In creating AmeriCorps, the Congress chartered a federal corporation to work with the states to fund local national and community service projects. The President appoints a chief executive officer and a 15-member bipartisan board of directors that is confirmed by the Senate to govern the Corporation; each member serves a 5-year term. The board has the authority to review and approve the strategic plan and proposed grant decisions. The Corporation provides grants to AmeriCorps projects directly and through states. To receive AmeriCorps funds, states must establish commissions on national service. These state commissions must have between 15 and 25 members and be composed of representatives from a variety of fields, including local government, existing national service programs, local labor organizations, and community-based organizations. Since AmeriCorps began, 48 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have created commissions. These state commissions, in turn, subgrant AmeriCorps funds to local community service projects. The act gives critical program responsibilities to both the federal and state governments. Because national service was intended to address community needs, the act sought to balance a centralized federal program role with state responsibility for planning, implementing, and overseeing most eligible AmeriCorps projects because state governments are thought to be closer to and therefore more knowledgeable about community needs. Although it directly selects and oversees some AmeriCorps projects, the Corporation is primarily responsible for establishing national criteria for determining projects’ eligibility for federal funds and for assisting the states in carrying out their program responsibilities. Both the Corporation and the states are jointly responsible for other program areas such as providing training and technical assistance to local AmeriCorps projects. Table 1 lists the Corporation’s and the states’ responsibilities. AmeriCorps*State/National is the Corporation’s flagship AmeriCorps program. AmeriCorps*State/National participants earn an education award of up to $4,725 for full-time service or half that amount for part-time service. A minimum of 1,700 hours of service within a year is required to earn the full $4,725 award. To earn a part-time award, a participant must perform 900 hours of community service within 2 years (or within 3 years in the case of participants who are full-time college students). Individuals can serve more than two terms; however, they can receive only federally funded benefits, including education awards, for two terms. The Corporation allows projects to devote some portion, not more than 20 percent, of participants’ service hours to nondirect service activities, such as training or studying for the equivalent of a high school diploma. With regard to attrition, participants can earn prorated education awards if they are released for compelling personal circumstances, such as illness or critical family matters, and have served at least 15 percent of their service term. Participants released for cause are ineligible to receive an education award and may disqualify themselves from future service in AmeriCorps. Participants may be released for cause for a variety of reasons, including being convicted of a felony, chronic truancy, or consistent failure to follow directions. In addition, participants released for cause may include those who leave a project early to take advantage of significant opportunities for personal development or growth, such as educational or professional advancement. Education awards, which are held in trust by the U.S. Treasury, are paid directly to qualified postsecondary institutions or student loan lenders and must be used within 7 years after service is completed. In addition to the education award, AmeriCorps*State/National participants receive a living allowance stipend that is at least equivalent to, but no more than double, the average annual living allowance received by VISTA volunteers—about $7,500 for full-time participants in fiscal year 1996. Additional benefits include health insurance and child care assistance for participants who qualify for such support. Individuals can join a national service project before, during, or after postsecondary education, but must be a high school graduate, agree to earn the equivalent of a high school diploma before receiving an education award, or be granted a waiver by the project. A participant must be 17 or older and be a citizen, a national, or a lawful permanent resident alien of the United States. Selection of participants is not based on financial need. In its fiscal year 1997 appropriations, the Corporation anticipated fielding about 24,000 full- and part-time AmeriCorps*State/National participants. The act created three types of grant awards as funding streams for AmeriCorps*State/National projects: formula, competitive, and national direct. The act lists criteria that state commissions and the Corporation must use in selecting AmeriCorps projects for grant awards. The principal criteria include project quality, innovation, and sustainability. In addition, service projects must address community education, public safety, human, or environmental needs. States may develop additional criteria, based on identified service needs, to use in selecting projects for state formula grants. Similarly, the Corporation develops additional criteria that reflect particular national needs that states use to nominate projects for competitive grant awards and that the Corporation uses to select projects for national direct grants. State formula grants: One-third of the funds appropriated for AmeriCorps*State/National grants are distributed to state commissions strictly on the basis of population. In fiscal year 1995, state commissions were awarded about $67 million to support 262 projects using formula grants. State competitive grants: At least one-third of funds appropriated for AmeriCorps*State/National grants are awarded to state commissions on a competitive basis. The Corporation ranks the highest quality projects among those submitted by the states for these funds. In fiscal year 1995, the Corporation awarded another $64 million to state commissions to finance 103 projects using competitive grants. National direct grants: The Corporation competitively awards the remaining appropriations to public or private nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, or multistate organizations. In fiscal year 1995, the Corporation directly awarded about $58 million to support 57 projects using national direct grants. AmeriCorps grantees use grant funds to pay up to 85 percent of the cost of participants’ living allowances and benefits and up to 67 percent of other project costs, including participant training, education, and service gear; staff salaries, travel, transportation, supplies, and equipment; and project evaluation and administrative costs. To ensure that federal Corporation dollars are used to leverage other resources for project support, grantees must also obtain support from non-Corporation sources to help pay for the project. This support, which can be cash or in-kind contributions, may come from other federal sources as well as state and local governments, and private sources. In-kind contributions include personnel to manage AmeriCorps*State/National projects and to supervise and train participants; office facilities and supplies; and materials and equipment needed in the course of conducting national service projects. The National and Community Service Trust Act provides for extensive state control of AmeriCorps. State commissions must develop strategic plans that identify state educational, public safety, human, and environmental service needs. On the basis of these plans and the act’s criteria, commissions select projects to finance with formula grant funds and nominate other projects to the Corporation as candidates for competitive grants. Commissions have ultimate responsibility for administering both formula and competitive awards. In addition, commissions must monitor and evaluate the performance of the AmeriCorps projects under their purview and assess projects’ compliance with state and federal regulations. These reviews determine whether commissions renew funding for AmeriCorps projects in succeeding years. Commission officials in all seven states told us they used a grassroots effort to develop their strategic plans and identify service needs. They said they sought input from a broad cross-section of individuals and organizations to ensure extensive input in identifying state service needs. Most commission officials said they solicited public comment through local and regional meetings and other public forums. For example, one commission mailed meeting announcements to various government, nonprofit, and community-based organizations. Another commission mailed over 1,000 invitations to various service programs and individuals. Another state commission used interactive computer technology to coordinate input from 60 individuals collectively representing over 250 organizations. After developing state plans and prioritizing service needs, commissions used a variety of measures to identify, develop, and select AmeriCorps projects. For example, while some commissions published request-for-proposals packages, others solicited proposals from existing community service and government agencies, and some held regional meetings around the state where local organizations identified community needs and proposed projects to address them. In general, state commissions convened review panels to assess project proposals and rank them according to how well they met the state’s needs and priorities as established in the state’s strategic plan. One review panel was composed only of the commissioners themselves; others used panels made up of commissioners, commission staff, and local service project officials; while another included citizens with academic and public service backgrounds. State commissioners, using the results of these panels, then selected projects to fund with the state’s allotted formula funds or to submit to the Corporation for competition with other state commissions’ selections. Commission officials in all seven states told us they based their project monitoring and evaluation protocols on Corporation guidelines. Some state commissions developed additional evaluation and monitoring measures to ensure projects remain in compliance. Commission staff in six of the states conducted project site visits, while in Texas, commissioners themselves conducted on-site reviews. Typically, the commissions used their site visit results and periodic reports submitted by project administrators to determine whether projects effectively achieved project objectives. States chose to organize their commissions in a variety of ways. The seven commissions we reviewed fell into one of three organizational models: (1) part of a preexisting state agency; (2) an independent state agency; or (3) a nonprofit agency. Five commissions operated within existing state agencies. For example, the Virginia commission operated within the state’s Department of Social Services.