State

FY 2013 budget documents

• FY13 Mentoring Matching Grants line item budget request
• Mentoring Matching Grants line item historical funding chart
• Speaking points for Youth Mentoring Day legislative meetings
• FY11 Mentoring Matching Grants (7061-9634) summary report
• Mentoring Matching Grants line item training Power Point slides

Advocacy resources

• Introduction to advocacy and Massachusetts state government
• Communicating with public officials
• Tips for meeting with legislators
• Examples of programs engaging in youth advocacy

MMP is growing its corps of mentor advocates

MMP is working to expand its current group of mentor advocates, mentors from across Massachusetts who help us advocate for increased funding dedicated to mentoring programs and other policies that would benefit the mentoring field. We need your help: to assist MMP in recruiting more mentor advocates, please email this note to your mentors. For questions or concerns, email Elena Sokolow-Kaufman at eskaufman@massmentors.org.

Ready by 21 initiative

The Forum for Youth Investment facilitated a Ready by 21 discussion with the Massachusetts Action Planning Team, which is made up of over 100 members and was convened and supported by United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services.  Mass Mentoring Partnership served on the APT, along with stakeholders across sectors, disciplines, and agencies.

The APT held a series of ground-breaking conversations to define and advance a set of shared goals and strategies capable of lifting all children, youth and families toward self-sufficiency and success for life.  In June 2009, the APT submitted the plan "Ready for Lifelong Success: A Call for Collaborative Action On Behalf of Massachusetts’ Children and Youth" to Gov. Patrick and the Governor's Readiness Cabinet.

The Cabinet – chaired by the Secretaries of Education and Health and Human Services, and additionally consisting of the Secretaries of Labor and Workforce Development, Administration and Finance, Public Safety and Housing and Economic Development and the Child Advocate – was appreciative of the report, noting its value as a public/private collaboration, and endorsed the blueprint.  The Readiness Cabinet is now working to finalize its own agenda for youth based on the Success for Life framework.

In the coming months, work will be done with community leaders, service providers, funders, businesses and policy makers throughout the state to begin implementing the recommendations.  A sub-committee has formed within the APT and is focused on implementing mentoring as a strategy.  

Coalition seeks to improve academic outcomes for MA youth

Mass Mentoring is participating in the newly formed Social Innovation Coalition, a group of youth-serving organizations committed to improving academic outcomes for youth in MA.

The coalition has been in conversation with Secretary Reville about the potential to leverage current impactful work to more broadly improve the dropout rate, close achievement gaps, and address the need for quality, affordable early childhood education.

In response to the recently released report, "Making the Connection: Report of the Graduation and Dropout Prevention and Recovery Commission," Secretary Reville asked the coalition to inventory its resources and provide details of how it could collectively work to meet those challenges. On behalf of the mentoring field, MMP submitted a brief which includes the research-based connection between mentoring and educational outcomes, as well as examples of programs’ outcomes in these areas.

National

Child protection improvements act

Representatives Adam Schiff (D-CA), Mike Rogers (R-MI) and John Conyers (D-MI) introduced the Child Protection Improvements Act (H.R. 1360) in the House. Earlier this spring, Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced the bill in the Senate (S. 645). We need your help to pass this legislation and make the goals and ideals of the PROTECT Act Child Safety Pilot, SafetyNET permanent.

As many of you know, the SafetyNET program ended on March 31, 2011.There is now no real protection for the majority of youth-serving organizations.

Please click here to ask your Representative to cosponsor H.R. 1360 today. Please click here to ask your Senators to support S. 645 right away.

Visit MENTOR's site to learn more about the issue and what you can do.