Bonner AmeriCorps 101

AmeriCorps
101

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

What is AmeriCorps?

• A National Service Program
(Domestic Peace Corps)

• Members complete a Term of Service.

• A Term of Service is a commitment of hours to
direct service and training.

• Participants receive an Education Award at the
completion of their Term of Service.


What is AmeriCorps?

• Federally funded; Locally implemented.

• Beneﬁts the communities in which members serve
by meeting critical community needs.

• Beneﬁts members by educating them about their
community, citizenship, and by giving them means
to continue their education.

• A program of service not longer than 1 or 2 years
that has many regulations that must be
followed by organizations and members.


The National Service
Network
• Created in 1993, AmeriCorps is part of the
Corporation for National and Community Service
(CNCS), which also oversees Senior Corps and
Learn and Serve America.

• The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009 (Recovery Act), signed into law by President
Obama on February 17th, includes $201 million in
funding for CNCS to support an expansion of
AmeriCorps State and National and AmeriCorps
VISTA programs.


History

• 1930: President Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation
Corps (CCC) during the depression

• 1961: President Kennedy created the Peace Corps. Since
then, more than 150,000 Americans have served in the Peace
Corps

• 1964: President Johnson created VISTA (Volunteers in
Service to America) giving Americans opportunities to serve
low-income communities domestically

• 1960’s: The Foster Grandparent Program and RSVP are
created to enable older Americans to serve their
communities


History

• 1990: President Bush signed the National and Community Service
Act of 1990

• 1993: President Clinton signed the National and Community
Service Trust Act of 1993, creating AmeriCorps and CNCS

• AmeriCorps serves over 2 million Americans each year through
three main streams of service:

• AmeriCorps

• Senior Corps

• Learn and Serve America


AmeriCorps Aims to
Meet 3 Different Goals
Getting
Things Done
Developing
Participants
Strengthening
Communities


Bonner AmeriCorps

• Funded by the Corporation for National and
Community Service (CNCS).

• Administered by the Bonner Foundation in
partnership with The College of New Jersey

• Offered at more than 50 Bonner campuses.


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 Documentation
Required: State-Issued Birth
Certiﬁcate, unexpired U.S. Passport or
Permanent Residency Card


What do AmeriCorps
Members Do?
As part of a National Movement, members take action and ﬁnd solutions
to address community needs while learning new skills and sharing talents
to make a difference across the country.

• Tutor Students
• Educate communities about their environment
• Renovate and Rebuild Abandoned Homes
• Provide Mentoring During Non-School Hours
• Recruit Volunteers
• Teach Parenting Skills to Teen Parents
• Bridge the Digital Divide
• Assist the Homeless
• Provide Support to People with Disabilities
• Support Immigrants through a variety of Human and Educational
Services


AmeriCorps is NOT:

• A job
• A job program
• An internship
• Free labor
• A staff builder


AmeriCorps Members
DO NOT:
• Do only clerical work
• Answer phones
• Perform janitorial duties
• Supervise other members
• Manage paperwork or ﬁnancial issues
See the full list of prohibited activities (in member
enrollment workbook and on the web)


AmeriCorps Members
Common Myths
• Individuals who serve in National Service
programs are called members--they
are not volunteers, participants or
employees.
• AmeriCorps Members serve--they do
not “work.”


What do AmeriCorps
Members Receive?

Half-Time Quarter-Time Minimum-Time
Members Members Members

900 Hours of Service 450 Hours of Service 300 Hours of Service

Education Award Education Award Education Award
$2,362.50 $1,250 $1,000

Two-year term One-year term One-year term
(minus one day) (minus one day) (minus one day)


Rules of Conduct

At no time may an AmeriCorps Member:

• Spend more than 20% of their term of service in
Training and Enrichment activities.

• Spend more than 10% of their term of service in
Fundraising.

• Devote any of their service hours to fundraising
for any purpose other than directly supporting
their service activities.


Prohibited Activities

• Attempting to influence legislation.
• Organizing or engaging in protests, petitions, boycotts,
or strikes.
• Assisting, prompting, or deterring union organizing.
• Engaging in partisan political activities or other activities
designed to influence the outcomes of an election to
any public office.
• Engaging in religious instruction.


Prohibited Activities
• Engaging in any form of religious proselytization.

• Providing a direct beneﬁt to a for-proﬁt entity,
labor union or partisan political organization.

• Coordinating or participating in Voter Registration
drives.

• Providing abortion services or referrals for such
services.

Other activities as determined by the Corporation
will be prohibited upon notice


Release from Term
• If a member has a personal, compelling circumstance and has
completed at least 15% of his/her service commitment, they
may receive a portion of the educational award.
This means that the situation is absolutely beyond the
member’s control (e.g. illness)
Documentation provided by member is
MANDATORY

• If a member leaves for other reasons, they will not receive an
educational award.
Unacceptable reasons include leaving the program (1) to
enroll in school, (2) to obtain employment (other than
moving from welfare to work), or (3) because of
dissatisfaction with the program.

Suspension

• The Program may suspend the Member’s term of service for
the following reasons:
1. Compelling personal circumstances (e.g. illness)
2. A violation of the Rules of Conduct
3. If during the term of service the Member has been
charged with a violent felony or the possession, sale or
distribution of a controlled substance.

• During the suspension from service, the Member will not
receive credit for service hours or beneﬁts. The Member may
resume his or her term of service once the circumstances
supporting the suspension have been resolved.


Grievance Procedures

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

Participation in AmeriCorps is based on merit and equal
opportunity for all, without regard to factors such as race,
color, national origin, 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

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.


Drug-Free Workplace

Consistent with the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988, The
Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation and The College
of New Jersey are committed to providing a workplace that
is free from the unlawful manufacture, distribution,
dispensation, possession, or use of controlled substances.
• The program member 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 against the program member, up to
and including dismissal pursuant to The College of New
Jersey procedures relating to program member discipline.


Informed Consent
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 (you may opt
out by checking the box on page 16 of the
enrollment workbook).

Enrollment

As you complete the Enrollment Workbook,
please remember to:

• Sign in ink and date on all required
signature lines (signature date must be on or
before your requested start date).

• Initial any cross-outs, overwrites, etc.

• Do not use pencil or “white out.”


Enrollment Documents

Along with your completed Enrollment Workbook, you
must:

• Submit a legible copy of government-issued
citizenship, naturalization or resident alien
documentation (e.g. state-issued birth certiﬁcate,
permanent resident card, etc.)

• Submit a legible copy of government-issued
photo ID (driver’s license, state ID, or passport)

• Provide documentation of any legal name
change.


BWBRS
Once you are enrolled in Bonner AmeriCorps,
you are required to report regularly using the
Bonner Web-Based Reporting System (BWBRS).

• Create a Community Learning
Agreement (CLA) each semester

• Log your hours each week

• Print out monthly time logs, get appropriate
signatures and submit to campus administrator

• Log your Service Accomplishment at the
end of each semester.


Community Learning Agreements

• Create a new CLA each semester for your
main service placement

• Discuss goals with your community partner
and/or campus administrator
• Remember: COMMUNITY, COMMUNITY,
COMMUNITY!

• Even if you serve at the same site for multiple
semesters, you need to create a new CLA
with new goals!


Timesheets
• Log Hour Entries into BWBRS every week
• One log entry per site per day (even if you
went multiple times)
• Log hours according to: CLA service, non-CLA
service (i.e. one-time opportunities), Training &
Enrichment or Fundraising
• If the time was spent in fundraising (i.e. Relay for
Life), you must check the box “this time was spent
fundraising”
• Entries may not exceed a 12 hour maximum per
day (or 16 with prior approval from Bonner
Foundation Staff)


Timesheets
Each month:
• Print out an Hour Log from BWBRS by month (on
“Report page” choose the correct month from the
“show hours in” and click “update”; the print command
is under “available actions”)
• Student, site supervisor & campus administrator must
all sign logs on or after the last day of service
logged that month
• Signatures must be original and in ink (no pencil or
stamps accepted)
• Any written changes must be initialed by
Member and Campus Administrator


Evaluation

• At the end of each semester, members
complete a Service Accomplishment
in BWBRS for their CLA.

• Your supervisor will conduct an end of
term evaluation of your personal
development and the quality of your
service as part of your Exit process.


Exiting
If (1) you have logged enough hours to complete
your term, or (2) your end-of-term date is past, or
(3) you are withdrawing from your term:

• You must submit an AmeriCorps Exit Form to
the Foundation within 20 days of your last
day of service.

• Exit forms must be signed and dated on
or after your last day of service.

• Exit forms are processed by the Foundation and
BWBRS will notify you once it has been ﬁled.


Education Award
Once you have been ofﬁcially exited from your
AmeriCorps term, you can begin the process of
accessing your educational award.
Register with www.myamericorps.gov to
access your Ed Award online. The online system
allows members and alumni to request Ed Award
beneﬁts, including interest accrual and forbearance
online.
Members are also able to update their contact
information, view their account information and the
status of their requests and contact the trust online.

Education Award
An Education Award can be used to:

• Pay back qualiﬁed student loans.

• Pay current educational expenses at a Title IV
institution of higher education.
An Education Award can only be used by the
member who received it.
A Member has up to 7 years to use his/her Education
Award.
A Member is only eligible for up to two Education
Awards in a lifetime.

Resources

Need more information?
• Read through your Enrollment Workbook
• Visit the AmeriCorps website: americorps.gov
• Read the AmeriCorps pages on the Bonner
Network Wiki: bonnernetwork.pbwiki.com
• Explore BWBRS: www.bwbrs3.org (see your
campus admin for login information)


Bonner AmeriCorps 101

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