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AmeriCorps State and National FY 2013 Annual Plan

FY Appropriation: $344,348,000

Target Member/Volunteer Level: TBD

Key Milestones:

 FY 2013 application deadline – February 6, 2013

 FY 2013 awards – June/July 2013

 FY 2014 NOFO release – July 2013

 Grantee Meeting – September 2013

Funding Priorities:

AmeriCorps State and National seeks to fund programs in the following six focus 

areas that use an evidence-based approach to creating community impact and 

solving community problems, as envisioned by the Serve America Act. 

 Disaster Services, 

 Education, 

 Environmental Stewardship, 

 Healthy Futures, 

 Opportunity, and 

 Veterans and Military Families 

The Serve America Act requires CNCS to select at least two of five statutorily defined 

focus areas in making competitive AmeriCorps State and National grants. For the 

2013 AmeriCorps State and National competition, CNCS especially seeks to increase 

its investment in programs that serve veterans and military families or that engage

veterans in service, education programs that improve academic outcomes for 

children and youth in the lowest performing schools, disaster services, and 

economic opportunities for community and AmeriCorps members. In addition 

AmeriCorps State and National added a Governor and Mayor Initiative that allows a 

Governor in partnership with a Mayor to address a pressing challenge in his or her 

state.

CNCS will continue to place a high priority on programs that will offer participants a 

powerful and defining service experience.

National Performance Measures: Programs opting into the Priority Performance 

Measures will receive priority for funding. 

Encore Programs: AmeriCorps State and National has a goal of 10 percent of funds 

supporting encore programs.
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Accountability: AmeriCorps State and National will continue to place a high priority 

on accountability and will devote significant effort and resources to oversight and 

monitoring to assure compliance with all applicable rules and regulations. Special 

efforts will be made to help partners and grantees implement performance 

measurement and to comply with all administrative and financial reporting 

requirements.

Performance Measure Adoption and Implementation: AmeriCorps State and 

National has already adopted all of the agency’s 16 priority measures and continues 

to use the Complementary Program Measures adopted as part of its performance 

measure pilot initiative started in FY 2010. 
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National Civilian Community Corps FY 2013 Annual Plan 

FY Appropriation: $31,882,000

Target Member/Volunteer Level: 1011

Key Milestones: Campus Start Dates

 Denver and Sacramento Traditional – October 2012

 Vicksburg, Vinton, and Perry Point Traditional – February 2013

 Denver and Sacramento FEMA Corps – February 2013 

Funding Priorities: 

The Kennedy Serve America Act authorizes the AmeriCorps National Civilian 

Community Corps (NCCC) to operate a national service program and other service 

programs that provide young people with leadership and team-building 

opportunities to meet national and community needs in the areas of: natural and 

other disasters, infrastructure improvement, environmental stewardship and 

conservation, energy conservation, and urban and rural development. 

In order to successfully carry out the legislative mandates of the program while 

increasing program effectiveness and efficiency, the NCCC has outlined key 

objectives and targets it will strive to meet in 2013 and beyond. These objectives 

and targets reference the impact of our service, the opportunities and training 

provided to our members, and overall program operations. 

NCCC Service Projects and Special Initiatives:

In 2013, NCCC project outreach and implementation will reflect a continued focus 

on the service areas as outlined in the Serve America Act to include: natural and 

other disasters, infrastructure improvement, environmental stewardship and 

conservation, energy conservation, and urban and rural development. 

To further build upon programmatic strengths such as our residential design and 

intensive member training program, NCCC will continue in its role as the agency’s 

lead responders in times of disasters as well as expand project development into the 

areas of disaster preparation, mitigation and recovery. 

To allow for the increased engagement of NCCC teams in the work of disaster 

response and recovery NCCC has partnered with the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency to support an additional 1600 NCCC members who will work 

solely in this service area their entire ten months of service. By the end of 2013 

each of the five campuses will have launched their first NCCC FEMA Corps classes 

and full capacity is targeted to be reached in 2014.
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NCCC completed in 2012 the first full year survey with our program sponsors. This 

survey assesses the satisfaction of sponsors with the NCCC team abilities to meet the 

organization and community needs. Overall satisfaction was very high with 94% of 

all responding sponsors (294) indicating that the NCCC engagement with their 

organization met or exceeded project objectives. This will serve as the baseline as 

we move ahead. 

NCCC Participants:

The Serve America Act mandates that NCCC engage participants from economically, 

geographically, and ethnically diverse backgrounds. Additionally, NCCC was 

directed to conduct outreach to increase participation of disadvantaged youth to a 

target enrollment of 50% by the year 2012. In 2013 we anticipate reaching the 40%

mark accompanied with an aggressive strategy for keeping us moving toward the 

very ambitious goal. Although the NCCC performs a significant amount of service 

that directly benefits youth from disadvantaged circumstances (including mentoring 

and tutoring) the intent of this directive is to engage young Americans from 

disadvantaged circumstances as NCCC members. In order to meet this measure, 

NCCC will continue to implement measures as outlined in the NCCC Annual 

Recruitment plan to include:

 Expand NCCC recruitment efforts by conducting outreach to 

organizations and institutions that support youth from disadvantaged 

circumstances;

 Collaborate with state and local Corps programs to promote 2nd year of 

service opportunities with NCCC among their membership; 

 Promote AmeriCorps Week and all National Days of Service as 

opportunities to introduce school-aged children to service and 

volunteering;

 Increase use of all social media outlets;

 Expand the strategic use of the approximately 17,000 NCCC alumni in 

recruitment efforts to increase the applicant pool for Corps Members and 

Team Leaders and aggressively promote national service.

Performance Measure Adoption and Implementation: 

AmeriCorps NCCC will contribute to seven of the 16 agency-wide priority 

performance measures. The measures we support align with our statutorily defined 

issue areas of: natural and other disaster, environmental stewardship and 

conservation, energy conservation, infrastructure improvement, and urban and 

rural development. 

NCCC tested and accepted programmatic performance measures during 2011, fully 

integrated them into the 2012 annual plan and will continue to monitor 

achievement as we move ahead. NCCC also has developed measures based on an 

OMB mandate to have one quality outcome measure. NCCC has developed both 

project measures and member measures.
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Senior Corps: RSVP FY 2013 Annual Plan 

FY Appropriation: $50,204,000

Target Member/Volunteer Level: 320,600

Key Milestones:

 FY 2013 continuation grants will be awarded non-competitively during 

quarters 2, 3 and 4. Some funding was and may continue to be 

incremental after the initial award, due to CR and final appropriation 

timing.

 Funds associated with FY 2013 continuation grants: $32,526,600

 Funds associated with the FY 2013 competitive grants: $15,644,000

 RSVP FY 2013 Competition. Award grants beginning in March 2013. 

Awards will be made for:

o Successful applicants for grants scheduled to be competed in FY 

2013

o Successful applicants for previously vacated geographic service 

areas that were part of the FY 2013 competition.

Funding Priorities:

 Competitive and continuation grants fulfilling program priorities.

 Estimated total number of competitive and continuation grant awards in 

FY 2013: 675

 Funding for RSVP evaluation, to evaluate either the potential health 

benefits of volunteering in the RSVP program, or the potential health 

benefits of receiving services. 

Performance Measure Adoption and Implementation: 

The majority of the new RSVP standard performance measures reflect CNCS 

agency-wide priority and supporting measures, augmented by a number of 

program specific measures. CNCS will require all grantees to adopt subsets of the 

agency’s priority performance measures to track and report their effectiveness 

and impact. CNCS anticipates that the concentration of programming in strategic 

focus areas, using priority performance measures, will be as follows:

 70 percent of activities must occur within the Agency-Wide Priority and 

Complementary Program Performance Measures. RSVP grantees will also 

be required to identify a “Primary” Focus area. RSVP grantees must commit 

to reporting a combination of Agency-Wide outputs and outcomes related 

to the “Primary” Focus Area. The “Primary” Focus Area must account for at 

least 25 percent of the RSVP volunteers enrolled in the project. 
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 30 percent of volunteers can be placed in community priority assignments 

that are outside the scope of the CNCS Strategic Plan.

Senior Corps began implementation of mandatory National Performance Measures 

in FY 2013. The competitive RSVP 2013 grants were required to adopt the RSVP 

National Performance Measures Requirements as part of the application process. 

Continuation grants, that were not competitive in FY 2013, continued with the 

previously approved performance measures. 

As grants are scheduled for competition in fiscal years 2014, and 2015, they will be 

required to adopt the National Performance Measures.

The chart below tracks the timeframe of National Performance Measures 

implementation:

Fiscal 

Year

Percent of RSVP Portfolio to Compete and Adopt Performance 

Measures

2013 35 percent of all projects implement national measures

2014 27 percent of projects adopt national measures for the 1st time

62 percent of all projects implement national measures

2015 38 percent of projects adopt national measures for the 1st time

100 percent of all projects implement national measures
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Senior Corps: Foster Grandparent Program FY 2013 Annual Plan 

FY Appropriation: $110,565,000

Target Member/Volunteer Level: 28,000

Key Milestones: 

 FY 2013 renewal and continuation grants will be awarded noncompetitively during quarters 1, 2, 3, and 4. Some funding was and may 

continue to be incremental after the initial award, due to the CR and final 

appropriation timing.

 Pending final funding level, determine feasibility of reallocation of 

Volunteer Service Years (VSYs) that were reduced by grantees due to 

under enrollment, in compliance with Senior Corps internal policy 850 

and other factors. Currently, all VSYs relinquished in any state are 

centralized for budget contingencies. Should it be possible to reallocate, 

the VSYs will be returned to the states of origin or other high level need 

areas to increase the number of VSYs and volunteers.

Funding Priorities:

 Renewal and continuation grants fulfilling the statutory authority of FGP 

to place volunteers in assignments to serve children with special or 

exceptional needs.

 Estimated total number of grant awards in FY 2013: 317

 Evaluation of the potential health benefits of volunteering in the Foster 

Grandparent Program

 Funding first phase of planned evaluation of the implementation of 

national performance measures in FGP, using a recommended data 

collection instrument survey that will be used to measure gains in school 

readiness. 

Performance Measure Adoption and Implementation: 

FGP performance measures are aligned with Strategic Plan Focus Areas, and the 

majority of FGP measures are subsets of agency-wide measures. For FGP, the focus 

is Education, with a concentration on school readiness. The emphasis on education 

aligns with the Strategic Plan, as well as the purpose of the FGP program. Grantees 

will be required to concentrate 75 percent of their activities, as defined by Volunteer 

Service Years (VSYs) in the education focus area. Twenty-five (25) percent of 

activities can be in program specific measures supporting child safety, welfare, and 

health.

Senior Corps began implementation of mandatory National Performance Measures 

in FY 2013. All renewal grants, which are entering the first year of a new three-year 

grant, were required to adopt the FGP National Performance Measures 
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Requirements. As FGP grants renew in FY 2014 and 2015, the applicants will then 

be required to adopt the measures.

The chart below tracks the timeframe of National Performance Measures 

implementation:

Fiscal 

Year

Percent of FGP Portfolio to Adopt Performance Measures

2013 36 percent of all projects implement national measures

2014 29 percent of projects adopt national measures for the 1st time

65 percent of all projects implement national measures

2015 35 percent of projects adopt national measures for the 1st time

100 percent of all projects implement national measures
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Senior Corps: Senior Companion Program FY 2013 Annual Plan 

FY Appropriation: $46,722,000

Target Member/Volunteer Level: 13,900

Key Milestones: 

 FY 2013 renewal and continuation grants will be awarded noncompetitively during quarters 1, 2, 3, and 4. Some funding was and may 

continue to be incremental after the initial award, due to CR and final 

appropriation timing.

 Pending final funding level, determine feasibility of reallocation of 

Volunteer Service Years (VSYs) that were reduced by grantees due to 

under enrollment, in compliance with Senior Corps internal policy 850 

and other factors. Currently, all VSYs relinquished in any state are 

centralized for budget contingencies. Should it be possible to reallocate, 

the VSYs will be returned to the states of origin or other high level need 

areas to increase the number of VSYs and volunteers.

Funding Priorities:

 Renewal and continuation grants to existing SCP sponsors to place 

volunteers in assignments that meet the statutory purpose of the 

program to support for adults in need of additional assistance to remain 

independent for as long as possible.

 Estimated total number of renewal and continuation grant awards in FY 

2013: 185

 Evaluations: CNCS is conducting three evaluations in SCP. The majority of 

funds were from FY 2012. Additional funding in FY 2013 may be 

necessary to complete or expand on the current activities. The 1st study 

evaluates the potential health benefits of volunteering in SCP for the 

volunteers. The 2nd study evaluates the implementation of national 

performance measures in SCP using a mandatory data collection 

instrument survey to be filled out by clients and caregivers. The 3rd study 

will determine the feasibility of a future study that could determine the 

potential health benefits of receiving SCP volunteer services. 

Performance Measure Adoption and Implementation:

SCP performance measures are aligned with Strategic Plan Focus Areas, and the 

majority of SCP measures are subsets of agency-wide measures. For SCP, the focus is 

Healthy Futures – Independent Living. Additional program specific measures will 

capture the benefits to caregivers through respite. The emphasis on independent 

living aligns with the Strategic Plan, as well as the authorized purpose of the SCP 
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program. Grantees will be required to concentrate 100 percent of their activities, as 

defined by Volunteer Service Years (VSYs) in the Healthy Futures- independent 

living focus area. 

Senior Corps began implementation of mandatory National Performance Measures 

in FY 2013. All renewal grants, which are entering the first year of a new three-year 

grant, were required to adopt the FGP National Performance Measures 

Requirements. As SCP grants renew in FY 2014 and 2015, the applicants will then be 

required to adopt the measures.

The chart below tracks the timeframe of National Performance Measures 

implementation:

Fiscal Year Percentage of SCP Portfolio to Adopt Performance Measures

FY 2013 29% of all projects implement national measures 

FY 2014 23% percent of projects adopt national measures for the 1st time

52% of all projects implement national measures 

FY 2015 48% percent of projects adopt national measures for the 1st time

100% of all projects implement national measures
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AmeriCorps VISTA FY 2013 Annual Plan 

FY Appropriation: $94,820,450

Target MSYs: 5,745

Target Members: 7,500 including 1,500 Summer Associates

Key Milestones:

 MSY Allocation to Area Managers for clusters

 Program Guidance to CNCS State Offices and Field (Fall 2012) 

 35 Pre Service Orientations in November, January, February, April, May, June, 

July and August at which new members will be trained and assigned.

Programming Priorities:

Economic Opportunity: Housing*

Financial Education

Employment

Education: School Readiness*

Academic Performance*

Academic Engagement*

High School Graduation

Post-secondary Education

Veterans and Military Families*

Healthy Futures: Food Security*

Health Access

(Those with an asterisk are Agency Priority Measures.)

Performance Measure Adoption and Implementation: 

AmeriCorps VISTA was created with the purpose of reducing poverty and building 

economic opportunity. AmeriCorps VISTA members build the organizational and 

financial capacity of local programs that help low income Americans gain skills and 

resources they need to break the cycle of poverty. VISTA will measure performance 

in Goal Two, the value of member experience and Goal Three, project success in 

building the capacity of organizations. Project sponsors are directed to align 

programming within the focus areas and priority areas listed above. 
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Social Innovation Fund FY 2013 Annual Plan

FY Appropriation: $44,815,000

Target Member/Volunteer Level: Not Applicable

Key Milestones:

 No new grant competition

 Release of the 2013 continuation guidance: May 2013

 Deadline for continuation requests: June 2013

 Notification of continuation funding decisions: August 2013

Funding Priorities:

The top priority for SIF funding is sustaining SIF programs already underway, 

whose continued funding is essential to the SIF realizing its promise. This includes 

the subgrant programs of our current grantees and the key SIF initiatives of 

documenting and disseminating learnings, and expanding the evidence base

through rigorous evaluation. 

No new grants are expected to be awarded this fiscal year. Our continuation 

funding decisions will be based on holding grantees accountable to expectations, 

including the implementation of rigorous evaluations of their program models.

Performance Measure Adoption and Implementation: 

The SIF is adopting five agency-wide priority measures, four related to impact on 

beneficiaries, and one related to implementing stronger evaluations. SIF programs 

will also report on SIF-specific measures such as non-federal cash resources raised 

and the total number of beneficiaries served.
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Subtitle H FY 2013Annual Plan

(Volunteer Generation Fund, Call to Service – MLK and 9/11 Days of Service)

FY Appropriation: $8,464,000

Target Member/Volunteer Level: NA

Key Milestones: 

 9/11 Day of Service

o No new grant competition 

o Continuation applications due Spring 2013

 MLK Day of Service 

o No new grant competition 

o Continuation applications due Spring 2013

 Volunteer Generation Fund (if applicable)

o NOFA released May 2013.

o Applications due July 2013.

o Grants will be awarded competitively-September 2013.

Funding Priorities:

• 9/11 Day of Service: Grantees must either directly administer service and 

remembrance projects in 10 locations across the country or in a geographic 

region (like the CNCS’s clusters) or on a state-wide basis; or they may 

competitively subgrant a portion of the federal funds to eligible organizations to 

plan and carry out direct service activities that honor those lost on September 

11th 2001 and those who rose in service as a result of that tragedy. Activities in 

the grant portfolio may be part of a continuum of year round service and 

contribute to advancing overall programmatic impact and organizational 

capacity. 

• MLK Day of Service: Grantees must competitively subgrant a portion of the 

federal funds to eligible organizations to plan and carry out direct service 

activities on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday weekend. Activities in their

portfolio may be part of a continuum of year round service and contribute to 

advancing overall programmatic impact and organizational capacity. 

• Volunteer Generation Fund: Grantees must provide evidence that subgrantees 

have enhanced their capacity to fulfill the following requirements:

o Engage local partner organizations that use volunteers in a 

collaborative process of planning and implementation for increasing the 

impact of volunteers in meeting critical needs 

o Provide relevant, competency-based volunteer roles and 

opportunities that attract and retain high caliber volunteers 
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o Develop the internal operational systems and financial management 

systems that will provide organizational sustainability

Program Performance Measures:

Goal 3: Maximize the value we add to grantees, partners and participants.

a. Number of community volunteers recruited and/or managed by CNCSsupported organizations or National Service Participants.

1. G3-3.1. Number of community volunteers recruited by CNCS-supported 

organizations or National Service Participants.

2. G3-3.2: Number of community volunteers managed by CNCS-supported 

organizations or National Service Participants.

3. G3-3.3: Number of organizations implementing three or more effective 

volunteer management practices as a result of capacity building services provided 

by CNCS-supported organizations or National Service Participants.
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Subtitle J FY 2013 Annual Plan

FY Appropriation: $1,996,000

Target Member/Volunteer Level: NA

Key Milestones:

 Publication of NOFO for Regional Training Conferences – Early February

 Grant awards for Regional Training Conferences – Spring 2013

 Transfer of support from outside vendor to OIT for on-line training and 

technical assistance – September 2013

Funding Priorities:

 Funding for Regional Training Conferences: CNCS will allocate approximately 

$250,000 (to state commissions, non-profits or other training entities). This 

reflects a different approach for some of the funds that were previously 

distributed through PDAT grants.

 Funding for online T/TA resources: CNCS will allocate approximately 

$750,000 on contract vehicles managed by OIT to provide:

o Hosting for on-line resources (Knowledge Networks and on-line 

courses)

o Develop capacity for virtual conference hosting

o Licensing and support for a learning management system (on-line 

course support and development)

 Funding for the development of new content, training institutes and 

interactive user groups for focus areas ($996,000, if appropriated): CNCS will 

award through Blanket Purchase Agreements, vehicles for conferences and 

expert consultants. 

Program Performance Measures:

Goal 3: Maximize the value we add to grantees, partners and participants.

a. Develop relevant and accessible knowledge base informed by 

research and rigorous evaluation

b. Conduct capacity building activities that advance the adoption of 

best practices 

Goal 4: Work across programs and enhance our operations to support 

evidence-based decision making and a culture of performance. 
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State Commission Administrative Grant FY 2013 Annual Plan

FY Appropriation: $13,441,000

Target Member/Volunteer Level: NA

Key Milestones:

• FY 2013 partial awards – December 2012

• FY 2013 balance of award– April/May 2013

Funding Priorities:

Funding will help support State Service Commissions as they implement service as a 

strategy to address local problems, such as leading disaster response and readiness 

efforts, addressing high school dropout rates, increasing mentoring efforts, 

supporting persons with disabilities, and establishing volunteer centers, online 

matching platforms, and other systems to effectively engage citizens in service. 

Funds will also be used in their outreach to prospective AmeriCorps grantees, 

administration of grant competitions, oversight and monitoring of grants and 

programs.

In addition, Commission Administrative Grants will be used to cultivate highperforming organizations by strengthening their training and technical assistance, 

accountability, and grant oversight activities, as well as to support Administration 

initiatives such as the Next Wave of Service and the Governors and Mayors 

Outreach. For instance, for Next Wave of Service initiatives such as School 

Turnaround AmeriCorps and STEM AmeriCorps, Commissions could be conducting 

multiple grant competitions throughout the year instead of one annual competition.

Performance Measure Adoption and Implementation: 

Performance measures are determined by each State Service Commission, based on 

their state service plan. Plans are reviewed, approved, and monitored by CNCS staff 

to ensure compliance and monitor progress.