1. Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs Carla Ganiel, Senior Program & Project Specialist AmeriCorps State and National

2. Topics What is AmeriCorps? Economic Opportunity Focus Area/Job Training Programs Serving in AmeriCorps

3. Corporation for National & Community Service (CNCS) Created in 1993 through the signing of the National and Community Service Trust Act Nation’s largest grant maker supporting service and volunteering Engages millions of Americans in service each year Sponsors and promotes a variety of special initiatives and days of service

4. What is AmeriCorps? AmeriCorps

5. AmeriCorps State and National Awards grants to non-profits, faith & community- based organizations, public agencies, Indian tribes, and institutions of higher education. Provides opportunities for individuals – AmeriCorps members – to serve communities across the country. Since 1994, more than 900,000 men and women have provided service as AmeriCorps members.

6. AmeriCorps State and National Grants Provide partial funding to support AmeriCorps projects/programs. Grant recipients must contribute cash or in-kind match funds Solely for program expenses and not for general organizational expenses Include an allotment of AmeriCorps member positions and funds that are directly tied to the number of members

7. Focus Areas Disaster Services Healthy Futures Economic Opportunity Education Environmental Stewardship Veterans and Military Families Organizational Capacity Building

8. Economic Opportunity Focus Area 17% of AmeriCorps Portfolio Interventions Include –Financial Literacy –Job Training/Placement –Housing Services

9. Job Training/Placement More than 60 grantees provide job training/placement interventions More than 1,000 members provide services Currently, no programs focus specifically on farm workers, but several focus on immigrants and refugees

10. NFJP Service Locations Eastern Maine Development Corporation –Bangor AmeriCorps Opportunity Collaborative –Job Training Telamon Corporation –LifeBridge AmeriCorps –Financial literacy, job training, education, health Community Council of Idaho –Idaho Healthcare for Children and Families AmeriCorps –Health needs of children enrolled in Head Start OIC of Washington –Washington Service Corps –Education, disaster, health, veterans & military families

11. Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska Combines targeted pre-employment case management and traditional workforce development interventions AmeriCorps members provide individualized services that program staff cannot Measures improvement on Client Goal Attainment Scale after 90 days of case management

12. Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska 2008 study in the American Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation demonstrated that case management teams blending members with relevant academic credentialing and members from beneficiary populations have improved outcomes compared to those composed only of professionally trained staff LFS actively recruits AmeriCorps members from beneficiary populations

13. AmeriCorps Eligibility Age –At least 17 years of age –Out-of-school youth at least 16 years of age if focused on developing economic self-sufficiency of members ages 16-24

14. AmeriCorps Eligibility Education High school diploma or equivalent Agree to obtain a high school diploma or equivalent prior to using the Education Award Cannot drop out of school to enroll in AmeriCorps

15. AmeriCorps Eligibility Citizenship Must be a citizen, national or lawful permanent resident alien of the United States Other Must satisfy criminal history check eligibility

16. Member Recruitment Programs develop qualifications and position descriptions based on program design Many programs seek to recruit economically disadvantaged individuals or members of the target population served by the program

17. Benefits Living allowance (Minimum $12,530 for full-time member) Education Award ($5,730 for full-time member) Health Care Child Care (if qualified)

18. Farm Workers and Family Members Part-time opportunities Residential programs Programs focused on helping members complete GED or gain employment skills Programs serving immigrant communities

19. Volunteering as a Pathway to Employment CNCS study using data from the 2001-2012 Current Population Survey to explore the extent to which volunteering can maximize chances of finding employment Volunteering is associated with a 27% higher odds of employment, statistically significant at 99.9% confidence level

20. Volunteering as a Pathway to Employment The association between volunteering and employment had the strongest effect on individuals without a high school diploma or equivalent (51% increase in odds) and individuals who live in rural areas (55% increase in odds)

21. Additional Information CNCS Website: http://www.nationalservice.gov/http://www.nationalservice.gov/ Find and Apply for AmeriCorps positions: https://my.americorps.gov/mp/login.do https://my.americorps.gov/mp/login.do Volunteering as a Pathway to Employment http://www.nationalservice.gov/impact-our- nation/research-and-reports/volunteering-pathway- employment-report