[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 6 (Tuesday, January 10, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2573-2574]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-532]
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CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE
AmeriCorps State and Direct Grant Program, Learn and Serve
America K-12 Grant Program, and Learn and Serve America Higher Ed Grant
Program 1995 Policies and Preferences
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Corporation for National and Community Service (the
Corporation) in the Federal Register of October 27, 1994 (59 FR 53963)
proposed changes and invited comments with regard to three of its main
programs: AmeriCorps*USA, Learn & Serve America K-12, and Learn & Serve
America Higher Education. The Corporation is now proposing additional
policy changes and program preferences for funding for these three
programs. This notice addresses previously established rules concerning
the percentage of time a program must commit to direct service activity
and a new policy issue focusing on fee-for-service. Moreover, the
Corporation has decided to give special consideration for programs that
have received funding from the Corporation in the past. The Corporation
invites all interested parties to comment on the issues discussed in
this notice. Any comments received will be given careful consideration
in the development of final FY 1995 policies and grant applications.
DATES: Comments on the Corporation's proposal for Direct Service Time
and Special Consideration for Past Corporation Funded Programs must be
received no later than January 25, 1995. Comments specifically
addressing the Corporation's proposal for Fee-for-service must be
received no later than March 13, 1995.
ADDRESSES: Responses to this notice may be mailed to Ethan Kline of the
Office of General Counsel, Corporation for National Service, 1201 New
York Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20525.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ethan Kline at (202) 606-5000 x. 467
between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. For
individuals with disabilities, information will be made available in
alternative formats, upon request.
I. Policies and Guidelines
A. Direct Service Time
The Corporation's position has been that in order for programs to
have direct and demonstrable results in communities, at least 80% of
each AmeriCorps Members required 1700 hours of service (1360 hours)
must be spent in direct service activities, with no more than 20% of
the required service time (340 hours) spent in training, education, and
other non-direct service activities. In general, eligible direct
service activities are those service activities that directly relate to
a programs Community Service Objectives and may include on-site
training, specific instructions related to a service project,
developing relevant lesson plans, and imparting specific knowledge
through workshops and presentations. Eligible non-direct service
activities, including training and education, are those that relate to
the fulfillment of a program's Community Building and Participant
Development Objectives, and may include meeting with a community-based
organization in order to develop a relationship with that organization
or having Members attend GED preparation classes.
The Corporation now proposes to refine this policy and apply the
``80/20'' Rule to the general design of the AmeriCorps program, not to
each individual Member. This change allows for variances among the
individual Members (some of whom will spend more time performing direct
service while others will spend more time in education, training, or
other non-direct service activities) and for variances throughout the
course of the year (a program may choose to spend more time in training
sessions at the beginning of the year rather than at the end of the
year). The 80/20 Rule will apply only to the required minimum of 1700
hours, [[Page 2574]] and if a program exceeds 1700 hours, the extra
hours will not fall under these guidelines. For example, if a program
is designed so that Members complete an average of 1900 hours of
service, an average of 1360 of those hours must be spent in direct
service and 540 hours may be spent on eligible non-direct service
activities such as training and education.
B. Fee-for-Service Definition
The Corporation recognizes that fee-for-service is a term that
changes within the specific context of a program. Therefore, for
purposes of discussion and potential future policy guidance, the
Corporation defines Fee-for-service as specific time-limited activities
undertaken by an AmeriCorps program for which the program charges the
organization for which the activity is undertaken. This could result
from a bid the AmeriCorps program placed in an RFP process or a
cooperative agreement with other agencies. Typically, the agreement or
contract specifies a scope of work and the fee to be charged for the
activity.
For future policy guidance, the Corporation is considering setting
quality parameters relative to fee-for-service activities and limiting
the scope of fee-for-service work that can be applied to the state and
local match requirements of AmeriCorps. This would not limit the fee-
for-service activity a program could accomplish with participants other
than AmeriCorps Members.
Possible ways of limiting fee-for-service activity could include:
restrictions on the percentage of the total budget or the total non-
Corporation budget that may be derived from fees for service;
restrictions on the abilities of programs to conduct fee-for-service
projects using Corporation support or to count fee-for-service
activities toward required service hours; and restrictions on the
project selection process (e.g. require programs to demonstrate that
the availability of fees did not enter into the project selection
process).
II. Special Consideration for Past Corporation Funded Programs
The following programs were funded previously by the Corporation,
but due to regulatory changes they are no longer eligible to apply
directly to the Corporation and thus they might elect to apply through
the state process. Because their current funding is based upon
priorities established for the 1994 grant cycle, they may apply under
either 1994 priorities or the new 1995 priorities, but they are
encouraged to use those for 1995. These programs will apply to the
state using the application instructions for new programs. If these
programs meet quality standards, they will receive preference over
other new program applications in the Corporation selection process:
A. Defense Conversion Assistance programs.
B. Summer of Safety Continuation Programs.
C. Subtitle D programs originally funded for two year grants under
the National and Community Service Act of 1990. These programs did not
compete under the 1994 funding cycle.
D. Subtitle H Programs of the National and Community Service Act of
1993 renewed from Subtitle E, which were programs under the National
and Community Service Act of 1990.
Dated: January 4, 1995
Terry Russell,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 95-532 Filed 1-9-95; 8:45 am]
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