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Presentation Title: AmeriCorps: Get Involved, Give Back, Gain Skills, Earn an Ed Award and Obtain a Living Allowance! Featured Speakers: Paula Sotnik, Project Director, National Service Inclusion Project, Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston Robert Shogren, Director, Arizona Governor's Commission on Service and Volunteerism Jason Wheeler, Senior Program Manager, National Service Inclusion Project, Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston Amy Rocker, AmeriCorps Alumna & Commissioner for the Arizona Governor's Commission on Service and Volunteerism Description: When considering life after high school, national and community service presents an appealing option for students with disabilities. Whether the decision is to go on to college, get a job or both, a national service experience is a valuable place to develop skills, expand networks, and explore career options. This session will provide an informative overview of how an individual becomes a national service member or volunteer. This workshop will discuss how service can help young adults give back to their communities while simultaneously developing skills and experience, describe how service members can develop social networks and receive a living allowance, training and an Ed award, matched by 78 colleges and universities, to pay educational costs.TRANSCRIPT
Speakers (in order of presentation sequence)
Paula Sotnik, Director, National Service Inclusion Project, Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston
Robert Shogren, Director, Arizona Governor’s Commission on Service & Volunteerism
Jason Wheeler, Senior Program Manager, National Service Inclusion Project, Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston
Amy Rocker, AmeriCorps Alumna, Commissioner & Disability Navigator
For more information:The National Service Inclusion Project (NSIP) is training and technical assistance provider on disability inclusion, under a cooperative agreement (#08TAHMA001) from Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). NSIP partners with the Association on University Centers on Disability, National Council on Independent Living, Association on Higher Education and Disability and National Down Syndrome Congress to build connections between disability organizations and all CNCS grantees, including national directs, to increase the participation of people with disabilities in national service.
On the web: www.nationalservice.gov www.serviceandinclusion.org
Phone: 888-491-0326 (toll-free voice and TTY) Email: [email protected]
Questions:
What is the most important piece of information that you hope learn today?
What is your burning question?
The Corporation for National & Community Service (CNCS):
A federal agency established in 1993 and reauthorized in 2009, to provide opportunities for ALL Americans to give back to their communities through service and volunteering
The mission is to improve lives, strengthen communities and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering
Structured volunteer service opportunities are provided through three major programs: Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America. Many new programs to be established with the passage of the 2009 Kennedy Service Act
Federal Agency
VISTA LeadersHQSponsoring Agencies
Senior Corps
Foster GrandparentsSponsoring AgenciesState Offices
RSVPSponsoring AgenciesState Offices
Senior CompanionsSponsoring AgenciesState Offices
Nat’l Demonstration Projects
Nat’l Organizations
Sponsoring AgenciesAmeriCorps
Nat’l Demonstration Projects
HQNat’l Organizations
National, Regional & Local Projects
SE Region CampusNE Region CampusCentral Region CampusWestern Region CampusCapital Region Campus
State GrantsState Commissions
Ed Award Program GrantsState CommissionsNat’l OrganizationsTribes & Territories
Tribes & Territories Grants
National Directs GrantsNat’l Parent Organizations
* Sub-Grantees
* Sub-Grantees
Learn & Serve AmericaState Ed Agencies (K-12) Higher Ed InstitutionsCommunity-based OrgsTribes
Presidential Freedom
Scholarships
HS Jrs & Srs
Learn & Serve America
Nat’l S-L ClearinghouseAll S-L practitioners & researchers
AState & NationalAState & National
ANCCCANCCC
AVISTAAVISTA
Sponsoring Agencies
The National Service Network Programs & Partners
Local ProjectsSponsoring AgenciesState Offices
Connecting…
• Each State has a Corporation State Office that manages the AmeriCorps VISTA and Senior Corps projects in that State
• Each State has a State Service Commission that grants AmeriCorps funds to organizations in that State; many State Commissions have a “Disability Coordinator”
• More than 40 National Non-Profit Organizations receive AmeriCorps funds and operate AmeriCorps programs across multiple States
For detailed information on any of the above please go to: www.nationalservice.gov
Thousands of people with disabilities serve (or have served) in the CNCS three major programs: AmeriCorps, Senior Corps and Learn and Serve America.
Did you know…
Why should we promote service and volunteering?
•National Service or community volunteering is one path to preparing to become … something •…or to change course and become … something else
Why Volunteer Volunteering Improves Lives
• People who volunteer improve their lives and make a difference in the lives of those they help
• People who volunteer are significantly more likely to be happy and satisfied with their lives.
[CNCS AmeriCorps Longitudinal Study 2008]
Why Volunteer
Service Members and Volunteers
• Increase self-esteem & self-confidence• Feel needed and valued• Experience a sense of accomplishment• Can add this experience on a college application• Develop skills that are transferrable to many areas
of life, including PSE and/or employment • Expand social and professional networks
Why Volunteer
• Learn to assume leadership and responsibility• Develop a track record and demonstrate the
ability to complete tasks• Build experience and enhance resume-building
skills • Explore many career options
… stay tuned for additional benefits
CNCS and Disability Inclusion
• Each year the CNCS has, by statute, allocated approximately 5M for the active inclusion of individuals with disabilities in AmeriCorps *
• Funding has focused on three grant priority areas: – outreach– placement and reasonable accommodations and – training and technical assistance
* prior Serve America Act passage
On March 31, 2009 the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act to reauthorize the CNCS and its programs
through 2014
On April 21, 2009. President Obama signed the bill into law.
The 2009 Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act
• more explicitly and more frequently emphasizes a commitment to the inclusion of people with disabilities as active participants in all national service programs and volunteer opportunities…
Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act
Select Highlights• Increases money for outreach and placement
• Expands to all national service grant programs“…disability funds to any AmeriCorps State, AmeriCorps
National, Senior Corps and Learn and Serve America program funded under the 2009 Kennedy Serve America Act. … includes Education Award Programs, Indian tribes and U.S. Territories.”
Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act
• …collaborate with organizations with demonstrated expertise in supporting and accommodating individuals with disabilities, including institutions of higher education, to increase the number of participants with disabilities
• …provide and disseminate information regarding methods to make service-learning programs and programs offered under the national service laws accessible to individuals with disabilities
Select Highlights (cont…)
Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act
• …assistance to carry out a national service program shall include a non-profit organization promoting competitive and non-competitive sporting events which enhance the quality of life for individuals with disabilities
• …outreach to …agencies and organizations serving veterans and individuals with disabilities…
Select Highlights (cont…)
Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act
Expansion of AmeriCorps
• Sets AmeriCorps on a path to 250,000 positions by 2017
• Includes all approved national service positions
• Sets goal of 50% full-time
• Over 75,000 individuals of all ages and backgrounds serving this year• AmeriCorps programs provide human and other resources to community
organizations to build their capacity to meet local needs in: • Education• Environment• Public safety• Homeland security• Other critical areas
• AmeriCorps members recruit, train and manage an additional one million community volunteers
AmeriCorps
AmeriCorps State & National
AmeriCorps (AC) supports a broad range of local service programs that engage thousands of Americans in full or part-time volunteering to meet critical community needs. AmeriCorps program grants go to States, National Non-Profits, Indian Tribes and U.S. territories. Individuals 17 years or older, with a H.S. diploma/GED or working on one, or with an Independent Educational Assessment are eligible to apply
AC State and National members are eligible to receive a living allowance, health insurance, child care, and an education award upon successful completion of the service period. The HEART Act of 2008 made it possible for the living stipend to be disregarded as income for SSI eligibility purposes
Limited funds are available through State Service Commissions for reasonable accommodation
AmeriCorps VISTA
AmeriCorps VISTA provides full-time volunteers to community organizations and public agencies to create and expand programs that build capacity and ultimately bring low-income individuals and communities out of poverty.
AmeriCorps VISTA members or volunteers are eligible to receive a living allowance, health care, child care and an education award upon completion.
The VISTA living allowance is not regarded as income for purposes of SSI or SSDI eligibility
AmeriCorps NCCC
The AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) is a full-time residential program for men and women aged 18-24 that strengthens communities while developing leaders through direct, team-based national and community service.
NCCC members receive a living allowance, health care and an education award upon completion.
The HEART Act of 2008 made it possible for the living stipend to be disregarded as income for SSI eligibility purposes
More benefits for AmeriCorps Members…
1. Living Allowance- modest living stipend (11,000 – 12,000)
2. Education Award- full-time education award =$4,725 , prorated for less than FT (will
match Pell Grant $5,350.)- can be used for non-degree programs, alternative types of
schools and schools overseas- use in seven years- possibly serve more than two terms of service (rulemaking)
3. Health care4. Child care
http://www.nationalservice.gov/for_organizations/highered/ed_award_match.asp
National Service TrustServe America Act
• Individual may earn up to aggregate of two full-time education awards
• Amount will match Pell grant level• Expands uses of education award• 55+ may transfer to child, foster child, or
grandchild(currently in
rulemaking)
How to apply to become an AmeriCorps Member
Step One: www.americorps.gov
Step Two: Select Interest & State
Step Three: Browse Opportunities
Step Four: Select “Apply Now”
Step Five: Complete Online Application
Amy Rocker- AmeriCorps Alumna
-Commissioner, Arizona Governor’s Commission on Service & Volunteerism
- Disability Program Navigator
- Graduate Student
www.volunteeringandservice.org