Member Enrollment

2019 Enrollment Process 
Purpose

• This presentation is designed to guide AmeriCorps program users 

through the AmeriCorps member enrollment process in the 

MyAmeriCorps Portal

• The presentation represents AmeriCorps State and National 

requirements for enrolling members in the Portal as of April 2019

• Please begin the member enrollment process as soon as possible after 

grant notification. This includes taking proactive steps to plan for 

member recruitment, citizenship verification, and National Service 

Criminal History Check processes well in advance of your expected 

member start dates.

• If you are a subgrantee, please ensure you are following any additional 

policies or procedures required by your State Commission or prime 

grantee
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Enrollment Process Flow Chart

• Located along with this 

presentation on the Managing 

AmeriCorps Grants webpage
Phase 1

4

Key

= Member Applicant

= Program Staff

= CNCS

= Social 

Security 

Administration
Award Notification

•

•

National Direct and Tribal Grantees (“Direct Grantees”) 

are notified by CNCS

–

–

Email notification: April

Notice of Grant Award: prior to requested grant start date

• Can be accessed via eGrants:

Subgrantees are notified by their State Commission
Notice of Grant Award (Direct 

Grantees and State Commissions)

Grant ID

Awarded funds 

and member 

positions

Project and Budget 

Periods (NOT the 

same as member 

enrollment period, 

which may start 

later and/or end 

earlier)

Special conditions 

on the award 

(including 

subgranteespecific special 

conditions)
Set up Operating Sites 

(Direct Grantees)

- Set up operating sites/service 

locations in eGrants

- Submit Service Opportunity 

Listing in MyAmeriCorps

Essential prior to enrollment: 

• Set up operating sites in the Portal (direct grantees only)

– Required in order to issue member invitations

– See Program Management tutorial on the Knowledge Network

Click to 

set up 

operating 

sites
Set up Service Locations

• Set up service locations in the Portal

– All AmeriCorps members must be assigned to service locations

– See Program Management tutorial on the Knowledge Network

Click to 

create 

new 

service 

locations

- Set up operating sites/service 

locations in eGrants

- Submit Service Opportunity 

Listing in MyAmeriCorps

Essential prior to enrollment: 
Service Opportunity Listings

• Grantees are required 

to post all available 

member service 

opportunities in the 

MyAmeriCorps Portal

– Service Opportunity 

Listing Resources

• PowerPoint 

Step-by-step

• Requirements

• Template

• Grantees may also 

use other recruitment 

strategies in addition 

to MyAmeriCorps 9

To create a new 

Service Opportunity 

Listing

To modify an existing 

Service Opportunity 

Listing

- Set up operating sites/service 

locations in eGrants

- Submit Service Opportunity 

Listing in MyAmeriCorps

Essential prior to enrollment: 
Phase 2

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Key

= Member 

Applicant

= Program 

Staff

= CNCS

= Social 

Security 

Administration Note: Members who previously served in 

AmeriCorps must ensure that they are exited 

from their previous program in MyAmeriCorps
Receiving Member Applications

• Programs can set up their Service Opportunity Listings to allow 

members to apply inside and/or outside of MyAmeriCorps:

Programs that do not accept applications 

via MyAmeriCorps must develop their 

own process to receive applications and 

select members

Indicates 

whether or not 

member 

candidates can 

apply via 

MyAmeriCorps
Member Screening

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• Programs must conduct screening of prospective members as part of 

the recruitment and selection process

o Eligibility (45 CFR § 2522.200)

- Age

- U.S. citizen/national/lawful permanent resident

• National Service Criminal History Check (NSCHC) 

o A National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW) check completed 

prior to the start of service

o State and/or FBI checks initiated prior to the start of service

o Additional details can be found in the National Service Criminal 

History Check Manual
National Service Criminal History 

Checks (NSCHCs)

• Recommended NSCHC process:

– Establish Truescreen and Fieldprint accounts

• CNCS-approved vendors that provide components of the National 

Service Criminal History Check (NSCHC)

– Truescreen: State and NSOPW checks

– Fieldprint: FBI checks

– Use of these vendors is recommended to ensure NSCHC 

compliance

• Failure to conduct timely and compliant NSCHCs may:

– Delay member enrollment

– Result in cost disallowances

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Required NSCHCs: NSOPW check and 

initiation of State and FBI checks
Truescreen and Fieldprint Resources

– NSOPW and State checks via Truescreen: 

• Sign up and learn about the process here: 

https://applicationstation.truescreen.com

• Average turnaround time to obtain adjudication recommendation: 

1-5 business days

• See individual state information here: 

https://www.nationalservice.gov/resources/criminal-historycheck/criminal-history-check-state-state

– FBI checks via Fieldprint: 

• Sign up and learn about the process here: 

www.fieldprintcncs.com

• Average turnaround time to obtain adjudication recommendation: 

48 hrs or 2 business days 14

Required NSCHCs: NSOPW check and 

initiation of State and FBI checks
National Service Criminal History 

Checks (NSCHCs)

• NSOPW completion and State/FBI check initiation must be 

certified by checking the relevant boxes on the Member 

Enrollment Form no later than the member’s start date. 

(Remember to click “save information” after checking the 

boxes!)

15

Required NSCHCs: NSOPW check and 

initiation of State and FBI checks

The member’s start date CANNOT be earlier than these dates
Member Acceptance via 

MyAmeriCorps

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Click the 

relevant 

radio button 

to select the 

applicant

Click to 

submit the 

selection. 

The 

applicant will 

be notified 

via email

Complete the 

certification

Select member 

applicant in 

MyAmeriCorps
Member Acceptance via Invitation

Click add another to 

send the current 

invitation and enter 

another

Click save and then 

send to complete 

the invitation. The 

applicant will be 

notified via email

Enter applicant’s data 

and select the Program 

Year, Program Title 

(operating site name), 

and Service Location 

from the drop-down 

lists. Important: make 

sure this information is 

entered correctly

Send invitation to 

applicant via 

MyAmeriCorps
Member Receives Invitation 

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Member will receive an invitation 

email with a link to complete their 

enrollment

Link goes to the MyAmeriCorps Portal 

where they will verify their identity

Accept invitation via 

email; complete 

member portion of 

Enrollment Form
Member Enrollment Form

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• Per the Grant Terms and 

Conditions, the Enrollment 

Form must be completed by 

the member – Programs must request a waiver if 

this is not possible

• To facilitate successful 

enrollment, members who 

have previously served in 

AmeriCorps must: – Ensure that they have been exited 

from their previous program by 

verifying with their previous 

supervisor

Accept invitation via 

email; complete 

member portion of 

Enrollment Form

Note: Members who previously served in 

AmeriCorps must ensure that they are exited 

from their previous program in 

MyAmeriCorps
Member Enrollment Form

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Member clicks 

“save information” 

to submit the form 

and trigger the 

next steps of the 

process

Accept invitation via 

email; complete 

member portion of 

Enrollment Form
Phase 3

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Key

= Member 

Applicant

= Program 

Staff

= CNCS

= Social 

Security 

Administration
• The Portal submits the 

record to the Social Security 

Administration (SSA) as 

soon as the member 

completes and saves their 

section of the enrollment 

form

• SSA checks the member’s 

citizenship status and social 

security number (SSN) 

validity

• Within 3 business days 

(usually by the next day), 

the record indicates 

“Verified” or, if not verified, 

“Returned” in the Portal

SSN & Citizenship Verification
SSN & Citizenship Verification

• If not automatically verified by SSA, the program (grantee 

administrator) receives an email notification to submit additional 

documentation

– Citizenship verification: see 45 CFR 2522.200(c)

– SSN verification: social security card, name change documentation (e.g. 

marriage certificate, court order, etc.)

• The program requests a Secure File Link from the CNCS 

National Service Hotline and submits the necessary documents

• If submitted documentation is sufficient to verify eligibility, CNCS 

staff updates the record to “Manually Verified” within 3 business 

days. (No email notification is sent.)

If additional documentation is not sufficient or is not legible, the 

program will be notified via email. This will delay the manual 

verification process.
Requesting a Secure File Link

• Via webform: https://questions.nationalservice.gov

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• Best practices:

– Indicate that you are a 

State and National 

program enrolling 

members and need a 

Secure File Link to submit 

SSN/citizenship 

verification 

documentation

– If your program has 

multiple individual cases 

requiring SSN/citizenship 

verification at the same 

time, send these cases 

under a single ticket

Request secure 

link and submit 

necessary 

documentation 

via National 

Service Hotline
In eGrants
Confirming SSN & Citizenship 

Verification

• Verification Status Types

– Open: individual has been invited to participate in a program but has 

not yet created/updated and saved their MyAmeriCorps Portal Profile

– Pending: individual’s name, SSN, and DOB have been sent to SSA 

for verification and are awaiting results

– Verified: individual’s SSN/citizenship eligibility has been 

automatically verified by SSA

– Returned: individual was not verified automatically by SSA; 

document submission is required to prove eligibility

– Manually Verified: individual’s SSN/citizenship eligibility has 

been verified by CNCS based on submitted documentation

– Cannot be Verified: individual has been proven not to be eligible 

with respect to SSN or citizenship. (If a program believes this status 

is incorrect, they can email ASNAdministrativeReview@cns.gov)

- Confirm that SSN/Citizenship are in “Verified” or “Manually Verified” status

- Check NSCHC boxes certifying the completion of NSOPW check and initiation of State 

and FBI checks

- Enter member placement info on enrollment form including: Start Date, Program Year, 

Program Title (operating site name), Service Location, Slot Type
Completing Enrollment Form Fields

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The dates on which the NSCHC 

boxes were checked are 

shown. These may be later 

than the dates on which the 

checks were actually run.

IMPORTANT: The start date 

entered by the program 

cannot be earlier than the 

four dates listed above. It 

must be the same or later.

- Confirm that SSN/Citizenship are in 

“Verified” or “Manually Verified” status

- Check NSCHC boxes certifying the 

completion of NSOPW check and 

initiation of State and FBI checks

- Enter member placement info on 

enrollment form including: Start Date, 

Program Year, Program Title (operating 

site name), Service Location, Slot Type
Enrolling Member

- Confirm that 

SSN/Citizenship are in 

“Verified” or “Manually 

Verified” status

- Check NSCHC boxes 

certifying the completion of 

NSOPW check and initiation 

of State and FBI checks

- Enter member placement 

info on enrollment form 

including: Start Date, 

Program Year, Program Title 

(operating site name), 

Service Location, Slot Type

Once all information has been entered correctly, the “enroll 

member” button will become active. All information on the form can 

be entered and saved ahead of time EXCEPT the start date and 

slot type, which cannot be saved prior to the date of enrollment.

Click the “Enroll” 

button in eGrants to 

enroll the member
Partial Award Acknowledgment

• Members who previously received the equivalent of 2 full time 

education awards, or will exceed 2 full time awards with the 

new term, will need to acknowledge partial or no education 

award prior to enrollment

• Program View: 

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- After clicking “enroll” 

program staff will see this 

note for members who need 

to perform this 

acknowledgment

- Additionally, Member 

Enrollment Status will 

indicate pending partial 

award acknowledgement. 

THE MEMBER ENROLLMENT 

IS NOT COMPLETE 
Partial Award Acknowledgement

• Member View

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When the program attempts to enroll the member, an email will be sent 

to the member that looks similar to this:
Partial Award Acknowledgement

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At the end of the member’s 

enrollment form, the 

member will be asked to 

check if they accept or 

decline a partial education 

award.

Once this information is saved, the member enrollment status in eGrants will be 

updated to “Partial Award Acknowledged.”

The program can then return to the member enrollment form and take the “enroll” 

action. ONLY THEN IS THE MEMBER ENROLLMENT COMPLETE. Click the “Enroll” 

button in eGrants to 

enroll the member
What To Do if the “Enroll” Button 

Isn’t Active

1) Check the member’s SSN and citizenship verification status

–

–

Both statuses must be “Verified” or “Manually Verified”

Verification dates must be on or before the entered start date

2) Check the NSCHC certifications

–

–

Both boxes must be checked

Certification dates must be on or before the entered start date

3) Check the entered start date

–

–

–

–

Must be no later than today’s date

Must be no earlier than 8 calendar days prior to today’s date

Must be no earlier than the SSN/citizenship verification dates

Must be no earlier than the NSCHC certification dates

4) If all of the steps above are complete and you still cannot 

enroll the member, contact the National Service Hotline 32
Resources

• Subgrantees should reach out to their Direct grantee 

or State Commission for additional resources and 

guidance as it relates to your specific program

• Managing AmeriCorps Grants webpage, under 

“Enrollment” section

– Slides and recording for this training

– Enrollment Flow Chart

– Enrollment policy documents

• CNCS National Service Hotline 

– 1-800-942-2677

– https://questions.nationalservice.gov

• Criminal History Check Resources

• Member Service Opportunity Listing Resources

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