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2017 AmeriCorps State & 

National Mandatory 

Supplemental Guidance - 

Targeted 
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The 2017 AmeriCorps State & National Mandatory Supplemental Guidance is intended to provide 

applicants with additional information for the preparation of their applications under the 2017 

AmeriCorps State and National Notice of Federal Funding Opportunity – Opioid and Safer 

Communities. The Supplemental Guidance provides both detailed definitions of certain terms included in 

the Notice, as well as additional details regarding how to properly file an application under the Notice. 

This Supplemental Guidance is incorporated by reference in the Notice, and applicants must comply with 

any requirements stated in this Supplemental Guidance. 

Capacity Building: A set of activities that expand the scale, reach, efficiency, or effectiveness of 

programs and organizations. These activities achieve lasting positive outcomes for the beneficiary 

populations served by CNCS-supported organizations (i.e. AmeriCorps programs.) As a general rule, 

CNCS considers capacity building activities to be indirect services that enable CNCS-supported 

organizations to provide more, better, and sustained direct services. Capacity building activities cannot be 

solely intended to support the administration or operations of the organization. Capacity building 

activities must: 

1) Be intended to support or enhance the program delivery model. 

2) Respond to the program’s goal of increasing, expanding, or enhancing services in order to address 

the most pressing needs identified in the community, and 

3) Enable the program to provide a sustained level of more or better direct services after the capacity 

building services end. 

Cost Reimbursement Grants: These grants fund a portion of program operating costs and member 

living allowances with flexibility to use all of the funds for allowable costs regardless of whether or not 

the program recruits and retains all AmeriCorps members. Cost reimbursement grants include a formal 

matching requirement and require the submission of a budget and financial reports. 

Encore Programs: Congress set a goal that 10 percent of AmeriCorps funding should support encore 

service programs that engage a significant number of participants age 55 or older. CNCS seeks to meet 

that 10 percent target in this competition and encourages encore programs to apply. Encore will provide 

an opportunity for current evidence-based Senior Corps Foster Grandparents Program and Senior 

Companion Program grantees to expand their programs through AmeriCorps funding.

Enrollment Rate: Enrollment rate is calculated as slots filled, plus refill slots filled, divided by slots 

awarded.

Evidence based program: a program that has been rigorously evaluated and has demonstrated positive 

results. Rigorous evaluation means at least one random control trial study or quasi-experimental 

evaluation, either of the program itself or of another program that the applicant is proposing to replicate. 

Evidence informed program: uses the best available knowledge, research, and evaluation to guide 

program design and implementation, but does not have scientific research or rigorous evaluation of the 

program itself and is not replicating an evidence-based program. 

Applicants that have not yet collected data from their own programs may be evidence-informed if they 

have incorporated research from other evidence-based programs into their program designs. 

Fixed Amount Grants: These grants provide a fixed amount of funding per Member Service Year 

(MSY) that is substantially lower than the amount required to operate the program. Organizations use 

their own or other resources to cover the remaining costs. Programs are not required to submit budgets or 

financial reports, there is no specific match requirement, and programs are not required to track and 
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maintain documentation of match. However, CNCS provides only a portion of the cost of running the 

program and organizations must still raise the additional resources needed to run the program. Programs 

can access all of the funds, provided they recruit and retain the members supported under the grant based 

on the MSY level awarded. Professional Corps programs applying for operational funding through a 

Fixed Amount Grant must submit a budget in support of their request for operational funds. 

 Full Time Fixed amount grants: Fixed amount grants are available for programs that enroll fulltime members or less than full-time members serving in a full time capacity only. Professional 

Corps may only have full-time members. 

 Education Award Grants (EAP) fixed amount grant: Programs apply for a small fixed amount 

per MSY, can enroll less than full-time members, and use their own resources to cover all other 

costs. Programs can access funds under the grant based on enrolling the full complement of 

members supported under the grant. As with full-time fixed amount grants, there are no specific 

match or financial reporting requirements for EAP fixed amount grants. 

Governor and Mayor Initiative: CNCS will accept one application per state in each year’s new and 

recompete competition. If a state has a Governor and Mayor Initiative in continuation status, the State 

Commission can submit a new application. However, CNCS is interested in increasing the number of 

states that have Governor and Mayor’s Initiatives as well as funding high quality program designs. 

The application must address a pressing challenge the Governor wishes to solve in her or his state. A 

Governor must apply with one or more Mayor(s) in his or her state and a minimum of two nonprofits. In 

conjunction with the Mayor(s), the Governor will be responsible for identifying and selecting those 

nonprofits that are best able to achieve a demonstrated positive impact on the problem. The application 

should include letters of support from all relevant parties. If the Governor and Mayor(s) have not yet 

selected partnering nonprofit entities, they should describe the process that the Governor and Mayor(s) 

will use to select the nonprofit entities. The application, submitted to the State Commission, will respond 

to the application criteria and explain how two or more nonprofits working together, with the Governor’s 

office serving as a convener, will effectively deploy AmeriCorps members for a collective impact. Only 

the Governor, Mayor(s), their designated government office (but not the State Commission), or a public 

institutions of higher education university may apply for grants under the Governor and Mayor initiative. 

Applications from other entities will be deemed non-compliant and will not be considered under this 

initiative. 

For example, a Governor and a Mayor in a state could conclude the most pressing challenge facing the 

state is its high school graduation rate. The Governor and/or Mayor would submit one application 

describing: 

 How the partnership will be organized and AmeriCorps resources will be allocated between the 

partnering entities (State, locality, and nonprofit entities). 

 The proposed theory of change and program model. 

 How they will utilize an identified consortium of nonprofits that are well positioned to achieve 

outcomes identified in the theory of change. 

Applications submitted as part of the Governor and Mayor Initiative must check the “Governor and 

Mayor Initiative” box in the Performance Measure tab in eGrants. Applicants must also submit via email 

by the application deadline: 

 a letter of support cosigned by the Governor and Mayor 

 letters of support from each partnering nonprofits 
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Letters must be submitted for new and recompeting applicants. Applicants should see the Submission of 

Additional Documents in the Notice for specific submission information and requirements. 

Member Service Location: A member service location is the site at which an AmeriCorps member is 

placed to provide his/her service to the community. 

Member Service Year (MSY): One Member Service Year (MSY) is equivalent to a full-time 

AmeriCorps position (at least 1700 service hours.) 

Multi-focus Intermediaries: CNCS recognizes that severely under-resourced communities may have 

limited capacity to successfully apply for and implement an AmeriCorps program, due to the size and 

organizational capacity of eligible applicant/host site organizations or the lack of available matching 

funds in these communities. Thus it may be effective for a single eligible applicant (intermediary) to 

develop an application and oversee the implementation of an AmeriCorps program that engages multiple 

grassroots non-profits/eligible applicants (referred to as a consortium) that, individually, do not have the 

necessary organizational or fundraising capacity to apply for and run an AmeriCorps program. Given the 

desire to address community needs holistically, the nonprofits/eligible applicants that make up the 

consortium may have but are not required to have different focus areas (including the non focus area 

capacity building) and thus the non profit/eligible applicant intermediary will be multi-focused. 

Applicants seeking consideration under this priority must demonstrate that they will be serving in 

severely under-resourced communities; that their application represents a consortium, and that the 

activities provided by the consortium collectively address a compelling community need or set of needs; 

and that they have sufficient financial and management capacity to act as an umbrella organization for the 

consortium. Applicants seeking consideration under this priority may submit a narrative that does not 

exceed 18 pages. Applicants should refer to the Page Limits section in the Notice for information specific 

to Multi-focus Intermediary requirements. 

The eligible applicant (intermediary) should submit one application which describes: 

 How the partnership/consortium will be organized and AmeriCorps resources will be allocated 

between the partnering entities (intermediary and consortium members). 

 The proposed theory (ies) of change and program model(s). 

 How the intermediary will utilize an identified consortium of nonprofits/eligible applicants that 

are well positioned to achieve outcomes identified in the theory of change. 

Applicants must submit via email by the application deadline letters of support from all members of the 

consortium. See the Submission of Additional Documents Section in the Notice for specific submission 

information and requirements. 

National Direct Applicants 

Multi-state: Organizations that propose to operate AmeriCorps programs in more than one state or 

territory apply directly to CNCS. 

Federally-recognized Indian Tribes: Applicants that are Indian Tribes apply directly to CNCS (see the 

Eligible Applicants section in the Notice).

State and Territories without Commissions: Applicants in South Dakota, American Samoa, the 

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands apply directly to CNCS 

because this State and Territories have not established a State Commission. 
National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention: A network of communities and federal agencies that 

work together, share information and build local capacity to prevent and reduce youth violence. 

Established at the direction of President Obama in 2010, the Forum brings together people from diverse 

professions and perspectives to learn from each other about the crisis of youth and gang violence in the 

U.S and to build comprehensive solutions on the local and national levels. Participating Federal agencies 

include the Departments of Justice, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban 

Development, Labor, and the Office on National Drug Control Policy. The communities participating in 

the Forum include Boston, Camden, Chicago, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis, New Orleans, 

Philadelphia, Salinas, San Jose, Long Beach, Cleveland, Louisville, Seattle, and Baltimore. - See more at:

http://youth.gov/youth-topics/preventing-youth-violence and under “Safer Communities.” Each of these 

cities are charged with making a comprehensive plan and driving against that plan to reduce youth 

violence. 

Operating Site: An operating site is the organization that manages the AmeriCorps program on behalf of 

the multi-state recipient of the grant from CNCS. A multi-state grantee must have an operating site in 

each state in which it has AmeriCorps members. AmeriCorps members may be placed at the operating 

site, or an operating site may place AmeriCorps members at multiple member service locations. Multifocused intermediaries may also have operating sites. 

CNCS anticipates that applicants have a carefully considered plan for their project implementation and 

have identified operating sites based on the demonstrated community needs. CNCS expects the sites 

proposed at the time of application to align with those involved in project implementation. However, if 

necessary, an applicant can modify their list of operating sites during the clarification process or through 

an amendment to the application, if funded. 

Opportunity youth: Opportunity youth are economically disadvantaged individuals ages 16-24 who are 

disconnected from school or work for at least six months prior to service. CNCS defines “economically 

disadvantaged” consistent with the definition used in the member development performance measures, 

“Receiving or meet the income eligibility requirements to receive: Temporary Aid to Needy Families 

(TANF), Food Stamps (SNAP), Medicaid, SCHIP, Section 8 housing assistance.” CNCS defines 

“disconnected from school or work” as unemployed, underemployed, and not in school for at least six 

months prior to their term of national service. A member who was not economically disadvantaged prior 

to becoming an AmeriCorps member, but became economically disadvantaged because the living 

allowance was low enough to make them eligible for SNAP, etc., cannot be counted as economically 

disadvantaged. In order to apply under this priority the applicant must demonstrate the programmatic 

elements they will implement in order to recruit and support opportunity youth as members and/or 

program beneficiaries, and a substantial portion of their requested MSYs must consist of or be devoted to 

serving opportunity youth. 

Other Revenue: Funds necessary to operate an AmeriCorps program that are not CNCS funds or grantee 

share (match) identified in the budget. Programs should not enter the total operating budget for their 

organization unless the entire operating budget supports the AmeriCorps program. Programs that have 

additional revenue sources not included in the matching funds section of the budget should provide the 

amount of this additional revenue that supports the program. This amount should not include the CNCS 

or grantee share amounts in the budget. Fixed amount grantees should enter all non-CNCS funds that 

support the program in this field. All fixed grants will have other revenue. 

Professional Corps: Professional Corps programs recruit and place qualified members in communities 

with an inadequate number of such professionals in positions as teachers, health care providers, police 

officers, engineers, or other professionals. Professional Corps members’ salaries are paid entirely by the 

organizations with which the members serve, and are not included in the budget. In order to be considered 

for funding, applicants must demonstrate that there are an inadequate number of professionals in the 

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community (ies) where the program seeks to place members. These grants can either be fixed amount or 

cost reimbursement grants. 

Prohibited Activities: While charging time to the AmeriCorps program, accumulating service or 

training hours, or otherwise performing activities supported by the AmeriCorps program or CNCS, staff 

and members may not engage in the following activities (see 45 CFR § 2520.65): 

1. Attempting to influence legislation; 

2. Organizing or engaging in protests, petitions, boycotts, or strikes; 

3. Assisting, promoting, or deterring union organizing; 

4. Impairing existing contracts for services or collective bargaining agreements; 

5. Engaging in partisan political activities, or other activities designed to influence the outcome of an 

election to any public office; 

6. Participating in, or endorsing, events or activities that are likely to include advocacy for or against 

political parties, political platforms, political candidates, proposed legislation, or elected officials; 

7. Engaging in religious instruction, conducting worship services, providing instruction as part of a 

program that includes mandatory religious instruction or worship, constructing or operating facilities 

devoted to religious instruction or worship, maintaining facilities primarily or inherently devoted to 

religious instruction or worship, or engaging in any form of religious proselytization; 

8. Providing a direct benefit to— a. a business organized for profit; b. a labor union; c. a partisan political 

organization; d. a nonprofit organization that fails to comply with the restrictions contained in section 

501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 related to engaging in political activities or substantial 

amount of lobbying except that nothing in these provisions shall be construed to prevent participants from 

engaging in advocacy activities undertaken at their own initiative; and e. an organization engaged in the 

religious activities described in paragraph C. 7. above, unless CNCS assistance is not used to support 

those religious activities; 

9. Conducting a voter registration drive or using CNCS funds to conduct a voter registration drive; 

10. Providing abortion services or referrals for receipt of such services; and 

11. Such other activities as CNCS may prohibit. 

AmeriCorps members may not engage in the above activities directly or indirectly by recruiting, training, 

or managing others for the primary purpose of engaging in one of the activities listed above. Individuals 

may exercise their rights as private citizens and may participate in the activities listed above on their 

initiative, on non-AmeriCorps time, and using non-CNCS funds. 

Promise Zones: Promise Zones are high poverty communities where the federal government partners 

with local leaders to increase economic activity, improve educational opportunities, leverage private 

investment, reduce violent crime, enhance public health and address other priorities identified by the 

community. Through the Promise Zone designation, these communities will work directly with federal, 

state and local agencies to give local leaders proven tools to improve the quality of life in some of the 

country’s most vulnerable areas. The current promise zones are: Los Angeles, CA; South Los Angeles, 

CA; Sacramento, CA; San Diego, CA; Hartford,CT; Southwest Florida Regional Planning Commission, 

Atlanta, GA; Evansville, IN; Indianapolis, IN; Southeastern KY; Minneapolis, MN; St.Louis/St. Louis 

County, MO; Camden, NJ; Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, Rolette County, North Dakota; 

Choctaw National of Oklahoma, Philadelphia, PA; Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico; Barnwell, SC; Low 

Country of South Carolina; Pine Ridge Indian Reservation of the Oglala Sioux Tribe; SD; Porcupine, SD; 

Nashville, TN; San Antonio, TX, Spokane Tribe of Indians, Washington. 

Reducing and/or Preventing Prescription Drug and Opioid Abuse: CNCS is interested in any 

program models that seek to address the prescription drug and opioid abuse crisis in America. 
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Retention Rate: Retention rate is calculated as the number of members exited with education award (full 

or partial award) divided by the number of members enrolled.

Rural Communities: CNCS uses rural-urban commuting area (RUCA) codes to classify program 

addresses as either rural or urban for analytic purposes. RUCA codes classify U.S. census tracts using 

measures of population density, urbanization, and daily commuting. Census tracts with an urban cluster 

population less than 50,000 are considered rural (RUCA codes 4 – 10). Applicants are encouraged to 

designate themselves as serving rural communities if some or all service locations are in rural areas as 

defined by RUCA codes or if the program can provide other compelling evidence that the program is 

rural in the narrative portion of the application. This self-designation will be considered in grant-making 

decisions. 

For more information about RUCA codes, please visit the USDA website found here: 

http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/rural-urban-commuting-area-codes.aspx

The Office of Grants Management uses Beale Codes when assessing alternative match requirements as 

the statue (45 CFR 2521.60(c) requires it. 

Safer communities: activities that focus on public safety, preventing and mitigating civil unrest, and/or 

partnerships between police and community. CNCS is looking for program models that create, support, 

and initiate activities that provide opportunities for law enforcement and community members to become 

constructively engaged in building or re building public spaces and opportunities for constructive 

dialogue via sports and community team building such as block watch organizations. Some examples are 

summer programming or engaging communities that are part of The National Forum on Youth Violence 

Prevention and programs that are developed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) 

(http://www.iacp.org/Police-Foundations-Section) such as programs that engage youth between the ages 

of 14-21 living in high crime areas of the city who have been identified as “leaders” in good and/or bad 

way. The youth are paired with School Resources Officers who meet with them several times during the 

week to engage them in a variety of leadership building exercises i.e., camping, rafting, community cleanup and much more. 

Same Project: Two projects will be considered the same if they: Address the same issue areas, address 

the same priorities, address the same objectives, serve the same target communities and population, utilize 

the same sites.

Programs must get approval from their CNCS program officers to be considered a new project. 

If an applicant is applying for a different program model (a new project), select New. Current and 

previous grantees need to get approval from their Program Officer to be considered a new project. CNCS 

will consider a project to be new if there is a meaningful difference between it and previous projects in a 

comparison of the following characteristics, among others: the objectives and priorities of the projects; 

the nature of the services provided; the program staff, participants, and volunteers involved; the 

geographic locations in which the services are provided; the populations served; and the proposed 

community partnerships. (§ 2522.340). 

Requests for approval to be considered a new project should include information about how the new 

project differs from the previous project in the characteristics noted above. The request should also 

include the proposed name of the new project. CNCS staff will review the request to determine if the 

proposed project does represent a meaningful difference from the previous project or if the proposed 

project is an example of natural program evolution over time. If it is determined that the project is new, 

the Program Officer will create a new project in eGrants. 
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Single-State Applicants: Organizations that propose to operate in only one state must apply through the 

Governor-appointed State or Territory Commissions. Each state and territory commission administers its 

own selection process and submits to CNCS the applicants it selects to compete for funding. Single-State 

applicants must contact their State Commissions to learn about their state or territory processes and 

deadlines which may be significantly earlier than the CNCS deadlines and may have additional 

requirements. The list of State and Territory Commissions can be found here: 

http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/contact-us/state-service-commissions. 

A single state application submitted directly to CNCS by the applicant rather than the State Commission 

will be considered noncompliant and will not be reviewed. 

Unallowable Activities: In addition to the Prohibited Activities, the following restrictions also apply to 

the service of AmeriCorps members: 

Nonduplication. 

Corporation assistance may not be used to duplicate an activity that is already available in the locality 

of a program. And, unless there is nondisplacement, Corporation assistance will not be provided to a 

private nonprofit entity to conduct activities that are the same or substantially equivalent to activities 

provided by a State or local government agency in which such entity resides. 

Nondisplacement. 

(1) An employer may not displace an employee or position, including partial displacement such as 

reduction in hours, wages, or employment benefits, as a result of the use by such employer of a 

participant in a program receiving Corporation assistance. 

(2) An organization may not displace a volunteer by using a participant in a program receiving 

Corporation assistance. 

(3) A service opportunity will not be created under this chapter that will infringe in any manner on the 

promotional opportunity of an employed individual. 

(4) A participant in a program receiving Corporation assistance may not perform any services or duties or 

engage in activities that would otherwise be performed by an employee as part of the assigned duties 

of such employee. 

(5) A participant in any program receiving assistance may not perform any services or duties, or engage 

in activities, that— 

(i) Will supplant the hiring of employed workers; or 

(ii) Are services, duties, or activities with respect to which an individual has recall rights pursuant 

to a collective bargaining agreement or applicable personnel procedures. 

(6) A participant in any program receiving assistance may not perform services or duties that have been 

performed by or were assigned to any— 

(i) Presently employed worker; 

(ii) Employee who recently resigned or was discharged; 

(iii) Employee who is subject to a reduction in force or who has recall rights pursuant to a 

collective bargaining agreement or applicable personnel procedures; 

(iv) Employee who is on leave (terminal, temporary, vacation, emergency, or sick); or 

(v) Employee who is on strike or who is being locked out.