Reauthorization of the National and Community Service Trust Act
A Forum — June 20, 2002
The National and Community Service Coalition along with member organizations, American Youth Policy Forum, State Education Agency K-12 Service-Learning Network (SEANet), Youth Service America (YSA), and Campus Compact, convened a policy dialogue with Leslie Lenkowsky, Chief Executive Officer, Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), and legislative aides from the U.S. House and Senate. The purpose of the dialogue was to help audience members follow the progress of the HR 4854 Citizen Service Act of 2002 through Congress, and to understand the goals of the Corporation's leadership. The Citizen Service Act is the House of Representative's bill to reauthorize the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993.
Leslie Lenkowsky opened the dialogue by stating a need to increase opportunities for Americans to become involved in service. During his visits with AmeriCorps groups and to Learn and Serve sites, Lenkowsky met Youth in Action, a group of young African-American teens who have formed a self-help group with a safe space for their peers. The group, realizing that many friends and acquaintances were on drugs and too many were becoming young parents, took action to reverse some of the damage done. Lenkowsky was moved by the group's efforts to take their community back. Lenkowsky revealed his frustration with criticism over the issue of separation of church and state in programs receiving federal funds. He described a local RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program) in Chicago, associated with a Catholic church, that works with stroke victims, stating, "Members of RSVP are working with stroke victims and the elderly. They are helping the community. Of course you don't have to be Catholic to be in this program, or be helped by this program." Lenkowsky moved on to say that House of Representative staff are working closely with the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee staff to prepare to mark up (make adjustments to) the Citizen Service bill. The House bill, according to Lenkowsky, makes improvements in all programs under the Corporation (AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve America). The bill includes the Administration's recommended Principles and Reforms to facilitate the President's charge for a culture of citizenship and caring. "Our goal at the Corporation is that everyday be National Service Day," said Lenkowsky. "Four thousand hours of voluntary service per citizen is the President's benchmark to help facilitate real change in our civic culture, to address, for example, how you make parts of a town better," he said. It was revealed that there is a push to increase the number of AmeriCorps members under state commissions, and establish reasonable guidelines that simplify the grant process for states as they seek funding from CNCS. The President's Principles and Reforms for the Act include:
- Support and encourage greater engagement of citizens in volunteering.
- Make Federal funds more responsive to state and local needs.
- Make Federal funds more accountable and effective.
- Provide greater assistance to secular and faith-based community organizations.
Jim Kielsmeier, Executive Director, National Youth Leadership Council asked if, after years of flat funding, there was a proposed increase for Learn and Serve America, the K-16 service-learning arm of the Corporation. Lenkowsky responded that service-learning counts as part of the 4,000 hours of service called upon by the President, but the Administration has not asked for increased funding for Learn and Serve America. However, he did mention that this is being discussed, particularly by John Bridgeland and others at USA Freedom Corps. "You will see more on this later this year," said Lenkowsky.
Following comments by Lenkowsky, a panel discussion among four congressional aides from the House and Senate revealed intense negotiation around the Citizen Service bill, more discussion around service-learning, and a predicted mark up by the Senate HELP Committee in mid-July or early August. Speaking from a House aide's perspective, Rich Stombres of Representative John Boehner's office said, "We tried to craft a bi-partisan bill and saw the President's authorization figures as high in some areas and low in others. We've introduced the President's Principles." Aide Maggie McDow from Representative Tim Roemer's office added, "We support the President's authorization levels. Service-learning is very important and has become very different from how it was in 1993. We need to give schools more support." Jill Morningstar from Senator Paul Wellstone's office remarked that Jane Oates (Senator Kennedy's office) is the real leader on this bill. "We have started to go through the House bill line by line. We're looking to incorporate bills from Senators Bayh and McCain, Wellstone, and Edwards," said Morningstar. "This will be a bi-partisan mark-up that enjoys the support of both parties. Republicans are a little new to national service. You see our members looking at national service from a new perspective. We're in a fact-finding mode right now with no fixed opinions," said Denzel McGuire from Senator Judd Gregg's office. According to McGuire, Senator Gregg is interested in realistic performance measures and is intrigued by the performance measures in the House bill. He also has an interest in providing inner-city, at-risk youth with service opportunities.
Liz Hollander from Campus Compact, an organization focused on service-learning at the university level asked panel members if Congress has a real understanding of the College Work-Study Program. The Federal College Work-Study Program provides jobs for undergraduate and graduate students with financial need, allowing them to earn money to help pay education expenses. The program encourages community service work and work related to a student's course of study. Panelists responded that many members are aware of Campus Compact's good work, and that the Higher Education Act comes up for reauthorization next year and that is where the Work-Study Program will be handled. A question about civics and civic engagement was raised.
Other topics were addressed in the conversation. The leveraging of unpaid volunteers is a big push from Republicans, but Denzel McGuire from Republican Senator Gregg's office reminded, "Just because you have more volunteers doesn't mean you have a better program." Another panel member added, "I don't think it is appropriate tying Homeland Security to grants in Learn and Serve." Panelists encouraged audience members to start talking to members on the Hill. "There are still a lot of folks who are not wild about some programs in the Corporation. Let members know of programs in their community." The policy discussion ended with a list of tips from panelists on what constituents can do to inform Members of Congress on national service programs. It is important that constituents educate Capitol Hill members and staff about their concerns. For example, explain how service programs have improved fiscally over the years, how they have demonstrated a high level of accountability, define and describe the program, what does it do, how does it leverage unpaid volunteers, how does it provide direct services, what are those services, and what is the impact.
This brief is from an American Youth Policy Forum co-sponsored policy dialogue held on Capitol Hill on June 20, 2002, as reported by Sarah S. Pearson.
The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) is a non-profit, nonpartisan professional development organization that bridges youth policy, practice and research for professionals working on youth policy issues at the national, state and local levels.