 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)—as added by section 2 of this Act—on student academic outcomes and youth career development. The Secretary must submit the study results to the appropriate congressional committees not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act.