AmeriCorps Orientation
Get Things Done for America
A few terms before we get started
• What is AmeriCorps? What is a Term of
Service?
• Who is the Corporation for National and
Community Service?
• How does AmeriCorps fit with Bonner?
Fast Fact: AmeriCorps members have served more than
774 million hours
What is AmeriCorps?
• A National Service Program (Domestic Peace
Corps)
• Federally funded, locally implemented
• Members complete Terms of Service
– A Term of Service is a commitment of hours to direct
service and training
– Terms of Service run from 1 to 2 years
• Participants receive an Education Award at the
completion of their Term of Service
Fast Fact: There has been more than 637,000 AmeriCorps
members since 1994
AmeriCorps
Rooted in America’s Tradition of Service
1933: Civilian Conservation Corps
1961: Peace Corps
1964: VISTA
1993: The Corporation for
National and Community
Service and AmeriCorps
2009: Serve America Act
Corporation for National and
Community Service & AmeriCorps
The Corporation for National and Community Service is the federal
agency that improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic
engagement through service and volunteering. The Corporation
administers three main programs:
• Senior Corps: 450,000
Americans 55+
• AmeriCorps: 85,000 members
• Learn and Serve America:
1.5 million students in
service-learning
Serve America Act
• Signed into law April 21, 2009
• Landmark legislation to expand service
• Expands AmeriCorps to 250,000 members by 2017
• Priority focus on education, health, environment, veterans, and
economic opportunity
What do AmeriCorps members do?
Meet critical needs across America!
AmeriCorps aims to meet
three different goals
Getting
Things Done
Developing
Participants
Strengthening
Communities
Who Benefits from AmeriCorps?
We All Do
•
Youth, Seniors, and Others In Need benefit from the tutoring,
mentoring, health, housing, and other services members provide.
•
Communities benefit from having better schools, safer streets, more
affordable housing, a cleaner environment, and more engaged
citizens.
•
Organizations gain from having more reach and impact: 92% of
sponsoring groups say members helped increase how many people
they served to a large or moderate extent.
•
Members acquire leadership and career skills, earn money for
college, and learn how to be active citizens.
Fast Fact: AmeriCorps members have earned $1.77 Billion in
Segal AmeriCorps Education Award.
AmeriCorps Today
Three Programs
AmeriCorps
State/National
AmeriCorps
VISTA
AmeriCorps
NCCC
Bonner AmeriCorps
• Administered by the Bonner Foundation in
partnership with the College of New Jersey
• Offered at more than 50 Bonner Campuses,
including ours!
Fast Fact: More than 2.4 million volunteers were mobilized by
AmeriCorps members in 2009
Eligibility Requirements
• Must be 17 years of age or older
• Must have a High School Diploma or
Equivalency, or must be working
towards the GED
• Must be a U.S. Citizen or Permanent
Resident of the U.S.
• Government Documents
Required: State-Issued Birth
Certificate; unexpired U.S.
Passport; or Permanent
Residency Card
What Do (Bonner) AmeriCorps
Members Receive?
Half-Time
Quarter-Time
Minimum-Time
Members
Members
Members
900 Hours of
450 Hours of
300 Hours of
Service
Service
Service
Education Award Education Award Education Award
= $2,675
= $1,415
= $1,132.28
Two-year term
One-year term
One-year term
(minus one day) (minus one day) (minus one day)
Now for the
nitty-gritty of
AmeriCorps…
Rules of Conduct
AmeriCorps Members are limited to two full-time terms of service in a
lifetime.
Breakdown of Service Hours:
• At least 80% of your hours must be devoted to service
• No more than 20% of your hours can be done in Training and Enrichment
(T&E) activities
• No more than 10% of total hours can be devoted to fundraising
– Granting writing or fundraising for operational expenses is prohibited;
however, you can be involved in grant writing for specific service
projects, solicit in-kind donations, and organize education events that
also serve as fundraisers (i.e. hunger banquets)
What is “community service?”
Bonner defines service as “service provided to
individuals or communities to meet social,
educational, or environmental needs.”
Prohibited Activities
The following activities will not count towards your term of service:
– Service outside the country or with an agency that is internationally
focused
– Attempting to influence legislation or the outcomes of an election to
any public office
– Organizing or engaging in protests, petitions, boycotts, or strikes
and/or assisting, prompting, or deterring union organizing
– Engaging in religious instruction or proselytizing, and/or working for an
agency that puts religious education/proselytizing at the forefront of
its mission
– Work for a for-profit entity or provide services that directly benefit a
for-profit entity
– Coordinating or participating in Voter Registration drives
– Providing abortion services or referrals for such services
– Displacing current employees
– Direct service that is paid through an hourly wage other than Federal
Work-Study
Prohibited Activities Cheat Sheet
AmeriCorps Service Red Flags:
• International
• For-Profit
• Political
• Religious
• Labor issues
Suspension
• May be eligible for a leave of absence from AmeriCorps for a
“Personal and Compelling” circumstance:
–
–
–
–
Personal or family illness
Military service
Academic programs abroad
Leave of absence from school
• Essentially “freezes” your term of service
– Cannot count/log any hours during the period of the suspension
• All hour logs up until the suspension must be turned in
• The Foundation must receive a suspension form no later than 25
days after the date of requested suspension
• A Request for Reinstatement Form must be submitted no later than
25 days after the reinstatement date
• A suspension cannot last longer than two years from the date of
suspension
Exiting for Personal and Compelling Circumstances
• A participant who is released for Personal and
Compelling Circumstances AND who has completed 15
percent of his or her required term of service is eligible
for a pro-rated Education Award.
• The situation must be absolutely beyond the member’s
control
• Members wishing to exit with a partial Award must:
– Update and submit any missing hour logs
– Complete and submit an exit form
– Send a letter explaining the Personal and Compelling
Circumstances
Release for Cause
• Release for cause encompasses any circumstance
other than Personal and Compelling Circumstances,
this includes:
–
–
–
–
Personal decision to leave the program
Termination from the program due to inactivity
Convicted of a felony
Convicted of the sale or distribution of a controlled
substance during a term of service
• Members released for cause will not receive any
portion of the education award and must disclose
this fact in any subsequent applications to participate
in an AmeriCorps program.
Exiting with Full-Award
Send in your Exit Form to
the Foundation within 20
days of the last day of
service
The Bonner Foundation
…
Complete service
accomplishments in
BWBRS
Set-up a time to do an
end of service evaluation
and exit interview
Does a “scrub” of your
entire file and submits it
to the Corporation for
National and Community
Service
Turn in all hour logs (with
appropriate signatures)
Double-check all of the
hours you have served
Complete an exit form to
be turned in with final
hour log
I will then …
Once you have logged
your 900-hours you must
…
You can access your
Education Award!
The Education Award
• The Education award can be used
to:
– Repay qualified existing or future
student loans,
– To pay all or part of the current cost
of attending a qualified institution
of higher education
– Pay current expenses while
participating in an approved schoolto-work program
• Important things to remember:
– You have 7 years to use the award
– It is taxable in the year that it is
used
– It may be paid out in increments
• The National Service Trust (which
holds the award) has an online
payment system. )
Time to Enroll!
Before we get started…
• You must use a pen
• If you make a mistake, neatly cross it out and make
the change – both you and I must initial the crossout
• Your Enrollment/Start Date is today August 25,
2011
• Your End Date is August 24, 2013 if you are
enrolling in a two-year, 900-hour term
• Reminder this is an official and binding contract;
read over everything carefully
• At any point, please let me know if you have any
questions
Member Application and Enrollment Form
• Fill-out:
– The Cover
– Member Application (page 2)
– Member Enrollment Form (pages 3-5)
Member Contract
• Fill out:
– Member Contract (pages 6-13) – read carefully!
• Helpful Info for you:
– Start Date: August 25, 2011
– End Date: August 24, 2013
– Campus administrator: Melissa Medeiros
Grievance Procedures (page 10)
In the event that informal efforts to resolve
disputes are unsuccessful, AmeriCorps members,
labor unions, and other interested individuals
may seek resolution through the grievance
procedures detailed on page 10 of the Member
Contract. These procedures are intended to apply
to service-related issues, such as assignments,
evaluations, suspensions, or release for cause, as
well as issues related to non-selection of
members, and displacement of employees, or
duplication of activities by AmeriCorps Members
Nondiscrimination Policy (page 12)
Participation in AmeriCorps is based on merit and equal
opportunity for all, without regard to factors such as
race, color, national origins, sex, sexual orientation,
religion, age, disability, political affiliation, marital or
parental status, military service, or religious,
community, or social affiliations
It is also unlawful to retaliate against any person who, or
organization that, files a complaint about such
discrimination. Each campus and/or service site that
receives the services of an AmeriCorps Member agrees
to abide by Federal laws and CNCS policies on Equal
Opportunity
Reasonable Accommodation (page 12)
Programs and activities must be accessible to
persons with disabilities, and the Bonner
AmeriCorps Program at your campus must
provide reasonable accommodation to the
known mental or physical disabilities of
otherwise qualified members, service recipients,
applicants, and staff.
All selections and project assignments must be
made without regard to the need to provide
reasonable accommodation
Bonner AmeriCorps Submission of
Documents Procedures (page 14)
Due to the high volume and detail of
documentation required to enroll members
and provide sufficient verification of
completion of a Member’s term, Bonner
AmeriCorps Program Staff have outlined
procedures for the proper submission of
documents. Adhering to these procedures will
help facilitate the successful completion of an
AmeriCorps Member’s term.
Drug-Free Workplace (page 15)
Consistent with the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988,
The Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation and The
College of New Jersey are committee to providing a
workplace that is free from the unlawful manufacture,
distribution, dispensation, possession, or use of
controlled substances
– Program members must notify the Bonner Program in
writing within five (5) calendar days, if he or she is
convicted of a criminal drug violation in the workplace
– Violations of the Drug-Free Workplace policy will result in
personnel action again the program member, up to and
including dismissal pursuant to The College of New Jersey
procedure relating to program member discipline
Prohibited Activities, Suspension Procedures,
and Emergency Notification (pages 16-17)
Please read through and fill-out related
information for :
– Prohibited Activities
– Suspension Procedures
– Emergency Notification
Informed Consent and Waiver of
Responsibility (page 18)
Bonner Foundation Staff, your Campus/Site Supervisor,
and the Corporation for National and Community
Service with your consent may:
• Release your name, interests, and any training you
have received
• Write a recommendation or give a verbal
recommendation for employment, etc. at the end of
your term of service.
• Photograph you at your service site for
recruitment/promotional purposes
NOTE: You may opt out by checking the box on page 18 of
the enrollment book.
Eligibility Documentation
Along with your completed Enrollment Workbook, you must:
• Submit a legible copy of a government-issued citizenship,
naturalization or resident alien documentation (e.g., stateissued birth certificate, permanent resident card, etc.) AND
a legible copy of government-issued photo ID (driver’s
license, state ID);
• OR, an unexpired US passport issued to you as a US citizen
Also, provide documentation of any legal name change
I will staple copies to the top of the page after I review your
Enrollment book
Almost there…
Please read through and complete the following sections:
• Bonner AmeriCorps Orientation Certification (page 19)
• Background Check Authorization (page 20)
• National Sex Offender Registry Check (page 21)
And finally, look through the book to make sure you have
signed every line, checked every box, and filled in all
the information needed to enroll you in AmeriCorps
Any Questions?