Good day commission colleagues:

This email contains updates on the following topics:

1. 2008 Admin/PDAT/Disability (includes priority news regarding your 2008 Admin allocation)
       
2. High Performing Commissions
       
3. AmeriCorps National Sites in Your State
       
4. GARP 2008
       
5. Grantee Progress Report (GPR) – Launch of New System
       
6. Disaster Services – Response in Minnesota and California
       
7. 2008 National Conference on Volunteering and Service
       
8. Updated AmeriCorps State Program Officer Portfolios

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1. 2008 Admin/PDAT/Disability

Administrative Grants

In the update I sent to you on September 17^th, we advised you to base your 2008 Admin budget on your 2007 allocation as we waited to see if we would be operating under a Continuing Resolution. We said we would update you this month when we had more information. As you know, we are indeed operating under a CR through November 16^th. The CR will likely be renewed at that time.

The House mark for the State Commission Administrative Grants is $12 million. The Senate mark is $12, 516,000. This year we have $728,596 in Admin carry-over from FY 2007 to supplement the 2008 allocation. Under a Continuing Resolution, we cannot run the risk of obligating more funds than may eventually be available in the approved appropriation. Thus, we are basing the FY 2008 Admin allocation on the House mark plus the 2007 carry over, which totals $12,728,596. Due to decreased carry-over, the total is $707,402 less than was awarded to commissions in 2007.

Attached is a chart that provides your 2008 Admin allocation based on our current calculation. There are reductions for commissions not already at the minimum or maximum allowable amounts. Please adjust your proposed 2008 Admin budgets to the allocations on the chart. If after the FY 2008 budget is approved we learn that the amount available for Admin is higher than this calculation, we will amend your grants with increases accordingly.

Review of Admin/PDAT/Disability Grants

This year, the Program Office has assumed the lead in conducting an integrated review of your Admin, PDAT and Disability grants. Previously, our office was the lead reviewer for the Admin grant only. We will be supported in our review by our colleagues in the Office of Leadership Development and Training. In undertaking their new responsibilities, program officers may contact you with more questions and requests for clarification than you have been accustomed to in the past.

2. High Performing Commissions – A Message from Kitty Burcsu and Shohreh Kermani-Peterson

Dear colleagues,

During the 2007 National Conference we brainstormed options for identifying high-performing commissions and criteria for such selection as part of the Administrative Standards Review Affinity Group Meeting. We have conducted some preliminary internal and external discussions with commissions to follow-up on recommendations made by you at the Conference. Through these follow-up discussions, we have come to understand that there is some confusion among commissions regarding the relationship between the AmeriCorps State Administrative Standards Review process and the evolving initiative around high-performing commissions.

We hope that the following information will help alleviate any confusion about the relationship between the two, while providing you with an update on progress made on the initiative on identification of high-performing commissions:

• Commission interest in identifying high-performing commissions came to our attention primarily as a result of the Administrative Standards Review process
       
• At this point, we believe that the two should be separate and distinct activities from one another, and the selection of high-performing commissions should not be a formal component of the Administrative Standards Review process.
      
• Our internal and external discussions have resulted in several options for consideration:

1. The designation should be for “Commission of Excellence” (instead of high-performing commission).
       
2. The selection process should engage commissions at all levels of decision-making, including on the selection process itself.
       
3. This should be a selection by peers with limited involvement by the Corporation. For example, the Corporation’s role will be to provide its baseline expectations for Commissions of Excellence. Commissions would identify additional criteria/characteristics that make a Commission one of excellence.
       
4. Benefits of selection as a Commission of Excellence would include wide-spread recognition by Commissions and the Corporation at the Corporation’s National Conference and a formal letter of recognition from the Corporation to the Governor of the State.
       
5. We have scheduled a session at the upcoming ED Meeting to discuss these recommendations further and to brainstorm the selection process -- including, should there be a selection committee?; if so, who should serve on the committee and for how long?; what should the nomination process look like (for example, self-nomination, nomination by a peer, nomination by the Corporation, all of the above, other)?; what should be included in the nomination application?; what should be the selection criteria? For how long should the designation of Commission of Excellence stand (should this be an annual selection or multi-year selection?)

We hope that this information is of assistance. Please do not hesitate to contact Shohreh Kermani-Peterson at skermani@cns.gov and Kitty Burcsu at kitty.burcsu@ocsc.state.oh.us, if you have any questions.

3. AmeriCorps National Sites in Your State

Attached is an Excel spreadsheet that lists the National Direct sites in your states. Please note the following:

• National EAP awards have not been completed so they are not included on this spreadsheet. We will update the spreadsheet when we have completed the awards.
      
• The national parent organization addresses and contacts are highlighted in yellow.
      
• Some national organizations list their national address as the address for all of their sites. For example, EVERYBODY WINS! is a national program headquartered in DC and with a presence in a dozen or so states. The address that they submitted to us for all of their sites is their DC office address. However, they’ve listed the city names under the “organization name” heading and have entered local contacts with their emails and phone numbers. Thus, “EVERYBODY WINS! Atlanta” has a DC address but an Atlanta contact name with phone number and email. We suggest you look under the highlighted parent organizations to see if there are local sites in your state that the parent organization has listed under their national office address.
      
• Some national organizations have a national contact listed for several of the state sites. For example, Kimberly Riddle is listed as the contact for the national office of the Boat People SOS organization. She is also listed as the contact for the state sites for Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. In cases like this, you would need to either try the state phone number listed for the program site or contact the national office, in this example by calling or emailing Kimberly Riddle, for local state information.

4. GARP 2008

• The 2008 GARP new and recompete competition will be very competitive. The NOFO states that there is approximately $10.5 million for new and recompeting grants. We currently have $8.5 million in competitive programs in their final year of funding that would need to recompete this year.
      
• Remember that the NOFO states 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. If you submit programs for the competition that propose to use these membership opportunities, please make sure that they are clearly described and highlighted in the application.

5. Grantee Progress Report (GPR) – Launch of New System

The new progress reporting system has launched, and you may access it through eGrants. Instructions for completing the GPR are attached. Please note that Section I, the demographic elements, is still in draft form pending OMB approval. Sections II and III have been approved. You may enter information into all three sections now. However, we will not review the information until we receive OMB’s approval on section I. If OMB requires changes to Section I and you have already entered the information into that section, you would be required to modify your entry to accommodate the changes. We suggest that you go ahead and complete sections II and III and wait to enter your data into Section I until we receive OMB’s approval. Your GPR will be due 30 days after we alert you of OMB's final approval or December 3rd, whichever is latest. We will discuss the new GPR reporting system in step-by-step detail on the November state commission cluster calls.

To access the new GPR screens:

• Log into eGrants.
• Under “Reporting to CNCS”, choose “Progress Report.”
• On the next screen, choose the competitive or formula grant on which you are reporting (e.g. Grant #06ACHXX001 - AmeriCorps*State ).
• Under that grant, choose “edit” for the reporting period that is due on December 3^, 2007.
• Follow the attached instructions and those on the eGrants screens.

6. Disaster Services

Minnesota

The Corporation just received a Mission Assignment from FEMA to support disaster recovery activities in Minnesota. Teams from the Cumberland County Training Resource Center in Portland, ME; Hoopa TCCC in Hoopa, CA; and the St. Louis Safety Corps will deploy to Winona and Fillmore counties to help people affected by August floods. Members will help transition people from temporary housing back into their permanent homes in advance of the winter snows. Members will work closely with long-term recovery centers and coordinate volunteers engaged in the recovery effort.

California

The Corporation is currently working with FEMA to identify possible mission assignments in response to the California wildfires that have displaced over 500,000 individuals. We are conducting outreach to all cooperative agreement programs to identify capabilities and capacity to support any FEMA Mission Assignments. If a program wishes to participate in these activities, we encourage you to contact Phil Shaw of the Corporation’s Office of Emergency Management at 202-606-6697 or pshaw@cns.gov to receive a cooperative agreement application. Cooperative Agreements allow Corporation grantees to receive reimbursement for expenses incurred while deployed under a CNCS issues Mission Assignment. These expenses include transportation, lodging, subsistence, supplies and the non-federal share of a member living stipend.

If your program is currently engaged in response activities related to the California fires, please contact your program officer and let them know of your activities.

7. 2008 National Conference on Volunteering and Service

2008 National Conference on
Volunteering and Service
June 1-3, 2008
Atlanta, Georgia

Mark your calendars to attend the 2008 National Conference on Volunteering and Service June 1-3 in Atlanta. Organized by the Points of Light & Hands On Network and the Corporation for National and Community Service, this annual gathering of volunteer and service leaders is the largest and most prestigious of its kind... and an event you absolutely do not want to miss!

Volunteering and service are powerful ways to address our nation's toughest social problems and build healthier communities. The 2008 National Conference will offer fresh ideas and practical tools to strengthen your volunteer and service program. It's a great place to network with other volunteer professionals and to learn techniques that work. You'll be inspired, connected, informed, and energized.

The 2008 program will also include a number of special events, such as the Senior Corps National Conference, which brings together more than 1,300 Senior Corps project directors, and the annual AmeriCorps Grantee Meeting. So mark your calendars today and join us in Atlanta, a spirited and historic city that is home to some of our nation's leading social justice and volunteer leaders and organizations. For information and updates, visit VolunteeringandService.org.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please submit workshop proposals on the website by November 16, 2007.

See you in Atlanta!

http://www.nationalservice.gov/emails/email_07_1024.htm

8. Updated AmeriCorps State Program Officer Portfolios

We’ve had some new faces join our team in the last six months. Attached is a copy of the current portfolios for program officers.

• 2008 Allocations for Commissions (54 KB PDF)
• 2007-2008 National Direct Sites (271 KB PDF)
• Draft Progress Report Instructions (162 KB PDF)
• ACS Portfolio Alignment with Phone Numbers (29 KB PDF)