[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

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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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