Breadcrumb
- Federal Resources
Federal Resources
AmeriCorps
Each year, AmeriCorps offers 75,000 opportunities for young people of all backgrounds to serve through a network of partnerships with local and national nonprofit groups.
AmeriCorps
AmeriCorps (formerly the Corporation for National and Community Service) brings people together to tackle the country’s most pressing challenges, through national service and volunteering. AmeriCorps is the only federal agency tasked with elevating service and volunteerism in America. AmeriCorps provides opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to give their time and talent to strengthen communities across the country. By bringing people together to serve communities, AmeriCorps is making service to others an indispensable part of the American experience. AmeriCorps offers individuals and organizations flexible ways to make a local impact through several key programs: State and National, VISTA, NCCC, Foster Grandparents, Senior Companions, RSVP, and Volunteer Generation Fund, along with initiatives including 9/11 and MLK Day of Service.
AmeriCorps: National Mentoring Month
Provides information on National Mentoring Month which has occurred annually in January since 2002. Additional resources about mentoring and National Mentoring Month are available.
FEMA Corps
FEMA Corps is a partnership between FEMA and the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) program. FEMA Corps is a unique, team-based service program that gives 18‐24‐year‐old participants the opportunity to serve communities impacted by disaster while gaining professional development experience.
FEMA Corps members live, work, and travel in dedicated teams and serve for 12 months with an option to extend for a second term. They gain training and experience while providing important support to disaster survivors and communities. They also earn a modest living stipend during their service and receive an education award upon completion of the program.
Four Colleges and Universities Earn Presidential Honor for Community Service
766 higher education institutions were named to the 2014 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. Four received the President’s award, the highest honor a college or university can receive, for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning, and civic engagement.
Minnesota Reading Corps Evaluation Shows AmeriCorps Boosts Childhood Literacy
CNCS funded a two-part independent evaluation of its Minnesota Reading Corps program, the largest AmeriCorps tutoring program, which provides evidence-informed interventions and data-driven assessments to children from age three to grade three. The evaluation revealed students tutored by AmeriCorps members were significantly more prepared for kindergarten than students without tutors, and AmeriCorps members helped students meet or exceed targets for kindergarten readiness in all five critical literacy skills assessed. Results also showed the program was effective across a range of settings and for all students, regardless of gender, race/ethnicity, or dual language learner status.
AmeriCorps Resource Center
The Knowledge Networks page, on the AmeriCorps website, provides training and technical assistance resources organized by focus area. It connects service programs with targeted training and information.
New Requirement to Record Your Indirect Cost Rate in eGrants
As part of the new Uniform Guidance for AmeriCorps award and grants, recipients must record the indirect cost method and rates they will be using on their awards. AmeriCorps has created a feature in eGrants for recipients to record the method they will be using to apply their indirect costs to all awards.
National Service-Learning Clearinghouse
The National Service-Learning Clearinghouse (NSLC) supports the service-learning community in higher education, kindergarten through grade twelve, community-based organizations, tribal programs, and all others interested in strengthening schools and communities using service-learning.
Seniorcorps - Foster Grandparent Program
The Seniorcorps Foster Grandparent website offers information on becoming a foster grand parent. As a foster grandparent, you're a role model and friend. Serving at one of thousands of local organizations, you help children learn to read, provide one-on-one tutoring, and guide children at a critical time in their lives.
ServiceWorks
As part of a partnership called Pathways to Progress, CNCS and the Citi Foundation have created ServiceWorks, a program that will deploy 225 Americorps VISTA members in 10 cities to help build large-scale volunteer programs that address the crisis of low college and career attainment.
The Mentoring Effect
This blog entry from AmeriCorps (formerly the Corporation for National and Community Service) highlights federal initiatives that promote mentoring as well as recent research on the benefits of mentoring for at risk youth.
Updates to Knowledge Network and Resources
Formerly a stand-alone technical assistance website, the Knowledge Network, which offers resources on many CNCS focus areas, is now housed directly on the CNCS website. Additionally, eCourses available through the Knowledge Network Online Learning Center no longer require a log in for access.
United We Serve
Serve.gov is an online resource for not only finding volunteer opportunities in your community, but also creating your own.
Volunteering and Civic Life in America, 2014
“Volunteering and Civic Life in America, 2014” shows that 62.6 million Americans volunteered 7.7 billion hours in 2014 — holding an estimated value of $173 billion. Seventeen percent of respondents reported mentoring youth, and 19% reported tutoring or teaching young people.
Volunteering and Civic Life in America 2013
The report Volunteering and Civic Life in America, released by CNCS and the National Conference on Citizenship, found that 64.5 million Americans volunteered nearly 7.9 billion hours last year, illustrating the stable and strong state of volunteering among Americans of all generations. The report also found that volunteering among youth ages 16–19 has increased, up nearly 3 percent since 2007.
YouthBuild AmeriCorps: A Path Out of Poverty
This blog entry describes the experience, transformation, and success of the young people who participate in YouthBuild AmeriCorps. This program for youth born into low-income families provides them with the opportunity to work toward their high school equivalency diploma while learning job skills by building affordable housing.
Public -Private Partnership Launches New AmeriCorps Program to Help Communities Build Resilience
CNCS, DOE, EPA, NOAA, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Cities of Service announced a new commitment to launch the Resilience AmeriCorps pilot program. Resilience AmeriCorps will help communities plan and implement efforts necessary to become more resilient to shocks and stresses, including extreme weather and other impacts of climate change. AmeriCorps VISTA members will serve in up to 12 communities in 2015-2016 to support the development of resilience strategies.
Keeping Education Connected to National Service
This blog post outlines how AmeriCorps members, Senior Corps volunteers, and Social Innovation Fund grantees have helped students succeed, and introduces a new program called Operation AmeriCorps. Through this program, AmeriCorps member are working in select communities to boost attendance, hone students’ study skills, and organize college and career planning workshops.
Share with Youth: #IAmAmeriCorps Q&A with Lauren Rhoades
This profile highlights the experience of Lauren Rhoades, a young woman who served for two years with FoodCorps in Mississippi. Lauren shares about her experience, what she learned from her term of service, and her plans for the future.
Reports: AmeriCorps NCCC and FEMA Corps Deployment
AmeriCorps NCCC and FEMA Corps is a 10-month, full-time, team-based residential service program for young adults who want to give back to communities in need. These deployment reports detail where teams are serving across the country, as well as which organizations, efforts, and initiatives they are currently supporting.
Archived Webinar: Performance Partnership Pilots (P3) Round 2 Bidders Conference
This archived webinar presents details of the Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) for the second round (FY 2015) of Performance Partnership Pilots for Disconnected Youth (P3), including application requirements and selection criteria for potential applicants.
Resource: Mentor.gov
This website features the Mentoring Connector tool, the only national database of youth mentoring programs vetted for quality standards and operated by MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership. The site also includes information about the My Brother’s Keeper Initiative and a public service announcement featuring President Obama and NBA star Steph Curry.
Resource: Final Round of Promise Zone Communities
This resource identifies the final nine designations of the President’s Promise Zone initiative. Promise Zones are high poverty areas selected to work with the federal government to improve local job and economic growth, bolster educational opportunities, and reduce crime.
Resource: Evidence Exchange
This digital repository holds research, evaluation reports, and data focusing on national service, social innovation, civic engagement, and volunteering. AmeriCorps grantees, partners, and communities can use this repository in their work to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement. The types of evidence included in the repository range from impact and implementation evaluations to outcome reports and case studies.