[United States Government Manual] [June 02, 1998] [Pages 502-507] [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. Internet, http://www.nationalservice.org/. Board of Directors: Chair Bob Rogers Members Victor Ashe, Thomas Ehrlich, Christopher Gallagher, Carol Kinsley, Leslie Lenkowsky, Arthur Naparstek, Eli Segal, (7 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 [[Page 503]] Chief Operating Officer Louis Caldera Chief of Staff to the CEO John S. Gomperts Director, AmeriCorps Deborah Jospin Director, National Senior Service Corps Thomas Endres Director, Learn and Serve America Marilyn W. Smith Chief Financial Officer Donna H. Cunninghame Director, Planning and Program Integration Gary Kowalczyk Director, Evaluation and Effective Practices Bill Bentley Inspector General Luise S. Jordan General Counsel Kenneth Klothen Director, Congressional and Intergovernmental Eugene Sofer Affairs Director, Public Affairs Tara Murphy Director, Public Liaison Melinda Hudson Director, Human Resources Phyllis Beaulieu ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Corporation for National and Community Service engages Americans of all backgrounds in community-based service that addresses the Nation's educational, public safety, environmental, and other human 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 Trust 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, environmental, and other human 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 [[Page 504]] [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T177653.034 [[Page 505]] 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 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, the environment, and other human needs. Services include: tutoring school-age children; serving as mentors 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, and programs operating in more than one State. 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. Members work in collaboration with community representatives to complete service-learning projects in the issue areas of education, public safety, the environment, and other human needs-- 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; San Diego, CA; and Washington, DC; 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. AmeriCorps*VISTA members 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 members 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. [[Page 506]] 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 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--the Retired and Senior Volunteers Program (RSVP), the Foster Grandparent Program, and the Senior Companion Program --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 [[Page 507]] provide personal love, attention, and support to children. Children served include those with physical and developmental disabilities, living in conditions of poverty, or 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 National Service Scholarship Program, 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.nationalservice.org/. General Information To obtain additional information regarding AmeriCorps, call 800-942-2677 (toll-free), or for Senior Corps programs, 800-424-8867 (toll-free). 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 joining AmeriCorps should call 800-942-2677 (toll-free). To participate in other national service programs, 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. Internet, http://www.nationalservice.org/. ------------------------------------------------------------------------