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Message from Acting Director Lois Nembhard
As the calendar year ends, we thank you for your high degree of engagement, commitment, and partnership over this past year. It has been a landmark year, with the enactment of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act (SAA), a 37% increase in funding for FY 2010, and the dawn of a new era for national service. We especially appreciate your willingness to participate in working groups, provide comment, and engage in dialogue as we prepare for growth. We look forward to continuing to work together to implement the provisions of the SAA in 2010 and beyond.
This Update focuses on the SAA in order to remind you of the provisions that are in effect and that should be incorporated into your programs, and to provide you with an implementation update. I will be out of the office December 15 through January 6. I hope that you will be able take some time off to reflect on the amazing year that we have experienced and to replenish for the work that is ahead of us. We wish you a warm holiday season with friends and family, and a productive New Year.
Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act Update
Fifteen working groups, an executive steering committee, and a day-to-day management team continue to work together to implement the provisions of the SAA. On December 10, Learn and Serve America issued their Notice of Federal Funding Opportunity (Notice) for institutions of higher education. In October, they released the Notice for the new Summer of Service Competition.
The Office of General Counsel is drafting a new rule which focuses on changes to the National Service Trust that will happen as a result of SAA. We expect that this rule will be published for public comment in January. And we expect the Social Innovation Fund Notice to be published on our web site and in the Federal Register for public input prior to final publication in the next weeks. We will continue to keep you updated on SAA implementation activities.
National Performance Measures: Participating in the Pilot, Step-by-Step
As you all know, we have released the amended 2010 Notice, which includes information on fixed-amount grants and the National Performance Measures Pilot. We recognize that the timing for the release of the performance measures is far less than optimal, particularly for state commissions with their own deadlines past or fast approaching. Here is a summary of how to participate in the National Performance Measures Pilot, emphasizing what eGrants tools will be available at what point in the process.
Now: Applicants may select from the five SAA priorities, or choose Other on the first performance measure screen in eGrants. Additionally, in their narrative, applicants must indicate whether or not they are opting in to the National Performance Measures Pilot and include outputs and outcomes. If they are opting in to the pilot, then the outputs and outcomes included in the narrative must be selected from the pilot measures.
After January 14: Applicants will be able to indicate that they are opting in to the National Performance Measures Pilot on the first performance measure screen in eGrants. We recognize that this is very late in your application processes. Applications that do not complete this step will not be penalized.
During post-review pre-award clarification: Applicants will enter self-nominated measures in the eGrants performance measure fields, or select from pre-filled fields if they have opted in to the National Performance Measures Pilot.
A replay of the AmeriCorps National Performance Measures conference call that was conducted on December 8 is available through December 30 at 866-428-3806, passcode: 7864.
A replay of the State Commission National Performance Measures conference call that was conducted on December 16 is available through December 30, 2009 at 888-566-0397, passcode: PM CALL.
New National Performance Measures Pilot FAQs are available here.
Single Competition and State Commission Input
Commissions should currently be fielding calls and emails from multi-state programs who are interested in operating in their states. Commissions should be responding based on the consultation process they have put in place that might utilize the form developed by the working group. The multi-state applicants need to hear back from the commissions prior to the January 26 deadline because they need to describe the consultation in their application to the Corporation. However, more extensive discussions may continue in the following months.
Section 1311 of the SAA, Consideration of Applications, specifies that state commissions will provide input on national applications in their state:
(f) Views of State Commission—In making competitive awards under section 129(d), the Corporation shall solicit and consider the views of a State Commission regarding any application for assistance to carry out a national service program within the State.
In February, we will provide each commission with a list of national programs that propose to operate in their state, based on the multi-state applications that we receive. In early March, prior to the clarification period, you will be able to access a new screen in eGrants where you can enter your input on these applications. Application IDs and Legal Applicant name will be filled in for you. You will indicate if you support, are neutral, or do not support the application. As a reminder, while commission input is desired and will be considered, it is not determinative.
Serve America Act Provisions in Effect Now
Please keep in mind—and adjust program policies, procedures, practices, monitoring, and materials accordingly—that the following provisions of the Serve America Act have been in effect since October 1, 2009:
- Persons convicted of murder are ineligible to serve as AmeriCorps members.
- All members serving in a tutoring program must have a high school diploma.
- Tutoring programs must align with state and local standards for curriculum and training.
- Members enrolling on or after October 1, 2009 may serve in a full-time term for fewer than nine months.
- Members may not provide abortion services or make referrals to such services, including members enrolled prior to October 1, 2009.
- Programs must perform criminal background checks on all members enrolled on or after October 1, 2009, regardless of whether the member has recurring access to vulnerable populations.
- Programs may extend terms of service for members serving in positions related to disaster relief for disaster purposes for up to 90 days with CNCS approval.
- Programs have the responsibility for determining whether to release a member for compelling personal circumstances and documenting the reason for release. To be released for compelling personal circumstances a member must have performed satisfactorily and completed at least 15% of their term.
- State commissions must include a representative of the volunteer sector.
Clarification: Same Project
Recently the Corporation issued guidance on managing the new single AmeriCorps State and National Direct competition with regards to the regulatory limitation on submitting more than one application to the Corporation at the same time. In that guidance, we indicate an intention to uphold this longstanding regulatory limitation, in order to prevent an applicant from receiving more than one grant under the national service laws for the same project. This means that State Commissions cannot submit any application to the Corporation for competitive funding that is also included in a multi-state application, and reminds multi-state organizations to consider this limitation when determining whether to submit an application to a State Commission.
Here is the guidance:
According to the Regulations (§ 2522.320):
You may submit more than one application for the same project only if:
(a) You submit the applications in separate competitions (i.e., National Direct, State, Education Award Program); and
(b) You disclose in each application that you have submitted another application for the same project to the Corporation.
Since the National Direct and State Competitive are no longer separate competitions, a State Commission may not forward an application to the Corporation for competitive funding that it knows is included in a multi-state application for the same competition. Organizations with multi-state AmeriCorps programs (other than an EAP and Indian Tribes application) should keep this in mind when determining whether to submit an application to a state commission. A State Commission may fund such a project through formula funds. However, as before, a project will not be funded twice. Here is a list of the competitions which are considered different from one another:
- AmeriCorps State and National, including Professional Corps and fixed-amount grants other than EAP
- State Formula
- States and Territories without Commissions
- State and National EAPs
- State and National Planning
- Indian Tribes
Please see below for the regulatory language on how to determine whether two projects are the same.
§ 2522.340 How will I know if two projects are the same?
The Corporation will consider two projects to be the same if the Corporation cannot identify a meaningful difference between the two projects based on a comparison of the following characteristics, among others:
(a) The objectives and priorities of the projects;
(b) The nature of the services provided;
(c) The program staff, participants, and volunteers involved;
(d) The geographic locations in which the services are provided;
(e) The populations served; and
(f) The proposed community partnerships.
Grants in continuation are encouraged to apply for a new fixed-amount grant, but you are not allowed to simultaneously apply for your continuation grant. If your application does not meet the criteria for a new fixed-amount grant, the Corporation reserves the right to fund your application as a continuation of your current grant instead. In these cases, continuation grantees can expect continuation funding subject to meeting the Corporation’s normal standards of adequate performance and availability of funds.
Recovery Reporting Update
The new extended reporting schedule for the January 1512 reports has been posted officially on federalreporting.gov. Grantees will have until January 15 (not the 10th) to submit their initial 1512 reports. The formal agency review period begins January 23.
On December 16, we sent out draft guidance which includes new instructions on calculating number of jobs in this report. Two conference calls were held with Recovery grant recipients to review the draft guidance on December 16th and 18th. To listen to recordings of the calls:
- Call #1 Replay Number: 800-841-8615 (available until Jan. 16, 2010)
- Call #2 Replay Number: 800-839-4516 (available until Jan. 18, 2010)
We will notify you as soon as the guidance is finalized, and post it on our web site.
The report on progress toward your performance objectives is due to the Corporation on Saturday, January 30. We will send the customized progress report spreadsheets to Recovery grantees by mid-January.
State Commission Admin Funding Update
The Corporation is currently awarding partial commission administrative awards. Now that the budget has passed, we will issue a revised allocation chart in the near future. We will award the remainder of the commission grants in late February and March, after we receive the FFRs due January 31 and determine the amount of unexpended funds to deduct from any 2010 continuation awards. We also expect to provide guidance later this month on how to request the alternative match schedule in hardship cases.
Portal Release Notes
The following improvements were made to the MyAmeriCorps portal and released on December 17, 2009:
- The selection screen for applicants now includes 1) an overall recommendation for whether the program selects or rejects the applicant for service and 2) a program certification that eligibility documentation for the applicant has been reviewed against the grant requirements, that the applicant is eligible to serve as an AmeriCorps member, and that member eligibility documentation is available in the member file.
- The member part of the enrollment process now includes required fields related to educational attainment. The member’s self-certification of educational attainment in My AmeriCorps meets the educational attainment eligibility requirement.
- Programs can now bypass the member exit certifications in situations where the member refuses or is unable to self-certify the exit. When bypassing the member-certified exit, the program user must certify that the member did not certify his/her own exit in spite of program due diligence to attain the member-certified exit. The program must document in the member file its efforts to obtain the member-certified exit or include an explanation for why a member-certified exit was impossible to obtain.
Dates to Remember
- January 10, 2010 - ARRA FFR due
- January 15, 2010 - ARRA 1512 Quarterly report due
- January 18, 2010 - MLK Jr. Day of Service
- January 26, 2010 - Planning Grant Deadline, State and National Competitive deadline
- January 30, 2010 - ARRA progress report due
- January 31, 2010 - Admin, PDAT, and Disability FFRs due
- May 1, 2010 - Notification Date Estimate for Planning Grant Competitions
- May 9-15, 2010 - AMERICORPS WEEK!
- Early June, 2010 - Notification Date Estimate for State and National Competitions
- July 6, 2010 - Latest date for State Formula submissions
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