STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5140
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 4, 2015
___________
Introduced by Sen. HAMILTON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing a mentor
for youth program within the department of education
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 141 to
2 read as follows:
3 § 141. Mentor for youth program. 1. There is hereby established within
4 the department a mentor for youth program. The focus and goal of such
5 program shall be preventing violence and decreasing the dropout rate
6 among male and female middle school and high school students. Such
7 program shall emphasize proven core values to facilitate its goals. Such
8 core values shall include, but not be limited to, integrity, account-
9 ability, self-determination, the positive expression and management of
10 anger, visionary goal setting and respect for others. Such program shall
11 be administered in school districts throughout the state that the
12 commissioner determines have a significant number of students at high
13 risk to engage in violent acts or drop out of school. In the development
14 and implementation of such program, the department shall, in consulta-
15 tion with the office of children and family services and any other agen-
16 cy of the state the department deems necessary, incorporate nontradi-
17 tional and state-of-the-art teaching and mentoring methods that have
18 proven effective in positively influencing such at-risk students. In
19 addition, such program shall incorporate the use of sports, recreational
20 activities and the fine arts to the extent that such disciplines are
21 deemed necessary in achieving the goals of such program.
22 2. The commission shall report to the governor and the legislature
23 three years and five years after the effective date of this section
24 setting forth the impact such mentor for youth program has had on such
25 high-risk students.
26 3. The commissioner shall promulgate such rules and regulations as are
27 necessary to implement the provisions of this section.
28 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10573-01-5
