Volunteers in Service to America

Issuing agencies

Abstract

The Corporation for National and Community Service (operating as AmeriCorps) is finalizing updates to its regulations to reflect current position titles and roles, define the statutory phrase "direct cost of supporting volunteers," revise provisions that no longer reflect AmeriCorps' practice, and make technical changes. The position titles must be updated because VISTA now operates through Regional Administrators, rather than State Program Directors. The statutory phrase interpretation is necessary because under its authorizing statute, AmeriCorps may not provide a non-competitive grant for the "direct cost of supporting volunteers" to projects less than one year old. This final rule defines the phrase to include those funds paid directly for the support of individuals serving in the VISTA program, such as living allowances, travel reimbursements, and end-of-service benefits, but not funds paid for the support of the VISTA sponsor organization. This change would make VISTA projects more accessible to organizations in underserved communities that may not have otherwise been able to secure the resources to devote a supervisor or certain administrative costs to a new project.