Message from the Director

Please consider this issue of Policy Update as your guide to the 2008 grant competition. I am especially pleased to announce that, in order to reduce burden during the application process, State and National programs no longer required to provide an Executive Summary or a Summary of Accomplishments in the application. In addition, Performance Measures will be entered in eGrants during the pre-award review and clarification period rather than as part of the application process. Finally, we no longer require an audit as an “Additional Document” since these audits are collected by the Federal Single Audit Clearinghouse. I look forward to hearing your comments on these changes and other improvements we have instituted this year, many based on your feedback.

This Just In … Great News on Refill!

I am also pleased to announce that we will be relaxing our refill policy as of today, May 17, 2007. If you have fully enrolled your awarded member slots, you may replace any member who terminates service before completing 30% of his or her term without receiving a pro-rated education award. The new policy will include the same safeguards as the pilot refill policy which has been in effect since January of 2005.

What’s New in the 2008 Notice of Funding Opportunity

• You can find the 2008 Notice and Application Instructions here: http://www.americorps.gov/for_organizations/funding/nofa.asp. Deadline for applications is January 8, 2008 at 5:00 p.m. EST
• Notification will take place by May 23, 2008
• Total funding available for State and National new and recompetes, subject to appropriations: $21,288,000
• Maximum cost per MSY for new and recompetes: $12,600.  $600 for EAPs and $2,500 for Professional Corps
• Minimum and Maximum Living Allowance: $11,400 and $22,800
• In 2008, the Corporation will support 2,600 new quarter-time AmeriCorps membership opportunities.  These member positions are designed for organizations interested in attracting skilled volunteers to the Gulf Coast for rebuilding activities, and for organizations that want to engage members in summer of service activities with youth from disadvantaged circumstances.  However, programs may apply for these AmeriCorps positions to address other unmet needs.

What’s New in the 2008 Application Instructions

• Separate application instructions for commissions, state programs, national programs, and states and territories without commissions. Former appendices now in “Additional Information and Forms for Hard Copy Submissions.”
• Executive Summary and Summary of Accomplishments no longer required.
  New language on enrollment and retention:
  If you enrolled less than 100% of slots received during your last full year of program operation, provide an explanation, and describe your plan for improvement.  We recognize retention rates may vary among equally effective programs depending on the program model.  We expect grantees to pursue the highest retention rate possible.  If you were not able to retain all of your members during your last full year of program operation, provide an explanation, and describe your plan for improvement.
• Performance measures should be addressed in the narrative but will not be entered in eGrants until the pre-award review and clarification.
• New language on expectations regarding state commission and national program coordination in State and National instructions (see page 3).
• Improved instructions on eGrants ranking in commission instructions.
• Field for unique state identifier in eGrants for commissions to use for subapplications.
• Grant writing tips incorporated in the Narratives section.
• Instructions for programs include the criteria as well as bullet points to help you address the criteria.
• National instructions include new criteria for planning grants and how to apply for Professional Corps start-up funds.
• All continuation instructions are now incorporated in the application instructions, rather than issued via separate e-mail.
• Cost of living increase and expansions:  This is a very tight year. We will not be allowing budget increases for cost of living as we have in the past, and we expect to fund very few expansions.
• Clarification on use of federal funds to purchase the AmeriCorps logo for placement on local program uniform items (allowed).

New Announcement and Award Process

In 2008 the Corporation plans to award grants immediately following the grant selection announcement.  Corporation program officers may contact applicants to seek clarification, resolve questions and issues, negotiate performance measures, and request revised budgets as part of the pre-award review process.  Failure to respond to requests for information in a timely fashion may result in the removal of applications from consideration.

Policy Briefs

Clarification:  Food Stamp Eligibility for AmeriCorps State and National Members  

We have received several emails and phone calls regarding the treatment of the AmeriCorps State and National living allowance in determining eligibility for Food Stamps. Due to the fact that AmeriCorps*VISTA member benefits receive different treatment under the law than AmeriCorps State and National member benefits, there may be some confusion around this issue. Please note that Federal law requires that AmeriCorps State and National living allowance be disregarded in determining eligibility for Federal or federally-assisted programs based on need, such as Food Stamps. This has and continues to be the rule. When communicating with local Food Stamp offices, be sure to clarify that your members are funded under Title I of the National and Community Service Act of 1990, (42 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.), not Title I of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4950 et seq.).

Clarification: Electronic Timekeeping Systems

The reference to secure e-mail in the electronic timekeeping systems policy was confusing, so we have removed this reference.

Former version:  The use of regular e-mail to communicate approval is not a secure, verifiable electronic signature system. Secure e-mail systems that are integrated with a secure, verifiable electronic signature are acceptable.

Revised version:  The use of regular e-mail to communicate approval is not a secure, verifiable electronic signature system.

Prior Approval Not Required to Provide Health Insurance to Less-than-full-time Members Serving Full Time

If you have less-than-full-time members serving full time (i.e. members serving a half-time position in six months), and would like to provide health insurance, you may now do so by working directly with your carrier, without prior Corporation approval. As we noted in the November Policy Update, prior approval is not required to provide childcare for these members either.

State Commission and National Program Coordination

New Language Will Appear in Application Instructions for State Commissions and National Applicants

The language is identical in both sets of instructions, except for focus depending on audience. Here is the language from the Instructions for Commissions:  The Corporation expects all national service programs to collaborate at the local level. You are expected to communicate and coordinate with AmeriCorps National parent organizations and their sites in your state, as described below. These include recipients of National Direct, National EAP, Professional Corps, and Indian Tribes grants. Likewise, AmeriCorps National program parent organizations are expected to communicate and coordinate with commissions in the states where they operate, and to share resources as appropriate. As a state commission, you are expected to:

• Consider the schedules and needs of AmeriCorps National programs when planning annual events and technical assistance activities.
• Include National programs in your annual needs assessment and training plan development activities, and in the development of your state service plan.
• Add AmeriCorps National personnel in your state to your mailing list and invite them to appropriate training and other events.

National programs in your state are expected to communicate regularly with you, and to keep you informed of their progress. Specifically, they will:

• Provide you with a list including contact information for the programs in your state, and update this list on an annual basis.
• Participate in your annual needs assessment and training plan development activities, and in the development of your state service plan, as well as appropriate training and other events.
• Include your state commission on their mailing list and invite you to appropriate training and other events.

Did You Know? Waivers 101

You are only eligible to apply for the alternative match schedule during your third year continuation application. This is because you apply for the alternative match schedule one year in advance of when it goes into effect, and then it stays in effect for the next three year project period. You should re-apply for the alternative match schedule in any subsequent third year continuation applications if you want to continue to match according to this schedule. The field in which you provide your alternative match schedule justification will only appear in your third year continuation applications. This is covered in the AmeriCorps regulations.

Any other request for waiver of matching requirements should be conveyed via separate letter or e-mail to the Office of Grants Management, and also provided to your Program Officer. You can apply for a waiver of the requirement for volunteer leveraging in any application, and a field for this purpose will always appear in eGrants.

Coming Attractions

Entering Enrollment Periods in WBRS:  We are working on simplifying this process so you will be in charge of entering your enrollment period, without the current requirement for Program Officer approval. If you have questions or concerns about this, please let us know. This is expected to take effect in November, pending the necessary system adjustments.

Eliciting Public Comment:  We plan to be accepting public comment on some proposed new elements in the regulations, aka, AmeriCorps Rulemaking 2 at the national conference in July. The major issues we will be addressing in this second round of rulemaking include simplifying the criteria, and making performance measurement and evaluation less burdensome.

What Do You Think?

How can we make this periodic update more useful? What other policy tools would be helpful? Contact aborgstrom@cns.gov with your ideas.