Helping Jersey Kids Get The Mentoring They Need

Jersey’s senior U.S. Senator has introduced legislation today to provide mentoring services for at-risk youth in the Garden state and across the country.

The Juvenile Mentoring Program (JUMP) Act of 2012 would reauthorize the program originally created by Senator Lautenberg back in 1992 – when it became the first ever federal initiative to provide mentoring services for at-risk youngsters.

“Mentoring changes lives, it brings people together” says Lautenberg, “and it ensures that young people realize their highest potential - this bill would continue the federal government's commitment to successful programs that help young people make the right choices to stay in school and stay out of trouble.  An investment in mentoring is an investment in the future.”  

The JUMP Act of 2012 would authorize100 million dollars a year for Department of Justice youth mentoring grants. The funding would be available to national, regional, and local non-profit organizations for mentoring programs geared towards at-risk children, and priority would be given to programs that serve youth living in high crime and low-income areas, or serve at-risk children of members of the military.  

Studies show more than 17 million young people in the United States could benefit from mentoring, but fewer than three million of these children are currently matched with a mentor. 

The legislation is co-sponsored by Jersey U.S. Senator Bob Menendez.