United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Health, Education, and Human Services Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2000-02-15 monographic deposited born digital 34 p. GA 1.13:HEHS-00-33 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-00-33 P0b002ee18038b596 f:he00033 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-HEHS-00-33 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-HEHS-00-33 HEHS-00-33 Community development programs Education or training costs Disadvantaged persons Volunteer services Federal/state relations Federal aid programs Grants to states Cost analysis AmeriCorps USA Program AmeriCorps State/National Program AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps Program Letter Report HEHS Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed two major AmeriCorps programs', AmeriCorps State/National and AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), funding and benefits, focusing on: (1) the costs of the two programs and who bears those costs; (2) comparing cost data for NCCC with similar data from the Department of Labor's Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers (CCC) and reasons for any major differences; (3) comparing AmeriCorps participant benefits with those afforded entry-level military personnel; and (4) information available on the results of AmeriCorps programs.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) the NCCC program is completely funded by the Corporation for National Service (CNS), whereas the State/National program is funded jointly by CNS, program grantees, and state commissions; (2) for program year 1998-1999, CNS budgeted $23,426 per NCCC participant and $14,857 per State/National participant; (3) program grantees and state commissions added funds estimated at $8,717 per State/National participant for program year 1998-1999; (4) CNS has the goal of reducing its share of the costs of AmeriCorps grantee programs, but CNS data show that while the selected participant funding that GAO reviewed decreased between program years 1994-99 in State/National, AmeriCorps largest program, CNS' share of those participant costs actually increased from 52 percent to 55 percent; (5) the budgeted participant costs of Job Corps CCC are higher than those of NCCC; (6) for program year 1998-1999, these costs were $28,933 and $23,426; (7) while these are both residential programs for youths, they differ in ways that make Job Corps CCC more costly (8) AmeriCorps participants receive less in benefits than entry-level military personnel; (9) while both AmeriCorps and the military provide their participants a living allowance, health benefits, child care assistance, and the opportunity to accumulate funds to pay for education, these benefits are higher in the military, reflecting the greater risks and responsibilities of military service; (10) entry-level military service is potentially the first step in a 20-to-30 year career, whereas AmeriCorps is a service period during which some funds for college are earned; (11) most new military recruits are legally obligated to serve at least 4 years, while AmeriCorps' service is voluntary for a 1-year term; (12) military personnel also receive benefits not available to AmeriCorps participants, including enlistment bonuses, leave accrual, and qualifying service toward retirement pay; (13) CNS generally reports program results as the amount of service performed by AmeriCorps participants; (14) CNS data does not measure AmeriCorps programs' progress toward the strategic goals of strengthening communities and improving participants' lives, as required by the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993; and (15) a CNS evaluation identified a number of results-oriented program accomplishments, but CNS has not yet used this information to set useful performance measures in its strategic planning documents. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-00-33/html/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-00-33.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-00-33/pdf/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-00-33.pdf GAO/HEHS-00-33 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-00-33 Letter Report GAO/HEHS-00-33; National Service Programs: Two AmeriCorps Programs'; Community development programs Education or training costs Disadvantaged persons Volunteer services Federal/state relations Federal aid programs Grants to states Cost analysis AmeriCorps USA Program AmeriCorps State/National Program AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps Program Public Law 103-82