[United States Government Manual]
[May 31, 1996]
[Pages 496-501]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE
1201 New York Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20525
Phone, 202-606-5000
Board of Directors:
Chair Reatha Clark King,
Acting
Members Thomas Ehrlich,
Christopher
Gallagher, Carol
Kinsley, Leslie
Lenkowsky, Arthur
Naparstek, Bob
Rogers, John
Rother, Eli Segal,
(6 vacancies)
Members (ex officio)
(Secretary of Agriculture) Dan Glickman
(Secretary of Defense) William Perry
(Secretary of Education) Richard W. Riley
(Secretary of Health and Human Donna E. Shalala
Services)
(Secretary of Housing and Urban Henry G. Cisneros
Development)
(Secretary of the Interior) Bruce Babbitt
(Secretary of Labor) Robert B. Reich
(Attorney General) Janet Reno
(Director, Peace Corps) Mark Gearan
(Administrator, Environmental Carol M. Browner
Protection Agency)
(Chief Executive Officer, Harris Wofford
Corporation for National and
Community Service)
Staff:
Chief Executive Officer Harris Wofford
Executive Director Shirley Sagawa
Deputy Executive Director Tracy Gray
Director, AmeriCorps*VISTA, James Scheibel
National Senior Service
Corps, and Hope VI
Director, National Civilian Donald Scott
Community Corps
Director, Corporation Field Malcolm Coles
Operations
Director, Learn and Serve America Susan Stroud
Director, AmeriCorps*State and Diana Algra
National
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Director, AmeriCorps Leaders Meri Ames
Program
General Counsel Terry Russell
Inspector General Luise Jordan
Director, Congressional and Intergovernmental Gene Sofer
Affairs
Director, Public Affairs Jay Toscano
Director, Public Liaison Melinda Hudson
Chief Financial Officer Gary Kowalczyk
Comptroller David Spevacek
Chief Operating Officer Larry Wilson
Director, Personnel Phyllis Beaulieu
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The Corporation for National and Community Service engages Americans of
all backgrounds in community-based service. This service addresses the
Nation's educational, public safety, human, and environmental needs to
achieve direct and demonstrable results. In doing so, the Corporation
fosters civic responsibility, strengthens the ties that bind us together
as a people, and provides educational opportunity for those who make a
substantial service contribution.
The Corporation for National and Community Service (Corporation) was
established by the National and Community Service Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C.
12651 et seq.). The Corporation assumed the programs and authorities of
the Commission on National and Community Service and effective April 1,
1994, incorporated programs previously administered by ACTION under
authority of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, as amended (42
U.S.C. 4950). Both ACTION and the Commission for National and Community
Service were abolished as Federal agencies
The Corporation is a Federal corporation and is governed by a 15-
member bipartisan Board of Directors, appointed by the President with
the advice and consent of the Senate. Each member serves a 5-year term.
The membership of the Board is diverse according to race, ethnicity,
age, gender, and disability characteristics. The Secretaries of
Agriculture, Defense, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and
Urban Development, Interior, and Labor; the Attorney General, the
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, the Peace Corps Director,
and the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation serve as ex-officio
members of the Board. The Board has overall policy direction over the
Corporation's activities and has the power to make all final grant
decisions, approve the strategic plan and annual budget, and advise and
make recommendations to the President and the Congress regarding changes
in the national service laws.
Programs and Activities
The Corporation serves its mission through three major program areas:
AmeriCorps
AmeriCorps is the Nation's national service initiative that engages
thousands of Americans of all ages and backgrounds in solving the most
pressing community and national problems. AmeriCorps members get things
done by providing service to meet educational, public safety, human, and
environmental needs. In exchange for 1 or 2 years of service, members
will receive service education awards of up to $4,725 per year to help
finance their college education or vocational training, or to pay back
their student loans. The Corporation has established an
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Education Award Trust Fund to administer the award monies.
There are three components to AmeriCorps: AmeriCorps*State and
National is administered through grants, while AmeriCorps*VISTA and
AmeriCorps*National Civilian Community Corps are run directly by the
Corporation. Currently, some 25,000 members are serving in AmeriCorps.
AmeriCorps*State and National AmeriCorps*State and National members
accomplish their mission by providing direct service in the four issue
areas established by law: education, public safety, human needs, and the
environment. Services include: tutoring school-age children; serving as
mentor to teen-age parents; developing crime prevention workshops and
providing victim assistance; helping the homebound and disabled live
independently; coordinating needed services for public housing projects;
starting citywide recycling programs; and restoring national parks.
Full-time AmeriCorps*State and National members must serve at least
1,700 hours during a period of not less than 9 months and not more than
12 months to be eligible for the education award. Part-time members must
serve at least 900 hours during a period of not more than 2 years
(unless the part-time member is enrolled in an institution of higher
education while performing some or all of the service, in which case the
member must provide at least 900 hours of service during a period of not
more than 3 years).
The Corporation funds AmeriCorps*State and National through
population-based State allocations; funds distributed to programs
selected by the States and submitted to the Corporation through
competitive consideration; and programs operated by national nonprofit
organizations, professional corps, programs operating in more than one
State, and programs operated by Federal agencies. The funds granted to
the States, on both formula and competitive bases, are administered by
State Commissions on National and Community Service, which subgrant the
monies to individual community-based programs. Information regarding
annual grants requirements and schedules is published in the Federal
Register.
AmeriCorps*National Civilian Community Corps (AmeriCorps*NCCC)
AmeriCorps*NCCC's mission is to promote civic pride and responsibility
through community service. Corps members work in collaboration with
community representatives to complete service learning projects in the
issue areas of education, public safety, human needs, and the
environment--with the primary focus on environmental needs. Corps
members, ages 18-24, are recruited nationally and participate in
innovative training programs that uniquely combine the best in military
training, techniques, Civilian Conservation Corps values, and service
learning models. AmeriCorps*NCCC is a residential program, with members
living at campuses located at closed or downsized military facilities at
Charleston, SC; Denver, CO; and San Diego, CA; and at the Veterans
Hospital at Perry Point, MD. AmeriCorps*NCCC is directly administered by
the Corporation.
AmeriCorps*VISTA AmeriCorps*VISTA is a full-time service program which
is required by law to address poverty and poverty-related problems.
Established in 1965, 4,000 VISTA's are supported directly by the
Corporation, but serve with community-based public and private nonprofit
organizations through memoranda of agreement between the Corporation and
community-based groups. AmeriCorps*VISTA assignments differ from the
AmeriCorps*State and National and AmeriCorps*NCCC programs in that
participants must be assigned to antipoverty activities and are expected
to serve in capacity-building assignments, whereas other AmeriCorps
members emphasize direct service. Full-time AmeriCorps*VISTA service is
12 months, with members receiving a living allowance and health and
child care; or they may elect to take a $1,200 cash stipend at the close
of service rather than an education award.
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Learn and Serve America
Learn and Serve America supports service learning by students from
kindergarten through graduate school. Service learning is an innovative
concept through which students participate in organized service
experiences that meet community needs and are supported by a curriculum
that allows research, reflection, and discussion of their experiences.
The focus of Learn and Serve America is to build a solid foundation for
service learning in the curriculum of every school in America. The
Corporation awards competitive grants to support Learn and Serve America
on an annual basis. Notices of funds availability published in the
Federal Register provide information concerning application deadlines
and program requirements.
School-Based and Community-Based Programs The goal of Learn and Serve
America's School-Based and Community-Based Programs is to increase
opportunities for school-age youth to learn and develop through service
to their communities. The Corporation supports these initiatives through
distribution of funds to State education agencies according to a
population-based allotment. Grants to State commissions on national
service, nonprofit grantmaking entities, Indian tribes, and U.S.
territories are competitive.
School-based programs are administered by State education agencies,
local education agencies in States not applying for funding, Indian
tribes, and U.S. territories. Participants are elementary and secondary
school students and out-of-school youth between the ages of 5-17.
Schools use Learn and Serve America grants for adult volunteer programs
and teacher training in service-learning, along with planning,
implementing, and expanding service-learning programs. Community-based
programs are administered by State commissions on national and community
service and nonprofit organizations.
Higher Education Programs Service Learning at the post-secondary level
is supported by grants to institutions of higher learning, consortia of
institutions of higher learning, and public and private nonprofit
organizations in partnership with institutions of higher education.
These grants enable creation or expansion of community service
opportunities for students and explore new ways to integrate service
into the college curriculum and support model community service programs
on campus. The programs are located in 38 States, the District of
Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
National Senior Service Corps (Senior Corps)
The three Senior Corps Programs--Retired and Senior Volunteers (RSVP),
the Foster Grandparent Program (FGP), and the Senior Companion Program
(SCP)--support community service by senior adults. These programs
demonstrate the continued resource of seniors, provide valuable
community service, and engage the experience, expertise, and commitment
of seniors in a continued active involvement in the community. Each of
these programs is funded through renewable project grants to public and
private nonprofit organizations, who enter into memoranda of agreement
with local institutions, including schools, hospitals, senior centers,
and other organizations, who directly assign and supervise participants.
Most Corporation funding supports continuation projects; new projects
are awarded competitively when funds are available.
Retired and Senior Volunteer Program The Retired and Senior Volunteer
Program provides part-time, uncompensated service opportunities for
persons age 55 or older. Participants, serving in community-based
projects across America, serve a wide range of national and community
needs, working with persons of all ages.
Foster Grandparent Program The Foster Grandparent Program provides
service to children with special needs. Participants must be 60 years of
age or older, and must be considered low-income by published Corporation
criteria. Participants serve 20-hour
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weeks, typically 4 hours a day, and provide personal love, attention,
and support to children. Children served include those with physical and
developmental disabilities, living in conditions of poverty; involved in
the juvenile justice system; teen-age mothers and their children; and
Head Start participants. Foster Grandparents receive a stipend of $2.45
per hour and are provided meals, transportation, and physical
examinations. They serve in all 50 States, the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
Senior Companion Program The Senior Companion Program engages low-
income seniors age 60 and older in service to adults with special needs,
with a focus on service to the frail elderly. Eligibility criteria and
program benefits for Senior Companions are the same as those provided to
Foster Grandparents. Senior Companions provide support, assistance, and
companionship to those whom they serve in both in-home and institutional
settings. They also provide respite care to caregivers, especially
family members of the frail elderly.
Other Corporation Initiatives The Corporation's mission to develop and
support an ethic of service in America involves initiatives, special
demonstration projects, and other activities, in addition to the three
major program areas. These include the new National Service Leadership
Institution in San Francisco, CA, the AmeriCorps Leaders Program (and
similar leaders programs in AmeriCorps*VISTA and AmeriCorps*NCCC), a
disaster response initiative, and short-term summer service initiatives.
The Corporation also carries out an extensive training and technical
assistance effort to support and assist State Commissions and service
programs. Through partnerships with the private sector, other Federal
agencies, and the Points of Light Foundation, the Corporation further
advocates and advances service in America. The Corporation provides
timely information about grants and financial assistance through notices
of funds availability in the Federal Register.
Sources of Information
General Inquiries To obtain additional information regarding the
Corporation's programs and activities, call 1-800-942-2677, or for
Senior Corps programs, 1-800-424-8867.
Grants Notices of funds availability are published in the Federal
Register for most Corporation programs. Corporation State Program
Offices and State Commissions on National and Community Service are
located in most States and are the best source of information on
programs in specific States or communities.
National Service Recruitment Persons interested in participating in
service activities should call 1-800-942-2677, or contact Corporation
State Offices or State Commissions on National and Community Service.
For further information, contact the Corporation for National and
Community Service, 1201 New York Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20525.
Phone, 202-606-5000.
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