|
This set of FAQs will be updated frequently, with the most recent questions and answers appearing first.
General
Training
Scope of Rule
Application and Management
Matching Requirements
Waivers
Performance Measures
Other
Where is the rule posted?
The rule can be found in Word format on the Corporation’s website at www.americorps.gov/rulemaking. It is also available to the public in the Federal Register’s reading room in Washington, D.C. It will be formally published in the Federal Register on July 8, 2005. On September 6, 2005, the new regulatory language will be incorporated into the Code of Federal Regulations at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html.
When does the rule take effect?
The new rule takes effect September 6, 2005, sixty days after the date of publication in the Federal Register.
Will the new rules apply to program year 2005?
The following new rules apply to program year 2005:
- Member service activities (§§ 2520.5 through 2520.60, and 2540.100(f)(2))
- Tutoring Requirements (§§ 2522.900 through 2522.920)
- Match Requirements (§§ 2521.35 through 2521.90) (note, however, that no grantee will have to increase its match above current requirements until the 2006 program year at the earliest)
- State Commissions Directly Operating Programs other than subtitle C and Senior Corps (§ 2550.80(j))
The new rules relating to the selection criteria and process, performance measures, and evaluation, will become operational for the 2006 program year.
When do I have to comply with the provisions that are not operational in program year 2005?
The provisions of the rule that become operational in program year 2006 (selection criteria and process, performance measures, and evaluation) must be complied with from the start of a three-year grant cycle beginning on or after program year 2006. In other words, continuations in program years 2005 and 2006 do not yet need to comply, nor will year 3 continuations in 2007.
What are the most significant changes from the proposed rule?
The major substantive changes from the proposed rule are the addition of an alternative match requirement that recognizes the special circumstances of programs in rural and severely economically distressed areas; the requirement to align one set of performance measures on the program’s primary area of activity; the requirement that grantees receiving an average of more than $500,000 per year in Corporation funds over five years obtain an independent evaluation; and the breakdown of the cost-effectiveness and budget adequacy category of the selection criteria to 15% for cost-effectiveness and 10% for budget adequacy. The new rule also contains numerous changes of a more technical nature that we included to strengthen and clarify the regulation.
How is the rule different from current rules or policy?
Please refer to the side-by-side at www.americorps.gov/rulemaking for a description of the differences between current requirements and the new rule.
How should I read the rule?
There are two main parts of the rule document: (1) the preamble (very long); and (2) the regulatory language (relatively short). The preamble explains the basis and purpose of the regulatory text, but contains no regulatory language. It arranges basic information on the “who, what, where, and why” of the document for the reader’s convenience, and summarizes how the Corporation considered comments from the public. The regulatory language states the actual amendments to the Code of Federal Regulations, organized in numerical sequence.
Why is the preamble so long?
The preamble’s length reflects the many comments we received from the public in response to our notice of proposed rulemaking last August.
When will these regulations be codified in the Code of Federal Regulations?
The regulations will be available through the online Code of Federal Regulations as of the effective date, September 6, 2005. They will be available in the bound volume of title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations after October 1, 2005.
Will you have training and technical assistance resources available to help grantees and prospective grantees follow the new rule?
Yes, there will be several training sessions on the content and implications of the rules during the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in Washington, D.C., August 3-6, 2005. These sessions will be a part of both the AmeriCorps Grantee Staff Training and the general conference offerings. During the fall of 2005, there will be materials and additional training opportunities specific to rulemaking-related topic areas such as sustainability, evaluation, performance measurement, tutoring and documenting match. The Corporation also made extra training dollars available to State Commissions in fiscal year 2005 in anticipation of the need to train grantees about the new rules. For information about training opportunities and locations following the national conference, please contact your Program Officer. All materials will be posted on the Corporation’s rulemaking site at www.americorps.gov/rulemaking.
How do I receive training?
We will notify AmeriCorps grantees of an array of training opportunities in a variety of training formats and locations. Following the National Conference on Volunteering and Service, on-line training on the content and implications of the rules will be available as well as materials for commissions and direct grantees to use with subgrantees and sites. There will also be several regional trainings focusing on topic areas specific to the rules such as sustainability, documenting match, tutoring, and performance measurement and evaluation in fall 2005. For access to training contact your Program Officer. To access materials go to the Corporation’s rulemaking site at www.americorps.gov/rulemaking.
Whom do these changes impact --AmeriCorps State and National only or AmeriCorps*VISTA as well?
The new rule covers AmeriCorps State and National, including Tribes, Territories, and in some cases the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award Program. AmeriCorps*VISTA is not covered.
Do the changes apply to the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award Program?
The new rule explicitly excludes Segal AmeriCorps Education Award Program (SAEAP) grantees from specified sections. The preamble discusses this at pages 17-20. Specifically, EAP programs do not have to provide independent evaluations, or meet the new match requirements, and are exempted from addressing two of the cost-effectiveness criteria, including the one relating to cost per MSY.
How will the proposed rule affect other Corporation programs, both within AmeriCorps and outside of it, such as Challenge Grants, Next Generation, Learn and Serve America, and Senior Corps?
The new rule only addresses AmeriCorps State and National, including Tribes, Territories, and in some cases the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award Program. We may consider extending some part of the rule to other programs. However, such changes will only occur after appropriate public notice and input.
Application And Management | Return to Top
How will the proposed rule affect the AmeriCorps 2005 guidelines? What about the AmeriCorps grant provisions?
The 2005 guidelines specifically noted that certain aspects of 2005 programs could change upon the completion of the rulemaking process. With the exception of the selection criteria, performance measures, and evaluation requirements, all other provisions of the new rule will apply to the 2005 program year. The new rule, when effective, supersedes prior provisions including those in regulations, grant provisions, and guidelines. Program staff will work with grantees to ensure they incorporate the new requirements into their program models, and the Corporation will amend the 2005 grant provisions to reflect the changes, as necessary.
I am about to begin a new three year cycle in 2005-2006. How will the rule affect me?
Except for the sections on selection criteria and process, performance measures, and evaluations, the new rules will apply to your grant beginning in the 2005 program year. The new rule, when effective, supersedes prior provisions including those in regulations, grant provisions, and guidelines.
What if I am a continuation in 2005-2006?
Except for the sections on selection criteria and process, performance measures, and evaluations, which will not apply to continuations in ’05, ’06, or to year 3 continuations in ’07, the rest of the rule will apply to continuation grants beginning in the 2005 program year. The new rule, when effective, supersedes prior provisions including those in regulations, grant provisions, and guidelines.
What happened to the proposal to permit State Commissions to pair a low-matching sub-grantee with a high-matching grantee?
The final rule did not include this proposal. Under the final rule, each sub-grantee is individually responsible to the State for meeting its required match level. We will hold State commissions to a State portfolio aggregate overall match, based on the all the programs’ match requirements in a State portfolio. See the preamble at page 39576 for a more in-depth explanation of this change.
How does a planning grant count in calculating the number of years a program has received funding for purposes of setting match levels?
Because it does not involve program operations or matching requirement, a planning grant is not part of this calculation.
Should we revise a subgrantee’s budget for program year 2005 if it’s in year 4 of funding?
No, the new match schedules begin in program year 2006. For purposes of the new match schedule, your subgrantee should consider itself in year 3 for program year 2005. For matching purposes, it will considered year 4 for program year 2006. See the preamble at pages 395-3074 for more discussion of the timetable for increasing match.
What does the new rule mean for my match in 2005?
The new rule provides that if you have received an operational grant for your program for three or more years at the time the rule takes effect, you will begin matching at the year three level on the match schedule. This means that your match requirements will not change in 2005, but will begin to increase in the 2006 program year.
No program will have to meet the increased match requirements in 2005. No program, regardless of how many years it has had Corporation funding, will be considered to be in a year greater than year three in 2005. If you have had funding from the Corporation for one or more three-year grant cycles, the new regulations tell you what year you will be considered to be in for 2006 and what match level you will need to meet.
How are you going to monitor whether I am meeting my match requirement?
We will review your Financial Status Reports every six months to determine if you are on track to meet your match requirements. State commissions will be responsible for monitoring match requirements for their subgrantees.
What happens if I do not meet my match requirement?
We will monitor your match through your Financial Status Reports and discuss potential shortfalls with you over the course of the grant. We do not expect grantees to necessarily meet the matching requirement each year over the course of a three-year grant as long as the overall required match is met by the end of the third year. If, at the end of the grant, you have not met your regulatory match, you may have to return the portion of Federal funds you haven’t been able to match.
Why do long-standing Corporation grantees have to match at a higher level?
The national service legislation places importance on promoting the sustainability of AmeriCorps programs. The Corporation believes that an important piece of sustainability is decreasing reliance on Federal funding, and increasing the capacity of organizations operating AmeriCorps programs to assume more of the cost over time. This will make existing grantees stronger and more tied to their communities, while allowing the Corporation to achieve better leverage of Federal dollars and expand the reach of national and community service.
What data lead you to believe that most grantees can meet increased matching requirements?
Past performance indicates that most programs will be able to meet the new match schedule. Since 2000, the average AmeriCorps program exceeded our current requirements by a substantial margin. However, recognizing that particularly low-matching grantees are often in distressed rural and low-economic areas, the Corporation is allowing programs in distressed rural and low-income areas that demonstrate difficulty in reaching the higher match rates to apply for a waiver to match at a lower schedule. The chart below shows the matching level of AmeriCorps*State and National programs for the 2000-2002 program years:
| Budgeted Match |
Percent of AC*State
and National Programs |
| Over 50% |
19% of programs |
| Greater than 40%, less than or equal to 50% |
18% of programs |
| Greater than 30%, less than or equal to 40% |
31% of programs |
| Greater than or equal to 25%, less than or equal to 30% |
14% of programs |
| Less than 25% |
18% of programs |
Do the increased matching requirements apply to an individual program or an individual legal applicant? For example, if a longtime grantee wants to initiate a brand new program, does the match schedule begin at year one?
The matching requirements apply to the individual program, not to the individual legal applicant. Therefore, if one legal applicant operates two programs under two separate grants, each program meets the matching requirement based on the number of years that program has received funding.
Do you anticipate any future changes to grantee match requirements?
Our goal was to achieve a fair, equitable, and authoritative resolution of the issue of organization financial sustainability. By incrementally increasing match requirements, while accommodating rural and severely economically distressed communities, and developing measures to assist grantees in meeting the new requirements, we believe we have fully achieved that resolution. We intend to monitor and report to the public on a regular basis the progress grantees are making in leveraging Federal resources and the impact of the rule.
Are there any waivers from the new rule?
An applicant organization may request a waiver from two provisions: (1) the requirement to recruit or support volunteers; and (2) the specific schedule of increasing match requirements.
When do we apply for a waiver?
An organization requests a waiver of the requirement to recruit or support volunteers in its grant application. An organization located in a rural or a severely economically distressed community may apply for an alternative match schedule in advance of its application for a grant after at least three years operating an AmeriCorps program. In addition, by statute, an applicant organization may at any time request a waiver, in whole or in part, of matching requirements based on a lack of available financial resources at the local level.
If the Corporation expects me to align my performance measures by 2006, would it help to begin to align them in 2005?
Yes. The Corporation believes it important for grantees to begin reporting on aligned performance measures that address the program’s primary activity. While not a requirement for 2005, program staff will work with grantees through negotiation to try to align their measures for the coming program year. However, the Corporation does not require you to align performance measures until 2006. Alignment requirement will apply to new and recompeting applications beginning program year 2006. The alignment requirement will not apply to new applications in program year 2005 or continuations in program year 2006.
Why is the Corporation regulating the criteria a Commission uses to select formula programs?
The national service legislation requires that the selection criteria for all AmeriCorps programs at a minimum include an enumerated list of factors, such as quality, innovation, and sustainability. The regulation simply clarifies this statutory requirement and does not preclude States from using additional criteria in selecting sub-grantees. See the preamble at page 39585 for additional information on this point.
What is the difference between an MSY and a FTE?
For our purposes, the terms are synonymous. The term member service year, or MSY, more accurately describes units of AmeriCorps service than FTE, which is commonly associated with budgeting for employee payroll. The Corporation changed the terminology to avoid any misimpression that AmeriCorps members are Federal employees.
Is the Corporation planning any other changes through rulemaking?
As indicated in notices previously posted in the Federal Register, the Corporation is planning several changes in agency and program rules. For a copy of the agency’s most recent notice, go http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fedreg/a050516c.html. Regarding AmeriCorps specifically, the Corporation is currently undertaking a process to incorporate annual guidelines and grant provisions into regulations and to make other changes so that the AmeriCorps rules are more accessible in one place. Our goal is to end up with one primary reference document – the regulations – for organizations to use in applying for and operating national and community service programs. The Corporation is not, however, considering any changes that would modify any of the provisions of the new rules.
|
Forms
