AmeriCorps


AmeriCorps is a voluntary civil society program supported by the U.S. federal government, foundations, corporations, and other donors that engages adults in public service work with a goal of "helping others and meeting critical needs in the community." Members commit to full-time or part-time positions offered by a network of nonprofit community organizations and public agencies, to fulfill assignments in the fields of education, public safety, health care, and environmental protection. The program is often seen as a domestic Peace Corps. It employs more than 75,000 Americans in intensive service each year.
AmeriCorps is an initiative of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which also oversees the Senior Corps and the formerly-funded Learn and Serve America. It was created under President Bill Clinton by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993, incorporating VISTA and the National Civilian Community Corps. A third division, AmeriCorps State and National, provides grants to hundreds of local community organizations throughout the United States.
The program first became operational in 1994 and has expanded over time, with over 80,000 members participating annually as of 2012. Members may be provided low financial compensation in the form of cost-of-living allowances, student loan deferment, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and the Americorps Education Award. Less tangible benefits include professional skill development and work experience. An internal study found that participation in AmeriCorps strengthened civic attitudes and sentiment, making members more likely to choose careers in public service.

Programs

AmeriCorps V. I. S. T. A

AmeriCorps VISTA, or Volunteers in Service to America, was founded in 1965 as a domestic version of the Peace Corps. The program was incorporated into AmeriCorps and renamed AmeriCorps*VISTA with the creation of AmeriCorps in 1993. VISTA provides full-time members to nonprofit, faith-based and other community organizations, and public agency to create and expand programs that ultimately bring low-income individuals and communities out of poverty. There are currently over 5,000 VISTA members serving in 1,200 VISTA programs nationwide.

AmeriCorps NCCC

AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps is a full-time, residential team-based program for men and women ages 18-24. Members serve at one of four regional campuses located throughout the United States. Each campus focuses efforts on states within its region but may travel to other areas in response to national crises. Former campuses were located in Washington, DC; Charleston, SC; San Diego, CA; Baltimore, MD; and Perry Point, MD.

AmeriCorps State and National

AmeriCorps State and National is the largest of the AmeriCorps programs, and provides grants to local and national organizations and agencies, including faith-based and community organizations, higher education institutions, and public agency. Grants assist these groups in recruiting, training and placing AmeriCorps members to meet critical community needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment. AmeriCorps State operates through Service Commissions in each state, such as Volunteer Florida and the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service; South Dakota is the only state without a Service Commission. Each state's Service Commission dispenses funding from the Corporation for National and Community Service to organizations in their states through annual grant competitions. Thousands of organizations across the nation have been awarded AmeriCorps State and National grants since the program's inception.
AmeriCorps State and National members engage in direct service activities, such as after-school tutoring or homebuilding, and capacity-building activities, such as volunteer recruitment, for the organizations they serve. After successfully completing their term of service, AmeriCorps State and National members may be eligible for an Education Award of up to $6,095 or equal to the full Pell Grant for the year in which service was approved. The Education Award can pay for additional college or graduate school courses, or it can pay off existing student loans. Full-time members typically complete 1,700 hours of service over 11 months; these members additionally receive a living allowance, health benefits, and child care assistance during their term.

Participating organizations

According to the AmeriCorps website, since the creation of AmeriCorps in 1993 more than 250,000 individuals across the United States have served hundreds of communities in every state of the nation. Some of the programs, organizations, and institutions partnering with AmeriCorps include Communities In Schools, Jumpstart for Young Children, Public Allies, Citizen Schools, City Year, YouthBuild. Youth Volunteer Corps, YMCA, International Rescue Committee, Hands On Mississippi, Notre Dame Mission Volunteers - AmeriCorps, Girl Scouts of the USA, Boy Scouts of America, Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Camp Fire, College Forward, New York City Coalition Against Hunger, Habitat for Humanity, American Red Cross, the Student Conservation Association, Project Transformation, Reading Partners, FoodCorps, Minnesota Reading Corps, Teach For America, SBP, and Virginia Community Corps.

Effectiveness

While discussion has occurred about the range and efficacy of evaluating the successes of AmeriCorps, there has been a variety of documentation supporting the program. AmeriCorps provided fiscal and personnel to support the start-up of national programs, including Public Allies and Teach For America. It also brought vital resources to established programs, including City Year, Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and the American Red Cross.
AmeriCorps is reported to increase the effectiveness of community service. Successes for individual AmeriCorps members include increasing their commitment to community service, increasing community-based activism, connection to their communities, knowledge of community problems, engagement in the political process, and voting participation.
Additionally, according to a 2007 study released by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a majority of AmeriCorps alumni within the study period claimed they had gained life and job skills, such as leadership, teamwork, time-management, and hands-on experience in a field of interest. The study further reported that 71% of alumni were incentivized to join by the prospect of earning a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award; 41% of AmeriCorps members went on to receive a 4-year college degree within three years of entering AmeriCorps.

Member pledge

AmeriCorps members take the same Oath of Service as other federal government employees.
VISTA members take the following oath:
I,, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter.
AmeriCorps members take the following pledge:
The 2002 Citizen Service Act, introduced by Representatives Pete Hoekstra and Tim Roemer on May 24, 2002, would have added references to God and the Constitution to the oath. AmeriCorps members would be called upon to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States...without any mental reservation...So help me God."
Those who supported changing the oath argued that taking the new oath would be voluntary for AmeriCorps members, and that it was similar to the oath taken by all federal employees. However, the proposal stirred an outcry among current and former participants in the federally supported community service organization, who argued that the proposed pledge was divisive, "militaristic and religious," and might deter recruitment.
Although the Citizen Service Act was approved by both the Subcommittee on Special Education and the Committee on Education and the Workforce in June 2002, the House of Representatives took no further action on the measure, and the oath remains unchanged.