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Dear Colleagues,
We have developed a series of messages to communicate with our external
stakeholders in the event of a lapse in federal appropriations. We want to share these with you before they
go out. We initiated the process on
Friday, with three conference calls with grantees and sponsors.
Given the various legal provisions and operating structures of our
programs, the lapse impacts vary somewhat depending on the program. Our
Contingency Plan goes into detail about how our programs will be affected
during a lapse of up to 14 days in length.
I encourage you to read the Contingency
Plan.
Please note that, in the event of a lapse in appropriated funding, NationalService.gov, other websites affiliated with our programs, and all
social media accounts will be inactive and thus not accessible to any
employees or the public.
If it appears likely a lapse will occur, we will begin the process of communicating
with our grantees, project sponsors, and service participants via email. Here
are the different stakeholder categories, how they will be affected, and how we
will communicate with them.
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Grant
and Cooperative Agreement-Funded Programs: This category, our largest, includes Senior
Corps, AmeriCorps State/National, Social Innovation
Fund, Volunteer Generation Fund, Nonprofit Capacity Building Program, MLK Day
of Service, President’s Volunteer Service Award, and the September 11th
National Day of Service and Remembrance. As our contingency plan states,
previously awarded grants and most cooperative agreements will not be affected
by the absence of current appropriations, although there will be no CNCS
oversight or assistance provided to grantees until normal operations resume and
no new grants will be awarded during this period.
For
all CNCS grantees, we will be sending a message about operations
during a lapse in federal appropriations.
It explains that if organizations have an active, awarded grant, they
will continue to operate as usual. It
notes that CNCS employees, including Program Specialists, Program Officers,
Grants Management Specialists, Training Officers, and Grants Officers, will not be
permitted to work during the lapse, including responding to email and phone
messages. It also notes that the HHS Payment Management System will be
available for drawing down funds and reporting on expenditures, and that the
National Service Hotline will be open but in a limited capacity.
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AmeriCorps
VISTA: An interruption of funding for
CNCS would not directly affect the status of AmeriCorps VISTA members. AmeriCorps VISTA sponsors will
continue operating their programs and AmeriCorps VISTAs are expected to continue their
service without interruption. AmeriCorps VISTAs supported by cost-share agreements will
continue to receive living allowance payments. AmeriCorps VISTAs who are not cost-share
will accrue their living allowance but will not receive payments until
government operations resume. eGrants
will remain available, though the National Service Hotline support will be
limited. The AmeriCorps VISTA Member Support Unit will be available to a limited extent to
support the AmeriCorps VISTAs.
We will be sending a message to all AmeriCorps VISTA project sponsors explaining
operations during a lapse and the limitations on staff support and customer
service. We will also be notifying every
AmeriCorps VISTA member directly, and providing an FAQ to sponsors and AmeriCorps VISTAs. We will share copies of these
messages with State Office staff prior to sending.
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AmeriCorps
NCCC: During a lapse, AmeriCorps NCCC
members will be housed and fed at their assigned campus or will remain at their
service assignment. Benefits such as health coverage remain unaffected. A small
contingent of excepted staff will be on hand at the AmeriCorps NCCC campus facilities to
support AmeriCorps NCCC member safety and welfare.
Incoming AmeriCorps NCCC members scheduled to start serving in Sacramento and Denver in early
October may be required to delay arrival on campus. AmeriCorps NCCC will keep these
members informed of developments as they are available.
If you have further questions about how our programs will operate during
the lapse in federal appropriations, please talk to your supervisor or the
relevant program staff. We hope you find
this advance explanation of our external communications useful. Thanks for your continued focus and dedication.
Sincerely,
 Kim Mansaray
Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations
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