    [United States Government Manual]
    [May 30, 1997]
    [Pages 498-503]
    [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                                             Bob Rogers
    Members                                           Victor Ashe, Thomas
                                                              Ehrlich,
                                                              Christopher
                                                              Gallagher,
                                                              Reatha Clark
                                                              King, Carol
                                                              Kinsley,
                                                              Leslie
                                                              Lenkowsky,
                                                              Arthur
                                                              Naparstek, Eli
                                                              Segal, (6
                                                              vacancies)

    Members (ex officio)

        (Secretary of Agriculture)                    Dan Glickman
        (Secretary of Defense)                        William S. Cohen
        (Secretary of Education)                      Richard W. Riley
        (Secretary of Health and Human                Donna E. Shalala
                Services)
        (Secretary of Housing and Urban               Andrew M. Cuomo
                Development)
        (Secretary of the Interior)                   Bruce Babbitt
        (Secretary of Labor)                          Alexis M. Herman
        (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
    Chief Operating Officer                           Frank S. Beal, Acting
    Chief of Staff                                    John S. Gomperts
    Director, AmeriCorps                              Deborah Jospin, Acting
    Director, National Senior Service Corps           Thomas Endres
    Director, Learn and Serve America                 Marilyn W. Smith

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    Chief Financial Officer                           Donna H. Cunninghame
    Director, Planning and Program Integration        Gary Kowalczyk
    Director, Evaluation and Effective Practices      (vacancy)
    Inspector General                                 Luise S. Jordan
    General Counsel                                   (vacancy)
    Director, Congressional and Intergovernmental     Eugene Sofer
            Affairs
    Director, Public Affairs                          J. Toscano
    Director, Public Liaison                          Melinda Hudson
    Director, Human Resources                         Phyllis Beaulieu

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    The Corporation for National and Community Service engages Americans of
    all backgrounds in community-based service which addresses the Nation's
    educational, public safety, human, and environmental needs to achieve
    direct and demonstrable results. In so doing, 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).
        The Corporation is a Federal corporation governed by a 15-member
    bipartisan Board of Directors, appointed by the President with the
    advice and consent of the Senate. 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 responsibility for overall policy
    direction of 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
    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 Education Award
    Trust Fund to administer the award moneys.
        AmeriCorps has three components: AmeriCorps*State and National is
    administered through grants, while AmeriCorps*VISTA and
    AmeriCorps*National Civilian Community Corps are run directly by the

    [[Page 500]]

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    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 teenage 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 make
    subgrants 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 (Volunteers in Service to America) is
    a full-time service program established in 1965 and required by law to
    address poverty and poverty-related problems. 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
    participants must be assigned to antipoverty activities and are expected
    to serve in capacity-building assignments, whereas the AmeriCorps*State
    and National and AmeriCorps*NCCC programs 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.

    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,

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    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 ages 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 postsecondary 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 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 serve a wide range of national and
    community needs, working with persons of all ages in community-based
    projects across America.

    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 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

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    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 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

    Electronic Access  Information regarding the Corporation's programs and
    activities is available in electronic form through the Internet, at
    http://www.cns.gov/.

    General Information  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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