[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 243 (Friday, December 18, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70113-70116]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-33535]


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CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE


Notice of availability of funds to support AmeriCorps Promise 
Fellowships in support of the goals of the Presidents' Summit in North 
Dakota and South Dakota

AGENCY: Corporation for National and Community Service.

ACTION: Notice of availability of funds.

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SUMMARY: Earlier this year, the Corporation for National and Community 
Service (the Corporation) selected organizations to sponsor AmeriCorps 
Promise Fellows in support of the five goals for children and youth set 
at the Presidents' Summit for America's Future. We do not expect that 
process to result in Fellows being placed in North Dakota and South 
Dakota. By this announcement, the Corporation announces its intent to 
use up to approximately $130,000 to award grants to nonprofit 
organizations local governments, or state governments to sponsor 
AmeriCorps Promise Fellows in North Dakota and South Dakota. These 
Fellows will spend one year serving with organizations that are 
committed to helping to meet one or more of the five goals of the 
Presidents' Summit. Each Fellow will receive a living allowance of 
$13,000 for a 12-month term of service and, upon successful completion 
of a term, will receive a $4,725 AmeriCorps education award.

    Last year at Philadelphia, President Clinton, former Presidents 
Bush, Carter, and Ford, Mrs. Nancy Reagan, and General Colin Powell, 
with the endorsement of many governors, mayors and leaders of the 
independent sector, declared: ``We have a special obligation to 
America's children to see that all young Americans have:
    1. Caring adults in their lives, as parents, mentors, tutors, 
coaches;
    2. Safe places with structured activities in which to learn and 
grow;
    3. A health start and healthy future;
    4. An effective education that equips them with marketable skills; 
and
    5. An opportunity to give back to their communities through their 
own service.''

These five goals are now the five fundamental resources sought by 
America's Promise--The Alliance for Youth, the organization following 
up on the goals of the Presidents' Summit.
    As a major partner in this effort, the Corporation devotes a 
substantial part of its activities to help meet these goals, including 
the work of AmeriCorps, Learn and Serve America, and the National 
Senior Service Corps. This new Fellowship program will provide States 
and local communities with additional and unique support to help carry 
out their plans to provide States and local communities with additional 
and unique support to help carry out their plans to provide America's 
children with these five fundamental resources.

DATES: All sponsor proposals must be submitted by January 19, 1999. The

[[Page 70114]]

Corporation anticipates announcing selections under this announcement 
no later than February 16, 1999. The project period is negotiable, but 
will generally end no later than March 31, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Proposals to sponsor one or more Fellows must be submitted 
to the Corporation at the following address: Corporation for National 
Service, Attn: H.B. Hicks, 1201 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC 
20525.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, or to obtain 
a sponsor application, contact the Corporation for National Service, 
H.B. Hicks at (202) 606-5000, ext. 564. T.D.D. (202) 565-2799. This 
notice may be requested in an alternative format for the visually 
impaired.

SUPPLEMENARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Corporation is a federal government corporation that encourages 
Americans of all ages and backgrounds to engage in community-based 
service. This service address the nation's educational, public safety, 
environmental and other human needs to achieve direct and demonstrable 
results. In doing so, the Corporation fosters civic responsibility, 
strengths the ties that bind us together as a people, and provides 
educational opportunity for those who make a substantial commitment to 
service. For more information about the Corporation and the activities 
that it supports, go to http://www.nationalservice.org.
    Pursuant to the National and Community Service Act of 1990, as 
amended (the Act), the Corporation may support ``innovative and model 
programs'' and may award national service fellowships. 42 U.S.C. 
12653b. In addition, the Corporation may approve the provision of 
education awards to individuals who successfully complete a term of 
service in ``national service positions as the Corporation determines 
to be appropriate''. 42 U.S.C. 12573(7).
    Through this notice, the Corporation invites grant proposals from 
eligible entities in North Dakota and South Dakota that wish to sponsor 
one or more AmeriCorps Promise Fellows.

Eligible sponsors

    The following entities in North Dakota and South Dakota are 
eligible to apply to become a sponsor; nonprofit organizations, local 
governments, state governments.

Substance of the Fellowship Program

    An AmericCorps Promise Fellowship provides the Fellow with an 
opportunity to make a unique contribution to organizations helping to 
meet one or more of the five fundamental needs declared at the 
Presidents' Summit and being advanced by America's Promise--The 
Alliance for Youth; national, state, and local nonprofit organizations; 
and the national service network. For more information about the five 
goals of the Presidents' Summit, go to http://www.americaspromise.org.
    Although AmeriCorps Promise Fellows may be placed by a sponsor at a 
host organization that focuses its resources on only one of the goals 
of the Presidents' Summit, the host organization must be part of a 
larger effort (e.g., Community of Promise) that supports the delivery 
of all of the five fundamental resources to children and young people.
    Eligible sponsor applicants have considerable freedom to identify 
the structure of their Fellowship program and the projects or 
activities that AmeriCorps Promise Fellows will pursue. The most 
important considerations in establishing a program are that the 
prospective Fellows help meet the goals of the Presidents' Summit and 
that they have the ability to produce a defined outcome. The following 
are examples of specific tasks that Fellows may perform; these tasks 
are included here for illustrative purposes:
     A full-time coordinator for a Community of Promise 
campaign providing a targeted number of young people with all or 
several of the America's Promise fundamental resources.
     A full-time coordinator of individual or multiple sites, 
such as schools and housing complexes, that provide access to multiple 
or all five fundamental resources.
     An entrepreneur initiating a program to provide multiple 
resources to targeted young people, for example, adding a service 
component and access to dental care to an existing after-school 
tutoring program.
     A recruiter of Communities of Promise.
     A recruiter and manager of volunteers in a local or 
regional effort providing all or multiple resources to a number of 
young people.
    The following are examples of organizational activities that could 
be supported by Fellows as part of an effort to provide the five 
fundamental resources to children and youth. They are included here for 
illustrative purposes only:
     Expansion of Volunteer Center activities to promote the 
goals of the Presidents' Summit.
     State Education Agency efforts to stimulate service-
learning opportunities by K-12 students.
     Community and school efforts to provide after-school 
programs in safe places.
     Youth leadership to stimulate service and service-learning 
by inner-city youth.
     Support to community volunteer and Federal-Work-Study 
efforts to promote literacy.
     Immunization efforts aimed at young children and their 
families.
     Efforts to secure access to health care providers and 
facilities.
     Mentoring programs linking adults with youth in need of 
additional support.
     Recruitment of placement of Federal-Work-Study students 
for community service.
     New models for involving professions in organizing to meet 
the goals of the Presidents' Summit, e.g., health care professionals, 
librarians, museum administrators, and teachers.
     Efforts to stimulate service by diverse groups to meet the 
Presidents' Summit's goals, including diverse ethnic, religious, 
racial, and cultural groups.
    A sponsor may determine its own process to identify projects and 
programs in which AmeriCorps Promise Fellows will serve, and may either 
participate directly in the recruitment and selection of individual 
AmeriCorps Promise Fellows or delegate that responsibility to local 
programs or another entity (e.g., a university). One model a sponsor 
may consider is first to identify organizations where Fellows may 
serve, establish that the activities of those organizations meet the 
criteria for the AmeriCorps Promise Fellowship program and then simply 
publicize a list of eligible host organizations for individuals 
interested in pursuing a Fellowship.
    Fellows will be viewed as leaders in the efforts to implement the 
goals of the Presidents' Summit, and as a group will have an identity 
tied to this overall effort, including opportunities to meet and to 
assess the overall impact of their efforts. Although no particular 
academic credentials or work experience are required to become a 
Fellow, confidence in the ability of applicants to produce outcomes in 
support of the goals of the Presidents' Summit, such as the 
implementation of commitments made at the Presidents' Summit and 
follow-up

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state and local summits, is the central criterion for selection. This 
is evidenced by: strong academic credentials; substantial and 
successful work experience in a field related to the organization's 
activities; and experience performing significant service related 
activities, particularly various national service leaders' programs, 
including AmeriCorps leaders, AmeriCorps*VISTA leaders, 
AmeriCorps*National Civilian Community Corps leaders, and leadership 
activities in programs sponsored by Learn and Serve America and the 
National Senior Service Corps. Each sponsor may adapt the above 
concepts to meet its specific needs.
    An AmeriCorps Promise Fellow must: (1) Be at least 17 years of age; 
(2) be a U.S. citizen, national, or lawful permanent resident alien; 
and (3) have a high school diploma or GED. Individuals who have already 
served in two approved national service positions (a position for which 
an educational award is provided) are, by statute, not eligible for a 
third education award.
    Fellowships are expected to be for at least 10 months and must be 
completed within 12 months. To quality for an education award of 
$4,725, a Fellow must serve on a full-time basis, perform at least 
1,700 hours of service, and successfully complete the Fellowship.
    Fellows who serve for twelve months receive a living allowance of 
$13,000, paid in regular increments. Fellows who serve fewer than 
twelve months receive a prorated living allowance. Fellows may receive 
a living allowance greater than $13,000 only if they are part of a 
professional corps and are supported entirely by public or private 
organizations (e.g., Fellows on paid sabbaticals), with the 
Corporation's support limited to the provision of education awards.

Sponsor's Role

    Each sponsor determines the process for the recruitment and 
selection of AmeriCorps Promise Fellows in its respective area. The 
sponsor must certify that the organization in which the Fellow is being 
placed is conducting activities that contribute to one or more of the 
five goals of the Presidents' Summit, and that this is part of a larger 
effort to provide all five of the fundamental resources to children and 
youth.
    The Corporation anticipates that host organizations generally will 
be local nonprofit organizations that are engaged in activities in 
support of the goals of the Presidents' Summit.
    Sponsors are responsible for ensuring compliance with required 
elements of the Fellowship program. These requirements, which will be 
individually described in the grant agreement between the Corporation 
and the sponsor, include, but are not limited to, the following:
     Providing office space, supplies, and equipment
     Providing a living allowance
     Paying and withholding FICA taxes
     Withholding income taxes
     Providing unemployment insurance if required by State law
     Providing workers' compensation if required by State law 
or obtaining insurance to cover service-related injuries
     Providing liability insurance to cover claims relating to 
Fellows
     Providing adequate training and supervision
     Ensuring that Fellows not engage in prohibited activities 
(such as lobbying)
     Complying with statutory prohibitions on uses of 
assistance (such as displacement, discrimination)
     Providing a grievance procedure that meets statutory 
standards
     Verifying and submitting timely documentation relating to 
each Fellow's eligibility for an education award
     Providing an adequate financial management system
     Complying with other reporting requirements.

Contents of the Sponsor Application

    Sponsor applications must contain the following information:
    1. Background concerning the applicant's current efforts to achieve 
the goals of the Presidents' Summit.
    2. A designation of the organizations where the Fellows will be 
assigned, including the process used to select host organizations and 
background concerning the selected organizations and the roles they are 
playing in local summit follow-up. If the organizations are not yet 
designated, the application should describe the process that the 
sponsor will use to designate such entities.
    3. A description of the activities that the Fellows will perform, 
including an indication about how the activities will support 
significant growth and/or improvements in the quality of efforts to 
meet the five goals of the Presidents' Summit.
    4. An estimated budget to carry out the program, consistent with 
the description below.
    The application may not exceed 21 double-spaced pages in length; 
more detailed instructions concerning the contents of the application 
are contained in the application package.

Budget and Finances

    The Corporation will issue grants on a fixed amount per Fellow 
basis, not to exceed $13,000. These amounts exclude the education 
award. The sponsor assumes full financial responsibility for the 
program. Sponsors must provide the additional financial support 
necessary to carry out their proposed Fellowship program. To the extent 
that a sponsor provides a significant portion of the costs such that it 
notably reduces the Corporation's funding per Fellowship, additional 
Fellowships may be supported. The Corporation strongly encourages cost-
sharing proposals, consistent with the guidelines in this Notice, to 
leverage Corporation resources and maximize the number of Fellows.
    For the Fellows program, the Corporation is implementing a fixed 
price award mechanism that does not require Corporation monitoring of 
actual costs incurred or compliance by the grantee with the Federal 
Cost Principles. The award will be dependent on the grantee's 
acceptance of its terms and conditions, including recruiting, placing, 
and retaining the number of Fellows specified in the award to carry out 
the activities and to achieve the specific project objectives as 
approved by the Corporation.
    In addition to the approved grant amount, the Corporation will 
provide an education award to Fellows who successfully complete their 
term of service. The Corporation expects to sponsor national training 
events to provide Fellows with an opportunity to come together to 
assess national progress in meeting the goals of the President's 
Summit. The Corporation will also promote the availability of these 
Fellowships.
    The Corporation anticipates that these grants will be renewable for 
up to a three-year period, subject to performance and the availability 
of appropriations.

Process for selecting sponsors

    In selecting sponsors, the Corporation will consider: program 
design (60%), including (in order of importance) getting things done to 
help achieve the five goals of the Presidents' Summit, fostering the 
skills and leadership development of Fellows, and strengthening 
communities; organizational capacity (25%); and budget/cost 
effectiveness (15%). The Corporation will make all final decisions 
concerning approval of these grants for Fellowships. Given the 
Corporation's interest in having the common elements for the 
Fellowships

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that are described above, the Corporation announces its intent to enter 
into such negotiations with any sponsor in a manner that may require 
revisions to the original grant proposal.

    Dated: December 15, 1998.
Kenneth L. Klothen,
General Counsel, Corporation for National and Community Service.
[FR Doc. 98-33535 Filed 12-17-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6050-28-M