“Dear Colleague” Letter Calls for Investment in Youth Mentoring

Abbie Evans, Director of Government Relations, MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership

This week, Representative Frederica Wilson (FL-24) launched an effort in the U.S. House of Representatives to support investments in quality youth mentoring. She circulated a “Dear Colleague” letter  asking her House colleagues to join her in writing Rep. John Culberson (TX-7),who chairs the committee that makes decisions about funding for mentoring, and advocating for his continued support of investments in the youth mentoring program grant. A strong bipartisan list of signatories on Rep. Wilson’s letter will send an important signal to Chairman Culberson and the other committee members that this is a critical program.

Included among the 11 appropriations subcommittees in Congress is the Commerce, Justice, Science committee, which is responsible for funding the Departments of Commerce, Justice (DOJ) and the various science-related agencies (such as NASA) in the federal government. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) falls within the Department of Justice which manages the youth mentoring program grant. As a result, the Commerce, Justice, Science subcommittee, or CJS, is critical to our efforts to increase funding for the OJJDP program now and in the future.

Take action now! Please contact your Representative now and ask them to sign Representative Wilson’s Dear Colleague letter to CJS. By sending a message on the importance of youth mentoring funding, you will help us make an impact.