Message From the Director
Dear colleagues,
On Independence Day, I’m sure you reflected on how we can move toward a more perfect union for all Americans.
This year, as I reflected on independence, I thought about the numerous ways that our AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers support the independence of their homebound and physically challenged peers. Our volunteers engagement helps them remain independent in their own homes. I also thought about how our AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers support children and youth with their social and emotional development, which helps them to become independent thinkers.
Just thinking about the word independence sparks thoughts about interdependence and the power of our AmeriCorps Seniors programs and volunteers. We collaborate to bridge intergenerational and co-generational connections across a broad range of issues and ages. Interdependence is just as important as independence; it too has the power to significantly impact our futures. Our June AmeriCorps Seniors Summer Convening featured Marc Freedman, Eunice Nichols, and Cal Halvorsen of Encore.org who provided in-depth insight into the value that older adults bring to intergenerational and co-generational service. If you missed it, please take time to listen to the recording of that closing keynote session on Litmos.
This month, as we reflect on our country’s independence, I’m hoping that you will think of ways to celebrate AmeriCorps Seniors programs. Through our service, we support the independence and interdependence of our nation’s residents.
In service,
Atalaya Sergi, National Director
AmeriCorps Seniors
AmeriCorps Seniors 2022 Virtual Convening: Summer Series
Register for the AmeriCorps Seniors 2022 Virtual Convening: Summer Series. Our time together will focus on your incredible innovation and resiliency, particularly during the past year. We are excited to create a space for discussion around sustaining program advances, future innovation and growth, and practical strategies for program implementation and management.
July's sessions will focus on expert presentations and workshops in partnership with the Office of Grants Administration. These sessions will cover valuable information and practical tools to address challenges that our grantees, have called out to us. We look forward to seeing every grantee there. Please download and complete the event prework from the July Virtual Summer Series page on Litmos.
- Tuesday, July 19 – Thursday, July 21, 1-4 p.m. ET: Financial and Grants Management – Register
- Tuesday, September 20, 1-4 p.m. ET: Reflection and Celebration – Register
You can find materials and recordings from our Virtual Summer Series on Litmos in the 2022 ACS Virtual Summer Series Learning Path. Agendas and session descriptions will be posted in advance of each series and recordings will be posted after each event.
Stipend Increase
As we announced several months ago, the Fiscal Year 2022 Federal Budget includes increased funding levels for all three of our stipend programs. The additional funding for Foster Grandparents, Senior Companions, and stipend Senior Demonstration programs enables us to increase the volunteer stipend from $3.00 to $3.15 per hour.
We are implementing a permanent stipend increase (15 cents per hour) for AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers who receive stipends to become effective Friday, July 1. This increase is approved for all federally funded and non-federally funding Volunteer Service Years including stipend American Rescue Plan Senior Demonstration awards.. Reach out to your portfolio manager for support.
Pathfinder Update
The Pathfinder will be updated on Friday, July 15. All grantees who have complete station roasters will have their contact information included in the Pathfinder.
Steps to correct or update your Pathfinder information:
- Review your contact information in eGrants. See Handbook Appendix A. 22: Review and Update Project Information, found on the Foster Grandparent, RSVP, and Senior Companion grantees page.
- Review each station roaster to confirm each location is in the approved geographical service area.
Any updates made between Friday, April 1, and Thursday, June 30, will be posted on Friday, July 15.
Volunteer Station Rosters
We would like to emphasize the importance of updating your volunteer station rosters in eGrants, particularly for new projects that have not entered any stations yet. Station roster updates provide accurate station information for AmeriCorps Seniors National Service Reports and the AmeriCorps Seniors Pathfinder. They are important for providing a full picture of the extent of AmeriCorps Seniors and national service activities. Please see Entering Your Volunteer Station Roster for instructions for updating station rosters.
Operational Handbook Updates
Foster Grandparent, RSVP, and Senior Companion Operational Handbooks
Updated AmeriCorps Seniors operational handbooks will be posted on Friday, July 22. Handbooks can be found in the "Grantee Resources section" of our website on the following pages:
Senior Demonstration Operational Handbook
The AmeriCorps Seniors team has released the Senior Demonstration Program Operations Handbook.
Training Corner
All Grantee Tuesday Talk Series
Join us, Tuesday, August 16, at 1 p.m. ET, as we engage a variety of guest presenters to share their knowledge and expertise with our programs, united by their commitment to helping older Americans serve their communities.
National Performance Measurement Core Curriculum Update
Performance measurement is essential to foster organizational and programmatic improvement. It is integral to program management, inform strategy and planning, site selection, project implementation, and reporting to stakeholders. AmeriCorps expects all applicants and grantees to use National Performance Measures as part of a comprehensive performance measurement strategy that relies on both performance and evaluation data to learn from grantee work to make tactical and strategic adjustments to achieve our goals.
AmeriCorps is offering the National Performance Measurement Core Curriculum to support new program staff and existing program staff in refreshing their knowledge of performance measurement. The National Performance Measurement Core Curriculum consists of six iterative modules, and it’s recommended that you take them in the sequence they are offered.
Fiscal Year 2023 Application Due Dates
On Saturday, October 1, federal fiscal year 2023 will start. AmeriCorps is a federal agency that follows the federal fiscal year calendar. As we near the beginning of fiscal year 2023, the agency is finalizing its grants calendar, and we want to share some important dates with you now so that you can plan accordingly. While the dates below are still tentative, we do not anticipate any significant changes.
Grantees that have a start date of April 1 (also referred to as Quarter 3 grants)
- Anticipate funding notices to open on Thursday, September 1.
- Anticipate applications will be due Wednesday, November 2.
Grantees that have a start date of July 1 (also referred to as Quarter 4 grants)
- Anticipate funding notices to open on Monday, January 9.
- Anticipate applications will be due Wednesday, March 9.
If you have an award that has an off cycle start date, your portfolio manager will share application due dates once all dates are finalized.
While these dates are tentative and final dates will be released when the funding opportunities open, it is important to note that on-time grant application submissions will be expected in fiscal year 2023. Late applications that do not follow the notice of funding availability will not be accepted.
Revised Individual Match Waiver Process
As a result of questions and concerns from grantees , AmeriCorps’ Office of Grant Administration revised the process to request individual match waivers for both AmeriCorps Seniors and AmeriCorps State and National grantees. Major changes include the following:
- applicants and grantees can apply for match waivers at any point in their grant period, including at the time of new or renewal applications;
- match waiver requests require justification for eligibility based on the applicable regulations, but no longer require documentation to support the requests;
- match waiver requests will be submitted via Microsoft Forms rather than a mailbox; and
- the Office of Grant Administration aims to respond to all requests within 30 business days of receipt.
If you have submitted a match waiver request using the prior process via MatchWaivers@cns.gov and have not received an approval or denial yet, you do not need to resubmit using this process. The Office of Grant Administration is working very hard to review the remaining pending requests.
Key Resources:
New Centralized Grants Management Webpage
AmeriCorps received feedback from some grantees that it would be helpful to create a centralized webpage with key grants management resources for all programs. As a result, the Office of Grant Administration worked with the Office of the Chief Risk Officer and the Office of External Affairs to create the new webpage for these resources. While we are still building out content and ensuring that individual program webpages eventually link here, we want to share this new resource now.
Office of Monitoring and Office of the Chief Risk Officer Resources
Key resources now available on the website:
-
National Service Criminal History Checks – Under the “Quick Links: is a link to the required annual training and contact information for the approved vendors. Under the “NSCHC Guidance” is a link to the updated NSCHC Manual and other key resources.
-
Office of Monitoring – Under “Resources,” the two “At a Glance” documents provide an overview of the monitoring process, and the “Overview of Uniform Monitoring Package” provides an overview of the UFP used by AmeriCorps monitoring officials to assess grant recipient compliance with requirements from AmeriCorps program regulations, uniform guidance, policies, and terms and conditions.
Unique Entity Identifier Update
Effective Monday, April 4, the Federal government transitioned the authoritative entity identifier from the Dun & Bradstreet unique identifier number, known as DUNS, to the SAM.gov Unique Entity Identifier.
This means AmeriCorps will not issue awards (amendments, continuations, new, recompete, and renewal awards) to recipients that have not entered a valid SAM.gov Unique Entity Identifier into eGrants. Please ensure that your organization adds its SAM.gov Unique Entity Identifier to your attributes in eGrants to avoid award processing delays. Review the Frequently Asked Questions for guidance on how to obtain a Unique Entity Identifier and enter it into eGrants.
SAM.gov has informed Federal Agencies that there is a backlog related to SAM.gov entity validation, which is part of the process to renew or get a new SAM registration, or get a Unique Entity Identifier. If your entity information does not match the information presented in SAM.gov, you should create an incident and provide documentation to complete validation. Once you create an incident, the entity validation service will review your ticket and contact you via email if they require additional information or documentation. If needed, you can go to your SAM.gov workspace and add more documents. Please respond promptly to any emails requesting documentation or clarification. You will receive an email notification once validation is complete instructing you to go back into SAM.gov to accept the match.
Please review Things You Should and Should Not Do when creating an incident, attaching documents, and checking status. Following these instructions will reduce review time and speed up processing of your entity validation incident. For more information on entity validation, please visit the Federal Service Desk Service Portal.
Elder Justice Corner
Unfair Medical Billing and Collections
Medical billing, collections, and credit reporting can hurt people when they are already struggling with a health crisis. Medical bills can be confusing and often
(remove line break)you might feel like you’re navigating a winding maze of information. Help is available to help you make sure you are treated fairly.
The White House released a fact sheet on the Biden Administration’s new actions to lessen the burden of medical debt and increase consumer protection. Learn more about how the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau is helping to stop unfair medical debt collection.
Looking Ahead to 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance
As we begin to think toward the 9/11 anniversary, we want to collect stories of current volunteers who served in the military or as first responders and how they are continuing their service now. If you have volunteers who served our country, please share their story with us. We also want to hear if you’re planning a 9/11 volunteer or community service event, especially if you intend to invite your local elected officials to attend that event.
Please send your volunteer stories and event plans to scinnovation@cns.gov. Remember to include:
- the name of the volunteer;
- when, for how long, and in what capacity did the volunteer serve our country;
- how is the volunteer continuing their service now; and
- if possible, share an action photo of the volunteer in service and please remember to use our current AmeriCorps Seniors branding.
If you’re hosting an event, please share:
- date, time, and place of service or remembrance event;
- nature of service activity;
- names of elected officials invited; and
- how volunteers will be engaged (including the number of volunteers, if possible)
We will then use these stories and events in our social media and other 9/11 media to highlight the importance of older adults and continued service. Please also remember to include your own contact information should we need to follow-up with you.
Upcoming Deadlines and Reminders
Reporting Deadlines
Quarter 3 (Start Date: Friday, April 1)
-
Federal Financial Report Final (Budget Year 3) Due: Saturday, July 30
Quarter 4 (Start Date: Friday, July 1)
-
Performance Progress Reports Annual Due: Saturday, July 30
-
Federal Financial Report (Budget Year 1 or Year 2) Due: Saturday, July 30
-
Federal Financial Report Final (Budget Year 3) Due: Sunday, Oct. 30
Project Progress Reports Annual resources are on program pages under "Grantee Resources". Filter for “submit a progress report.”
Review Handbooks and Litmos for additional guidance.
 |
|
AmeriCorps Seniors is excited to introduce you to Elizabeth Schuelke.
Elizabeth is excited to join AmeriCorps Seniors as an evaluation and program impact specialist. With a foundation in community organizing and a master’s degree in policy analysis from Carnegie Mellon, Elizabeth has built her career at the intersection of people and data. Her background includes working at the US Department of State for the Ambassador to Governors and Mayors, leveraging policy analysis to remove discrimination from plan offerings on the Federal Health Insurance Marketplace, and in 2018, moving to Berlin as a German Chancellor Fellow to research barriers to women reaching leadership positions. Living abroad during the pandemic, Elizabeth jumped on the sourdough bandwagon, got really into walking, and freelanced as a United States policy analyst for the German news program Deutsche Welle. Now back in America full time, Elizabeth is excited to join the AmeriCorps team and live closer to her 10 nieces and nephews
|
|
