Bush touts program for mentoring kids of prisoners

WASHINGTON — Taking time to highlight some of his presidential initiatives before he leaves the White House, President George W. Bush is recognizing a program in North Carolina that mentors the children of prisoners so they don't wind up on the wrong side of the law too.

In a trip to Greenboro, N.C., on Tuesday, Bush will participate in a round-table discussion with children and their mentors at Youth Focus Inc., a nonprofit agency that has worked with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Greensboro to match 220 children of prisoners with adult mentors.

Youth Focus received grants in 2004 and 2007 from the President's Mentoring Children of Prisoners Initiative, which Bush set up to work with faith-based and community organizations. Since it was announced in the 2003 State of the Union address, the initiative has exceeded its goal of matching more than 110,800 children with mentors. The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded more than $175 million in grants to 320 organizations in all 50 states, the District of Colombia and Puerto Rico.

On Monday, World AIDS Day, Bush championed his anti-AIDS initiative, which has already met its goal of treating 2 million people in sub-Saharan Africa in five years — up from 50,000 before it began. And in the coming weeks, he is expected to reflect on the No Child Left Behind Act, an education initiative from his first term, and the controversial troop build up that helped shore up security in Iraq. All that follows Bush speeches in which he has defended his record on such issues as helping veterans, promoting volunteerism, leaving his imprint of conservative judicial philosophy on the Supreme Court and standing by free trade even in tough economic times.

(This version CORRECTS event to 11:20 a.m. EST, instead of EDT.)

___