Dear Colleagues,

The Corporation’s Final Rule on criminal history checks was published in the Federal Register, Vol. 72, No.164, Page 48574, Friday, August 24, 2007. This rule amendsthe AmeriCorps regulations found in the Code of Federal Regulations Parts 2522 and 2540, respectively. The new rule goes into effect November 23, 2007, and covers all AmeriCorps volunteers, as well as all grant-funded employees of these programs who have access, on a recurring basis, to children, individuals age 60 and older,or individuals with disabilities.

The Corporation has created a website where grantees can access information on the Final Rule: http://www.nationalservice.gov/for_organizations/manage/history_checks.asp.
At the website are the following resources:

• A link to the Final Rule
• Frequently Asked Questions

TheFinal Rule as publishedincludes a discussionof the background of this newfederal requirement, asummary and response to the comments received on the draft rule published in October 2006, and the specific amendments to theSenior Companion and Foster GrandparentProgramregulations.

AmeriCorps will contact State and National grantees as soon as the amendments have been incorporated in the on-line Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR), which usually occurs a few days after publication in the Federal Register, so that they can download the fully amended version of the regulations.