Notice2022-09587
Request for Information From Non-Federal Stakeholders: Grantee Match Requirements
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
May 5, 2022
Issuing agencies
Corporation for National and Community Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Executive Order on advancing racial equity and support for underserved communities, the Corporation for National and Community Service, operating as AmeriCorps, is inviting public comment regarding grantee match (that is, the percentage share of non-AmeriCorps cash and in-kind contributions required to be raised by the grantee in support of the grant) from any interested party, including current and former AmeriCorps applicants and program award recipients and sponsors or funders, and organizations that considered, but ultimately did not apply for, AmeriCorps grants.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 87 (Thursday, May 5, 2022)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 87 (Thursday, May 5, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26740-26741]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09587]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE
Request for Information From Non-Federal Stakeholders: Grantee
Match Requirements
AGENCY: Corporation for National and Community Service.
ACTION: Request for comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the Executive Order on advancing racial
equity and support for underserved communities, the Corporation for
National and Community Service, operating as AmeriCorps, is inviting
public comment regarding grantee match (that is, the percentage share
of non-AmeriCorps cash and in-kind contributions required to be raised
by the grantee in support of the grant) from any interested party,
including current and former AmeriCorps applicants and program award
recipients and sponsors or funders, and organizations that considered,
but ultimately did not apply for, AmeriCorps grants.
DATES: To be considered, written comments must be received
electronically no later than June 10, 2022 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight
Time (EDT).
ADDRESSES: Comments and any supporting attachments should be submitted
online at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>; search for ``Request for
Information (RFI) from Non-Federal Stakeholders: Grantee Match
Requirements.'' They will be posted unchanged and viewable by the
public. Please provide contact information or organization name on the
web-based form for possible follow-up from AmeriCorps.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sharron Tendai, Program Support
Specialist, AmeriCorps at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e09394858e848189a0838e93ce878f96"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d2a1a6b7bcb6b3bb92b1bca1fcb5bda4">[email protected]</span></a> or 202-606-3904.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Matching fund requirements are not unusual
for Federal grants, but they vary across government agencies and
programs. Match requires that a grantee share the funding load for
their project or program that is (partially) funded by the agency.
Policy reasons for match requirements include ensuring that Federal
taxpayer dollars are leveraging non-agency contributions, supporting
more programming by stretching agency dollars further, encouraging
community engagement and investment in the grantee's activities, and
promoting grantees' sustained financial health and the viability of
their projects beyond the life of the grant.
Both AmeriCorps Seniors and AmeriCorps State and National have
match requirements, established by Congress, for some of their grant
opportunities, as do the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service and the
Volunteer Generation Fund grant programs. In each case, the grantees
may provide the match through cash or in-kind contributions. AmeriCorps
Seniors and AmeriCorps State and National grant programs currently have
some statutory and/or regulatory relief from match requirements. In
accordance with Executive Order 13985 (Advancing Racial Equity and
Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government),
issued on January 20, 2021, AmeriCorps is inviting public comment
regarding grantee match requirements.
I. Request for Comment
AmeriCorps seeks input on the following:
1. What are the benefits, if any, of matching requirements?
2. What evidence, if any, supports (or does not support) the use of
matching requirements?
3. What changes related to match requirements and alternative match
schedules, if any, might be needed in order to:
a. Encourage more applicants to apply?
b. Make grantees more successful?
c. Allow applicants and grantees to reach underserved communities?
4. What changes, if any, to the criteria or timing for alternative
match and/or match waiver requests and approvals might:
a. Encourage more applicants to apply?
b. Make grantees more successful?
c. Allow applicants and grantees to reach underserved communities?
5. What alternative approaches to the existing matching
requirements would help meet the intended policy goals of community
engagement and investment?
II. Context
A. Current Match Requirements
AmeriCorps Seniors
Congress established the match requirements for AmeriCorps Seniors
programs in the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, as amended
(DVSA), 45 U.S.C. 4950 et seq.
For the Foster Grandparent Program (FGP) and Senior Companion
Program (SCP), the DVSA generally limits AmeriCorps' contributions to
90 percent of the costs of the development and operation of projects,
effectively requiring grantee sponsors to contribute at least 10
percent of the total project cost. See 42 U.S.C. 5011(a). AmeriCorps'
regulations specify that grantee sponsors must contribute 10 percent of
the total project cost from non-Federal or authorized Federal sources
for these programs. See 45 CFR 2552.92(a), 2551.92(a).
For the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), the statute
generally limits the match required of grantees to 10 percent in the
first year, 20 percent in the second year and 30 percent in subsequent
years. See 42 U.S.C. 5001(b). AmeriCorps' regulations mirror this
requirement, stating that RSVP grants may be awarded to fund up to 90
percent of the total project cost in the first year, 80 percent in the
second year, and 70 percent in the third and succeeding years. See 45
CFR 2553.72(a).
AmeriCorps State and National
Congress established the match requirements for AmeriCorps State
and National in the National and Community Service Act of 1990, as
amended (NCSA), 42 U.S.C. 12501 et seq. The NCSA limits AmeriCorps'
share of the cost of carrying out an AmeriCorps State and National
program to 75 percent. See 42 U.S.C. 12571(e). However, Congress has,
for several years through annual appropriations laws, revised this
requirement. For example, in the Fiscal Year 2021 appropriations law,
Congress provided that the grantees must meet an overall minimum share
requirement of 24 percent for the first three years they receive
AmeriCorps funding and in successive years must meet the requirements
as provided for in AmeriCorps regulations at 45 CFR 2521.60. See Public
Law 116-260, div. H, title IV, 402, December 27, 2020.
AmeriCorps regulations implement these requirements by requiring a
24 percent match for cost-reimbursement grants to first-time grantees
for the first three-year funding period. Starting with year four, the
match requirement gradually increases every year until it reaches 50
percent by year 10, as shown in the minimum overall share chart below.
Match is calculated as a total of the over all budget (Federal share +
grantee share.)
[[Page 26741]]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AmeriCorps Funding Year................................. 1, 2, 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10+
Grantee Share Requirements.............................. 24% 26% 30% 34% 38% 42% 46% 50%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See 45 CFR 2521.45 and 2521.60(a).
AmeriCorps State and National--Commission Support Grants
Section 126(a) of the NCSA (42 U.S.C. 12576) authorizes AmeriCorps
to make grants of $250,000 to $1,000,000 to support State Commissions
annually, and requires the State to agree to provide matching funds
from non-Federal sources of not less than $1 for every $1 provided by
the Corporation through the grant.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Service Day
Section 198(i) of the NCSA (42 U.S.C. 12653(i)) authorizes
AmeriCorps to make grants to support activities in honor of the life
and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The statute limits the
Federal share to 30% of the cost of the service opportunity. There is
currently no explicit relief for this match requirement in statute or
regulation.
Volunteer Generation Fund
Section 198P(f) (42 U.S.C. 12653p(f)) authorizes AmeriCorps to make
grants for volunteer programs. The statute limits the AmeriCorps share
to 80% in year one, 70% in year two, 60% in year 3, and 50% in years
four and beyond. There is currently no explicit relief for this match
requirement in statute or regulation.
B. Match Waivers and Alternative Match Schedule
AmeriCorps Seniors
AmeriCorps may grant a match waiver to a grantee for any of the
three AmeriCorps Seniors programs. See 42 U.S.C. 5001(b) (RSVP),
5011(a) (FGP), 5013(a) (SCP). AmeriCorps has established by regulation
that it may grant a waiver of match requirements if it determines that
at least one of the following criteria are met, based on information
provided by the gprantee: Initial difficulties in the development of
local funding sources during the first three years of operations; an
economic downturn, a natural disaster, or similar events in the service
area that severely restrict or reduce sources of local funding support;
or the unexpected discontinuation of local support from one or more
sources that a project has relied on for a period of years. See 45 CFR
2551.92 (SCP), 2552.92 (FGP), 2553.72 (RSVP).
AmeriCorps has designed a streamlined process for AmeriCorps
Seniors to request individual match waivers in accordance with these
regulatory criteria.
AmeriCorps State and National
Under certain circumstances, applicants/grantees in AmeriCorps
State and National may qualify to meet alternative matching
requirements that increase over the years to 35 percent instead of 50
percent as specified in the regulations. See 42 U.S.C. 12645(d); 42
U.S.C. 12576. To qualify, applicants/grantees must demonstrate that the
proposed program is located in a rural county or in a severely
economically distressed community. See 45 CFR 2521.60(b).
AmeriCorps may grant a match waiver for an AmeriCorps State and
National grantee if it determines that the grantee has demonstrated all
four of the following: There is a lack of resources at the local level;
the lack of resources in the local community is unique or unusual; the
grantee has made efforts to raise matching resources; and the grantee
has raised a specified amount of matching resources or reasonably
expects to raise that amount. See 45 CFR 2521.70. AmeriCorps has
designed a streamlined process for AmeriCorps State and National
Grantees to request individual match waivers in accordance with these
regulatory criteria.
AmeriCorps State and National--Commission Support Grants
The CEO may permit a State Commission that demonstrates hardship,
or a new State Commission, to meet alternative matching requirements
for a commission support grant as follows:
(A) FIRST $100,000: For the first $100,000 of AmeriCorps grant
funds, the State involved shall not be required to provide matching
funds.
(B) AMOUNTS GREATER THAN $100,000: For AmeriCorps grants of more
than $100,000 but not more than $250,000, the State shall agree to
provide matching funds from non-Federal sources of not less than $1 for
every $2 provided by AmeriCorps in excess of $100,000.
(C) AMOUNTS GREATER THAN $250,000: For AmeriCorps grants of more
than $250,000, the State shall agree to provide matching funds from
non-Federal sources of not less than $1 for every $1 provided by
AmeriCorps, in excess of $250,000.
See 42 U.S.C. 12576; 45 CFR 2550.110.
Dated: April 29, 2022.
Anna Mecagni,
Chief of Program Operations.
[FR Doc. 2022-09587 Filed 5-4-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6050-28-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on May 5, 2022.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.