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Message from the Director
If you are here in Washington, DC for the December Commission meeting, I hope the meeting has been productive for you! And if you are a National grantee, or a State grantee who were not able to attend, I hope that this copy of the Policy Update will cover some of the topics that we have been discussing during this meeting.
In particular, I invite you to provide public comment on the new AmeriCorps rule. You will find attached a side-by-side document that describes the technical fixes and minor changes we are making through this rulemaking. Although this rulemaking is not as far-reaching as the 2005 rulemaking, we hope that you take the opportunity to carefully consider the provisions in the new rule, and let us know what you think.
Please provide your comments via e-mail addressed to americorpsrulemaking@cns.gov or provide your comments, in writing to Amy Borgstrom, who is managing the docket. We will convene one more conference call in order to facilitate comment making in mid-January before the January 18 deadline.
Updated: WBRS Transition Resources
We have updated the online space for resources related to the WBRS transition. Click here to view.
This resource page includes links to templates and tools that your colleagues have shared, as well as FAQs developed on the basis of questions asked during our conference calls. Please feel free to contribute additional resources to this page. We have added some sample timesheets and a training plan, and resources developed by members of the Pacific Cluster, and shared during their recent regional conference.
The electronic mailboxes for comments and best practices are still open for business. If you have an idea for a potential best practice, or a method you are already using that is working well for timekeeping or subgrantee financial or progress reporting, please send an e-mail with a summary of the method to ReportingPractice@cns.gov. If you have questions or concerns that you want to raise please send an e-mail with your question or concern to ReportingQuestion@cns.gov.
Dates to Remember
January 8, 2008, 5:00 pm EST:
State and national new and continuation applications due
May 11-18, 2008:
AmeriCorps Week
June 1-3, 2008:
National Conference, Atlanta
July 7, 2008, 5:00 pm EST:
State formula grants due
Policies and Policy FAQs Online
If you go to Manage Current Grants and Projects from the americorps.gov page you will find a new set of AmeriCorps Policies and Policy FAQs that you can search. This website is designed to help you get answers to your questions quickly. It will be revised and updated on a regular basis. It consists of Qs and As from years past, the material published in this Policy Update, all cleared policies, and sets of FAQs created and distributed on other topics such as evaluation and the state service plan. It also includes the chart on third terms that was a useful reference in the old Program Director’s Handbook. Let us know if this new resource is useful to you. Our next step will be to create a similar searchable reference for “how to” information.
If you have questions about these Policies and Policy FAQs, please address them to PolicyQuestions@cns.gov or call (202) 606-6930.
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Policy Briefs: Revised 2007 Provisions
We have re-issued the 2007 Provisions and EAP Provisions with three corrections.
Section IV. B. AFFILIATION WITH THE AMERICORPS NATIONAL SERVICE NETWORK.
3. AmeriCorps Service Gear – The requirement that the grantee not use Corporation funds to purchase local program service gear was changed to “All member service gear purchased with federal funds is required to include the AmeriCorps logo.”
Section IV. C. MEMBER ENROLLMENT
7. Criminal Background Checks – A sentence was added noting the change in requirements after November 23, 2007.
Section IV. F. Changes in Member Status:
2. Changing Slot Types – The requirement for prior approval for changing slot types was deleted.
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Criminal Background Checks:
Process for Requesting an Alternative Procedure
Remember that the Corporation’s new regulations on Criminal Background Checks went into effect on November 23. The regulations, FAQs, and the process for requesting an alternative procedure can be found here.
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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.
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AmeriCorps Rulemaking II
Side By Side List of Changes
| Topic |
Current |
Final Proposed Rule |
| Member evaluations |
Grantees must evaluate members at mid- and end of term. |
Removes the mid-term evaluation requirement for those members who leave service early. Adds language to preamble about the structure and documentation of the evaluation. Adds language stating that completion of service hours isn’t necessary for satisfactory service and that release for cause is not a per se disqualification from serving a second term. |
| Performance measurement |
Grantees are required to report on outputs at the end of the first year, outputs and intermediate outcomes at the end of the second year, and outputs, intermediate outcomes, and end outcomes by the end of year three. |
Changes requirement so that grantees must report on outputs at the end of the first year and outputs and intermediate outcomes in years two or three, but are not required to report on end outcomes. |
| National service insignia |
Restrictions are focused on grantees |
Clarifies that the use of national service insignia is subject to Corporation approval. |
| False or misleading statements |
Potential gaps in ability to recover funds improperly received. |
Adds provision stating that an individual who makes a materially false or misleading statement is subject to having the benefit forfeited and the qualification revoked. |
| Inspector General access to grantee records |
IG was not included in one government-wide regulation’s list of those with access to grantee records. |
Adds IG to list. |
| State service plans |
Regulations include overlapping requirements that go beyond statute |
Codifies one list of requirements streamlined to match statute. |
In addition to these substantive changes, the proposed rule will also codify long-standing grant provisions or other practices, and make technical changes in the following areas:
| Topic |
Final Proposed Rule |
| Definition of Participant |
Adds “member” to regulations as synonymous with “participant.” |
| Prohibited Activities |
Codifies voter registration drives in regulatory list of prohibited activities (omitted in earlier rulemaking). |
| Living Allowance Disbursement |
Codifies long-standing rules relating to the distribution of the living allowance (not a wage, regular payments, no lump sum payment) |
| Living Allowance Waiver |
Codifies long-standing permission for an individual to waive receipt of the living allowance |
| Civil Rights |
Codifies notice requirements and language on the right to file a complaint. |
| State Commission Membership |
Aligns State Commission membership requirements to the statute. |
| Prohibition on Split-funded Project |
Clarifies definition of “same project” and codifies current practice of allowing applicants to submit more than one applicant for the same project with the understanding that only one may be funded. |
| Small state minimum and timeframe for formula requests (non regulatory issue) |
Beginning in FY 2008, the deadline will be earlier. Any unrequested funds remaining after the deadline will be reallocated to small states whose initial allocations are less than $500,000 and for other authorized purposes, as appropriate. |
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