Federal Support
With a clear appreciation for how a culture of citizenship, service and responsibility enrich a nation and its citizenry, the Federal government has supported volunteering and community service in a variety of important and different ways during the past century. Highlights of that history include the following:
1930s: At the height of the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) as a way to put idle hands to productive use to meet public needs. From 1933 to 1942, the CCC put some 3 million unemployed men to work clearing trails and restoring public lands. They have been credited with renewing the nation’s decimated forests by planting an estimated 3 billion trees. And more than 40,000 illiterates were taught to read and write through the education component of the corps.
1960s: The cause of federally supported civilian service was renewed with President John F. Kennedy's creation of the Peace Corps and President Lyndon B. Johnson's creation of VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America). In that same period, the Foster Grandparents, Senior Companions, and Retired Senior Volunteer Program began to show how older Americans could establish meaningful relationships with people in need.
1990: President George H.W. Bush created the Commission on National and Community Service to administer grants to schools to support service-learning in schools, higher education institutions, and community-based organizations and support full-time service across the nation.
1993: President Bill Clinton and Congress created the Corporation for National and Community Service by combining the Commission on National and Community Service with the federal domestic volunteer agency ACTION, uniting the full range of domestic community service programs under the umbrella of one central organization and creating a new national service program: AmeriCorps.
2002: President George W. Bush created USA Freedom Corps, a White House office to coordinate national volunteer efforts in response to the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. Beyond the existing AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, Peace Corps, and Learn and Serve America programs, USA Freedom Corps spurs the creation of several new volunteer programs aimed specifically at securing the nation, including Citizen Corps Councils in all U.S. states and territories. In addition, the President calls on all Americans to devote the equivalent of two years of their lives—4,000 hours—to service and volunteering.
State Support
When the Corporation for National and Community Service was created in 1993, Congress charged individual states with a critical role in managing national service resources through the creation of governor-appointed State Service Commissions in nearly every state and in most U.S. territories. In addition to setting national service funding priorities and making and monitoring AmeriCorps grants, these commissions typically serve as the lead statewide agency to mobilize volunteers and promote community service within their respective states. Every year, governors and State Service Commissions distribute more than $250 million dollars from federal national service funds, which in turn leverage more than $100 million in local funding to support citizen service and volunteering in America.
In addition, Learn and Serve America’ grants are distributed through State Education Agencies to local schools and community organizations to implement service-learning programs for young people of elementary and secondary school age.Each State Education Agency builds a network of teachers and school administrators, parents, and community agency partners who are knowledgeable about service-learning and work to ensure that any school or community can start or expand service-learning.
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