Jump to content

National Civilian Community Corps: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
GreenC bot (talk | contribs)
Reformat 2 archive links. Wayback Medic 2.5
clarified language and mission
 
(32 intermediate revisions by 24 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Infobox Government agency
[[Image:Americorps NCCC Team.jpg|thumb|250px|Example of an AmeriCorps NCCC Team age 18–24 (Source: Team Eagle 2, Perry Point, MD Campus: Service Year 9, 2003)]]
| agency_name = National Civilian Community Corps
'''National Civilian Community Corps''' ('''NCCC'''), or '''AmeriCorps NCCC''' is an [[AmeriCorps]] program that engages 18- to 24-year-olds in team-based national and community service in the United States. National Civilian Community Corps teams complete about four different six- to eight-week-long projects during their 10-month term of service. Each team is made up of eight to twelve Corps Members and one Team Leader. Corps Members and Team Leaders are representative of all colors, creeds, states, and economic status. Approximately 1,200 Corps Members and Team Leaders are chosen annually to serve at one of four regional campuses, located in [[Sacramento, California]]; [[Denver, Colorado]]; [[Vinton, Iowa]]; and [[Vicksburg, Mississippi]]. Each campus serves as a training center and hub for a multi-state region. Members are required to complete a minimum of 1,700 hours of service, including 80 independent service hours, though members complete an average of 1,850 service hours per term.<ref name="americorps.gov">{{cite web|url=http://www.americorps.gov/about/programs/nccc.asp|title=AmeriCorps NCCC|website=Corporation for National and Community Service}}</ref>
| logo = AmeriCorps Logo 2020 Stacked Navy.svg

| logo_width = 175 px
In August 2012, the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) partnered to develop FEMA Corps, a new cadre of NCCC members who follow the traditional NCCC model, but serve solely on disaster response and recovery related project through FEMA.
| logo_caption =

| seal =
The mission of the NCCC program is "To strengthen communities and develop leaders through direct, team-based national and community service."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americorps.gov/for_individuals/faq/index.asp#FAQs+for+AmeriCorps+NCCC|title=AmeriCorps|website=Corporation for National and Community Service}}</ref>
| seal_width =

| seal_caption =
== Benefits ==
| formed = October 1, 1993

| preceding1 =
While serving in AmeriCorps NCCC, Corps Members receive:<ref name="americorps.gov"/>
| dissolved =
*Living allowance of approx. $4,000 for 10 months of service
| superseding =
*Room and board
| jurisdiction = [[Federal government of the United States]]
*Limited healthcare coverage
| headquarters = [[Washington, D.C.]]
*Uniforms
| latd =
*Training
| longd =
*At least $5,730 taxable Education Award (upon completion of the program)
| region_code = US

| employees =
After successfully completing a term of service, all AmeriCorps NCCC members are enrolled in the National Service Trust and are eligible to receive a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award. A Segal AmeriCorps Education Award can be used to pay education costs at qualified institutions of higher education, for educational training, or to repay qualified student loans. The award amount for full-time AmeriCorps programs, including NCCC, is currently $5,775 based on the maximum value of the Pell Grant. The award can be accessed in full or in part, and those qualified have seven years after their term of service has ended to claim the award. Individuals can only receive Education Awards for two terms of AmeriCorps service: Full-time, half-time, reduced half-time, quarter time, and minimum time terms of service each count as one term of service.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps/segal-americorps-education-award|title=Segal AmeriCorps Education Award|website=Corporation for National and Community Service}}</ref>
| budget =
| minister1_name =
| minister1_pfo =
| minister2_name =
| minister2_pfo =
| chief1_name = Ken Goodson
| chief1_position = National Director
| chief2_name =
| chief2_position =
| parent_agency = [[AmeriCorps]]
| child1_agency =
| website = https://americorps.gov/serve/americorps/americorps-nccc
}}
[[File:AmeriCorps NCCC Team 2024.jpg|250px|thumb|An AmeriCorps NCCC team on deployment in 2024 at [[Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park]] in [[California]].]]
The '''National Civilian Community Corps''' ('''NCCC'''), or '''AmeriCorps NCCC'''{{efn-la|NCCC is usually pronounced "N-triple-C”.}}, is an [[AmeriCorps]] program founded in 1993 that engages young adults, aged 18 to 26, in team-based, residential community service projects across the [[United States]]. Each year, approximately 2,200 individuals representing all colors, creeds, states, and economic statuses serve in one of four regions covering all 50 [[U.S. state|states]] and five [[U.S. territories|territories]].<ref name="americorps.gov">{{cite web|url=https://americorps.gov/serve/americorps/americorps-nccc|title=AmeriCorps NCCC|website=Corporation for National and Community Service|date=16 September 2022 }}</ref>


The mission of AmeriCorps NCCC is "to strengthen communities and develop leaders through direct, team-based national and community service."<ref name="AmeriCorps NCCC Pacific Region at a Glance">{{cite web|url=https://americorps.gov/sites/default/files/document/NCCC%20Pacific%20Region%20Factsheet_051723_final_508.pdf|title= AmeriCorps NCCC Pacific Region at a Glance |website=Corporation for National and Community Service |date = 2023}}</ref> Each year, NCCC members complete a total of over 1.2 million hours of service across hundreds of projects in the areas of [[disaster response]], [[infrastructure]] improvement, [[Nature conservation|environmental conservation]], [[energy conservation]], and [[urban development|urban]] and [[rural development]].<ref name="Database Fact Sheet">{{cite web|url=https://americorps.gov/sites/default/files/document/SPD%20Fact%20Sheet_11072023_final_508.pdf|title= AmeriCorps NCCC Service Project Database Fact Sheet |website=Corporation for National and Community Service}}</ref><ref>{{cite report |date= March 2022 |title= FY 2023 Congressional Budget Justification |url= https://americorps.gov/sites/default/files/document/AmeriCorps-FY-2023-CBJ-OMB-Cleared.pdf |publisher= Corporation for National and Community Service |page= 27 |access-date= March 3, 2024}}</ref><ref name= "OIG" >{{cite report |author= Office of Inspector General, Corporation for National and Community Service|date= December 5, 2016|title= Evaluation of the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC)|url= https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/oig-reports/17-05_nccc_evaluation.pdf |publisher= |page= 3|access-date= March 3, 2024}}</ref>
==History==
==History==
===Inception===
The National Civilian Community Corps is loosely based on the [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] (CCC), a [[New Deal]]-era work relief program founded by President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] to employ young men left jobless by the [[Great Depression]]. Run by officers of the [[United States Army Reserve]], the CCC employed three million men aged 18 to 26 across tens of thousands of projects related to [[Nature conservation|environmental conservation]] and natural resource development.<ref>John A. Salmond, ''The Civilian Conservation Corps CCC 1933–1942: a New Deal case study'' (1967)</ref> By the time the program was discontinued in 1942, CCC members had planted more than 3 billion trees, built nearly 100,000 miles of fire roads, and erected drainage systems for over 80 million acres of agricultural land.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1586.html|title=Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)|website=www.u-s-history.com|access-date=2019-02-22}}</ref>


In the early 1990s, the end of the [[Cold War]] sparked renewed interest in [[volunteerism]] and in the idea of using surplus military resources to solve domestic problems. In 1992, a bipartisan group of senators including [[John McCain]], [[Harris Wofford]], [[Bob Dole]], and [[Barbara Mikulski]] inserted provisions into the [[National Defense Authorization Act]] of 1993 authorizing the creation of a “Civilian Community Corps Demonstration Program” to test the viability of resurrecting the CCC model as a response to contemporary problems.<ref name="1999 GPRA Report">{{cite web|url=https://archives.iupui.edu/items/8316b6be-e34a-48ac-805d-1255e6591e20|title= 1999 GPRA Performance Report |website=AmeriCorps, 1993-2004 |publisher = Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis}}</ref><ref name= "Statutes">{{cite web |title=Statutes and Regulations |url=https://americorps.gov/about/agency-overview/statutes-regulations |website=AmeriCorps |publisher=Corporation for National and Community Service |access-date=3 March 2024}}</ref> The following year, President [[Bill Clinton]] signed legislation creating the [[Corporation for National and Community Service]] (also known as AmeriCorps), which absorbed the nascent Corps as well as other pre-existing programs such as [[AmeriCorps VISTA|VISTA]].<ref name="Statutes" />
===Inception (1992)===
The NCCC program was loosely based on the depression-era [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] (CCC), although in practice, the differences between NCCC and CCC projects can be quite marked in both practical intent and outcome. In some respects, NCCC teams resemble their CCC predecessors, who were also required to function under rugged conditions for prolonged periods and engage in strenuous conservation and wildfire-fighting projects, flood control, and disaster relief.<ref>{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026210606/http://www.state.tn.us/environment/tn_consv/archive/ccc_onemansjourney.pdf|url=http://www.state.tn.us/environment/tn_consv/archive/ccc_onemansjourney.pdf|title=The Civilian Conservation Corps: One Man’s Journey|author=Ryan Forbess|archivedate=2007-10-26|access-date=2007-10-07|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>http://www.sunherald.com/editorials/story/141099.html {{dead link|date=May 2018}}</ref> Unlike the original CCC, the NCCC was not created to be a public work relief program, but rather was designed to help communities meet self-identified needs through service projects and develop leadership skills in its participants.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americorps.org/for_individuals/faq/index.asp|title=Loading...|website=www.americorps.org}}</ref>


===Early development===
In 1992, "a bipartisan group of Senators worked hand-in-hand with the first Bush Administration to resurrect the CCC in a new form for a new era, creating what is now {{sic|know}} as AmeriCorps NCCC"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mikulski.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=253416|work=Senator Barbara Mikulski|title=Mikulski Calls for Restoration of President's Massive Americorps Cut|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090103155743/http://mikulski.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=253416|archivedate=2009-01-03}}</ref>
The first class of 850 NCCC members was sworn in by President Clinton at a [[White House]] ceremony on September 13, 1994.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Honan |first1=William H. |title=President Leads Swearing-In Of New Corps of Volunteers |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/13/us/president-leads-swearing-in-of-new-corps-of-volunteers.html |access-date=3 March 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=13 September 1994}}</ref> Like its New Deal-era forerunner, the new program was closely linked to the [[United States military|military]]: it was administered by a staff of [[Officer (armed forces)|officers]] recommended by the [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]], and Corps units were trained and housed at campuses owned by the [[Department of Defense]].<ref>{{cite act | url = https://www.congress.gov/bill/102nd-congress/house-bill/5006/text | title = National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 | legislature = United States Congress | date = 23 October 1992 | index = 195A | page = 206-230 | type = Section}}</ref>


The original five campuses were located in [[San Diego]], [[California]]; [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]], [[South Carolina]]; [[Denver]], [[Colorado]]; [[Perry Point, Maryland|Perry Point]], [[Maryland]]; and [[Washington, D.C.]] Each campus served as headquarters for a region covering multiple states. Between 1994 and 1999, more than 20,000 individuals applied to serve with NCCC, but only 6,000 were accepted due to budget constraints. Over the course of a typical program year, NCCC teams would complete between 300 and 400 projects focused on “environmental activities, education, human needs, and [[disaster response]].” A majority of projects would be sponsored by [[nonprofit organizations]], roughly a quarter by federal, state, and local government entities, and the rest by educational organizations and other institutions fitting the NCCC mandate. Frequent sponsoring organizations included [[Habitat for Humanity]], [[Boys & Girls Clubs of America]], [[YMCA]], and [[The Nature Conservancy]].<ref name="1999 GPRA Report"/>
===Official founding (1993–2005)===
With bipartisan sponsorship, the program was enacted into law in 1993<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/role_impact/history.asp|title=Corporation for National and Community Service|website=Corporation for National and Community Service|access-date=2007-10-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017191631/http://nationalservice.gov/about/role_impact/history.asp|archive-date=2007-10-17|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalservice.gov/pdf/cncs_statute_1993.pdf|title=PUBLIC LAW 103-82|publisher=}}</ref> (referred to as the "Civilian Community Corps") and signed by President [[Bill Clinton]] as a demonstration program charged with determining:


Disaster response soon became an important area of focus for NCCC. In its first five years, the Corps developed strong relationships with [[FEMA]], the [[American Red Cross]], and the [[U.S. Forest Service]]. By 1999, roughly 11% of NCCC projects saw teams working with these organizations to respond to [[hurricanes]], [[forest fires]], and other natural disasters.<ref name="1999 GPRA Report"/> In 2005, after [[Hurricane Katrina]] devastated the [[Gulf Coast of the United States|Gulf Coast]], 80% of NCCC teams across all five regions were pulled from their projects to aid in the response.<ref name = "Fox">{{cite news|title=AmeriCorps on Budget Chopping Block |date= March 20, 2006 |author= Kelley Beaucar Vlahos|publisher=[[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,188385,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060617164451/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,188385,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 17, 2006 }}</ref> Over the following four years, more than 4,000 NCCC members would serve on relief and recovery projects throughout the impacted region.<ref name="Vicksburg">{{cite press release |author=<!--Not Stated--> |title= National Service Agency Opens AmeriCorps Campus in Vicksburg |url= https://www.americorps.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2009/national-service-agency-opens-americorps-nccc-campus-vicksburg |publisher = Corporation for National and Community Service |date = 2009-09-01|access-date = 2024-03-03}}</ref>
* Whether federally funded residential service programs can significantly increase the support for national and community service
* Whether such programs can expand the opportunities for young men and women to perform meaningful, direct, and consequential acts of community service in a manner that will enhance their own skills while contributing to their understanding of civic responsibility in the United States
* Whether retired members of the armed forces can provide guidance and training under such programs that contribute meaningfully to the encouragement of national service
* Whether domestic national service programs can serve as a substitute for the traditional option of military service.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/expectmore/detail/10004457.2005.html|title=ExpectMore.gov: AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps<!-- Bot generated title -->|publisher=}}</ref>


In 2006, then-President [[George W. Bush]] proposed a federal budget which would have eliminated NCCC, but the proposal was ultimately not adopted.<ref name = "Fox"/>
While some of the primary motivations cited in the 1993 inception of AmeriCorps NCCC changed and evolved over time, the basic focus of the program has remained the same: environment, education, public safety, and other unmet needs, [[disaster relief]], and the addition of a "disaster services (preparedness and response)" heading in 2006/7.


===2005 – present===
===2007 – present===
In 2007, the Charleston campus closed down and responsibility for the region was divided among other campuses.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.americorpsalums.org/news/6155/NCCC-Charleston-Campus-Slated-to-Close.htm|title=NCCC Charleston Campus Slated to Close|date=11 December 2006|publisher= AmeriCorps Alums}}</ref> A new campus opened in [[Vinton, Iowa|Vinton]], [[Iowa]] the following year, by which point the Washington, D.C. campus had also closed down and the San Diego campus had relocated to [[Sacramento]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.americorpsalums.org/news/14900/|title=Iowa Leaders Welcome AmeriCorps NCCC to State|date=24 April 2008|publisher= AmeriCorps Alums}}</ref> In 2009, the newest NCCC campus was opened in [[Vicksburg, Mississippi|Vicksburg]], [[Mississippi]].<ref name="Vicksburg" /> The Perry Point campus relocated to [[Baltimore]] in 2014 before closing down four years later.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wbaltv.com/article/americorps-nccc-moves-regional-headquarters-to-dundalk/7090107|title=AmeriCorps NCCC moves regional HQ to Dundalk|first=Kim|last=Dacey|date=3 November 2014|publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://americorps.gov/sites/default/files/document/NCCC%20Sponsor%20Survey%20Factsheet_051723_final_508.pdf|title= AmeriCorps NCCC Sponsor Survey Fact Sheet |website=Corporation for National and Community Service}}</ref>
Much of the Fiscal Year 2006 and 2007 funding issued to NCCC was directly specified as being intended for hurricane relief in the Katrina impacted upper-gulf region. In 2007, in response to budget pressures, the [[Corporation for National and Community Service]] announced the closure of the Charleston, SC and Washington, DC campuses. Sixty percent of the remaining NCCC will be deployed to the Gulf Coast to aid with Hurricane Katrina relief until at least 2010.


In 2008 the National Civilian Community Corps opened a new campus in Vinton, Iowa. This was followed in July 2009 by the opening of a new campus in Vicksburg, Mississippi.<ref name="americorps.gov"/>

In 2014, the Mid Atlantic Headquarters moved from the [[Perry Point]] [[VA Medical Center]] Campus to the Sacred Heart of Mary School in [[Baltimore County, MD]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wbaltv.com/article/americorps-nccc-moves-regional-headquarters-to-dundalk/7090107|title=AmeriCorps NCCC moves regional HQ to Dundalk|first=Kim|last=Dacey|date=3 November 2014|publisher=}}</ref>

===FEMA Corps===
[[File:FEMA Corps Team.jpg|thumbnail|Example of an AmeriCorps NCCC FEMA Corps Team]]
[[File:FEMA Corps Team.jpg|thumbnail|Example of an AmeriCorps NCCC FEMA Corps Team]]
Disaster relief remains a significant priority for NCCC. Teams have been deployed in response to events such as [[Hurricane Sandy]] and the [[2011 Joplin tornado]], and between 2012 and 2019, half of all projects involved disaster services.<ref name= "OIG" /><ref name = "JBS" >{{cite web|url=https://americorps.gov/evidence-exchange/Analysis-of-the-AmeriCorps-NCCC-Service-Project-Database%3A-How-NCCC-Service-Projects-Strengthen-Communities-and-Impact-Members-Final-Report|title=Analysis of the AmeriCorps NCCC Service Project Database: How NCCC Service Projects Strengthen Communities and Impact Members---Final-Report|date=2020|publisher=Corporation for National and Community Service}}</ref> In 2012, NCCC launched an official partnership with [[FEMA]] that led to the creation of FEMA Corps, which adapts the NCCC model to concentrate exclusively on disaster relief efforts.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dhs.gov/blog/2012/09/14/welcome-fema-corps-inaugural-class|title=Welcome to the FEMA Corps Inaugural Class|date=14 September 2012|publisher=}}</ref> FEMA Corps members “are dedicated to FEMA deployments in areas of logistics, disaster survivor assistance, individual and public assistance, and recovery.”<ref name= "OIG" /> In 2022, the partnership was formally extended for another five years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fema.gov/press-release/20220516/fema-and-americorps-celebrate-10th-anniversary-fema-corps-renew-program-five|title=National service and emergency management agencies renew specialty National Civilian Community Corps program inter-agency reimbursable work agreement|date=16 May 2022|publisher= Federal Emergency Management Agency}}</ref>
In 2012, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and The Corporation for National and Community Service created FEMA Corps. FEMA Corps, a track of the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) program, is a national service program dedicated to disaster response and recovery.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fema.gov/blog/2012-03-13/announcing-creation-fema-corps|title=Announcing the Creation of FEMA Corps - FEMA.gov|website=www.fema.gov}}</ref>

FEMA Corps is described as a "dedicated, trained, and reliable disaster workforce". Members serve full-time for ten months on federal disaster response and recovery efforts. The first 231 members of the FEMA Corps class were inducted on September 30, 2012. Members serve on teams of 8 to 12 people, and follow the traditional NCCC model of serving, living, and traveling together. Members receive a small living stipend of about of $3,000 ($150.00 every two weeks) over their ten months of service, and housing, food, and transportation costs are covered. Members also receive an education award of at least $5,730 after successfully completing 10 months of service.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dhs.gov/blog/2012/09/14/welcome-fema-corps-inaugural-class|title=Welcome to the FEMA Corps Inaugural Class|date=14 September 2012|publisher=}}</ref>

==Programs and projects==

===Overview===
Before starting project work, members go through team building exercises, physical training and special training for the individual jobs they will hold on the team. During this time, members also receive extensive training in first aid/CPR and disaster relief through the Red Cross. They are also trained on how to use different tools and other equipment they might need throughout their projects.

Projects fall into one or more of five areas: [[disaster relief|disaster response]], [[infrastructure|infrastructure improvement]], [[Environment (biophysical)|environmental stewardship and conservation]], [[energy conservation]], and [[urban development|urban]] and [[rural development]]. Teams frequently work with [[non-profit organizations]] such as [[Habitat For Humanity]] and the [[American Red Cross]], tutor students in public schools, and build trails for various national and state parks.

===Disaster relief===

The National Civilian Community Corps may be called on to respond to any Federal or State disaster including fires, floods, earthquakes, oil spills, mudslides, hurricanes, tornadoes, or terrorist attacks. Americorps NCCC members are routinely attached to the [[American Red Cross]] for other disaster relief efforts and trained in Red Cross specific disaster services.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://americorpsnccc.tumblr.com/post/100759573394/americorps-and-the-american-red-cross-20-year|title=AmeriCorps and the American Red Cross: 20-Year Partners in Disaster Response|publisher=}}</ref>

===Environment===
NCCC performs environmental work in a number of areas, usually in collaboration with state and national parks.

===Education===

NCCC teams have worked in partnership with school systems across the country. A summary of national service work by AmeriCorps NCCC, released in early 2006, states that NCCC had by then tutored 319,000 students.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalservice.gov/state_profiles/pdf/WV_NCCC.pdf|title=AmeriCorpsNCCC<!-- Bot generated title -->|access-date=2007-10-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016104743/http://www.nationalservice.gov/state_profiles/pdf/WV_NCCC.pdf|archive-date=2011-10-16|url-status=dead}}</ref>


In 2023, NCCC announced a new “Summer of Service” program which allows members to serve for three months rather than a full ten.<ref>{{cite press release |author=AmeriCorps|title= AmeriCorps Announces Summer Service Opportunities Supporting the Environment, Affordable Housing and Economic Opportunity |url= https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2023/02/09/2605450/0/en/AmeriCorps-Announces-Summer-Service-Opportunities-Supporting-the-Environment-Affordable-Housing-and-Economic-Opportunity.html|publisher = Globe Newswire |date = 2023-02-09|access-date = 2024-03-07}}</ref> Later that year, NCCC struck an arrangement with the [[U.S. Forest Service]] to create the NCCC Forest Corps, which trains teams to assist the Forest Service in conducting conservation projects such as fuels reduction, trail maintenance, [[controlled burn|prescribed burns]], and wildlife surveys.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americorps.gov/serve/americorps/americorps-nccc/forest-corps|title=AmeriCorps NCCC Forest Corps|website=Corporation for National and Community Service}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |author=<!--Not Stated--> |title= President Biden Launches the American Climate Corps, Announces AmeriCorps NCCC Forest Corps |url= https://www.americorps.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2009/national-service-agency-opens-americorps-nccc-campus-vicksburg |publisher = Corporation for National and Community Service |date = 2023-09-03|access-date = 2024-03-03}}</ref> The first Forest Corps class was inducted in July of 2024 at the Pacific Region headquarters in Sacramento.<ref>{{cite news |title=Inaugural class of new Forest Corps inducted in Sacramento |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/inaugural-class-of-new-forest-corps-inducted-in-sacramento/ |access-date=9 November 2024 |publisher=CBS News |date=July 16, 2024}}</ref>
In conjunction with the American Council on Education (ACE), NCCC Corps Members who complete course requirements during their year of service can earn undergraduate credits hours for "Introduction to Service Learning" and "Core Supervisory Skills" (See ACE's "National Guide Online").<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.acenet.edu/Content/NavigationMenu/ProgramsServices/CCRS/index.htm|title=ACE - College Credit Recommendation Service<!-- Bot generated title -->|access-date=2007-10-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008155710/http://www.acenet.edu/Content/NavigationMenu/ProgramsServices/CCRS/index.htm|archive-date=2007-10-08|url-status=dead}}</ref>


==Program overview==
Upon successful completion of service, NCCC Corps Members earn a (taxable) education award of $5,350 for college tuition—awards that are matched by many colleges and universities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americorps.gov/for_individuals/benefits/ed_award_match.asp|title=Segal AmeriCorps Education Award|website=Corporation for National and Community Service}}</ref>
[[Image:NCCC_Traditional_Corps_Regions_Map.png|thumb|250px|A map of the four regions of AmeriCorps NCCC: Pacific, Southwest, North Central, and Southern.]]
AmeriCorps NCCC is divided into four regions, each covering multiple states and territories. These include the Pacific Region, headquartered in [[Sacramento]] and covering most of the [[Western United States|Far West]], [[Alaska]], [[Hawaii]], [[Guam]], and [[American Samoa]]; the Southwest Region, headquartered in [[Aurora, Colorado|Aurora]], [[Colorado]] and covering several of the [[West South Central states]] as well as [[Arizona]], [[Colorado]], and [[Wyoming]]; the North Central region, headquartered in [[Vinton, Iowa|Vinton]], [[Iowa]] and covering the [[Midwest]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[New York (state)|New York]], and northern [[New England]]; and the Southern Region, headquartered in [[Vicksburg, Mississippi|Vicksburg]], [[Mississippi]] and covering the [[Southeastern United States|Southeast]] as well as [[New Jersey]], southern [[New England]], [[Puerto Rico]], and the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americorps.gov/contact/americorps-nccc-regions|title=AmeriCorps NCCC Regions|website=Corporation for National and Community Service}}</ref> The regions operate with considerable autonomy, recruiting their own members and selecting their own projects.


To ensure that teams are available year-round, regions operate on staggered, ten-month cycles. Each region is assigned a season (Summer, Fall, or Winter) that fluctuates based on need.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlnjJXet484 |title=AmeriCorps NCCC: Summer of Service Webinar |language=en |access-date=2024-04-03 |via=www.youtube.com}} [8:20]</ref> In 2024, both the Southwest and North Central regions will receive summer recruits.<ref>https://americorps.gov/sites/default/files/document/2024%20SoS%20FAQ%20Flyer%20-%20v1%20-%20508.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=August 2024}}</ref> The term is divided into three or four service rounds lasting from seven to fourteen weeks; each round typically corresponds to one project, although some teams may split the round between two or more projects.<ref name = "OIG" /><ref name = "Traditional Corps">{{cite web|url=http://www.americorps.gov/serve/americorps/americorps-nccc/traditional-corps|title=AmeriCorps NCCC Traditional Corps|website=Corporation for National and Community Service}}</ref>
===Fire fighting===


Individuals apply to serve either as Corps Members or Team Leaders.<ref name = "Traditional Corps" /> At the start of the term, those chosen to serve report to their regional campus, where they are assigned to a team and trained in [[tool management]], [[first aid]], [[conflict resolution]], and other skills. After the training period, teams are dispatched to their first projects, generally returning to campus to transition between rounds. At the end of the term, those who successfully complete the program with the requisite number of service hours graduate in an on-campus ceremony.<ref name = "Handbook">{{cite web|url=http://www.americorps.gov/sites/default/files/document/AmeriCorps-NCCC-Member-Handbook-2023.pdf|title=AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps Member Handbook|website=Corporation for National and Community Service}}</ref>
All National Civilian Community Corps members are trained in CPR, first aid, and disaster services, and about 15 percent become red-card certified fire fighters.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalservice.gov/pdf/2008_budget_justification.pdf|title=FISCAL YEAR 2008 ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REPORT }}</ref>
===Structure===
At the start of the service term, each team consists of one Team Leader and eight to ten Corps Members.<ref name = "Traditional Corps" /> The Team Leader serves as the liaison between the team, the project sponsor, and NCCC staff, and is responsible for ensuring the safety and well-being of the team as well as adherence to NCCC policies and procedures. Teams are organized into Units of five to seven, each headed by a Unit Leader. Every campus has one Region Director and three Deputy Region Directors.<ref name = "Handbook" />


===Projects===
NCCC teams have successfully served in fighting major wildland fires<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jfservices.com/blackerby.html|title=J-F Services|website=www.jfservices.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jfservices.com/elko.html|title=J-F Services|website=www.jfservices.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jfservices.com/idaho.html|title=J-F Services|website=www.jfservices.com}}</ref> and in completing fire mitigation work, according to National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service officials.<ref>[http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/arnf/publications/newsletters/foresttograssland/vol1issue2.pdf Forest to Grassland Newsletter 2.pub]</ref>


Each region selects projects round-by-round from a pool of applications submitted from within its geographical purview. Only [[nonprofit organization|nonprofits]], [[faith-based organizations]], schools, government entities, and public land trusts may be selected as project sponsors. Sponsors are required to provide teams with a work plan, on-site supervision, and lodging which includes showers and cooking facilities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americorps.gov/partner/how-it-works/americorps-nccc |title=Sponsor a Team|website=Corporation for National and Community Service}}</ref>
=== Summer of Service ===


While on deployment, teams work, live, eat, and sleep together. Each team is provided with a 15-passenger van for transportation purposes as well as an allowance for purchasing food and supplies. As of 2019, approximately half of all NCCC projects were primarily concerned with disaster response, one-quarter with urban and rural development, one-fifth with environmental conservation, and the rest with infrastructure improvement or energy conservation. It is common for the same sponsor to host multiple teams over the course of several years; a study of 5,004 projects between 2012 and 2019 identified only 1,439 unique project sponsors. Projects vary widely in scope and scale, and the work can encompass a broad array of tasks and responsibilities such as [[tutoring]] schoolchildren, clearing away [[invasive species]], building [[affordable housing]], and helping community members file their [[taxes]].<ref name = "JBS" />
The NCCC Summer of Service is an intensive summer program designed to introduce youth ages 14 to 17 to national service and to foster such values as teamwork, responsibility, and the ethic of serving your community. Like the year-round AmeriCorps NCCC experience, NCCC Summer of Service combines the best practices of structured team-based activities with service-learning programming. In 2008, Summer of Service participants engaged in service projects in Los Angeles; Memphis; New Orleans; Sacramento, Denver; Camden, N.J.; Baltimore; Washington, D.C.; and Houston.<ref name="americorps.gov"/>
===Benefits and requirements===
In order to serve, all NCCC members must be citizens or [[Green card|lawful permanent residents]] of the United States over the age of 18. Corps Members may be no older than 26, while there is no upper age limit for Team Leaders.<ref name = "Traditional Corps" /> In order to graduate from the program, all members must complete 1,700 hours of community service over a ten-month period. At least 80 of these hours must come in the form of Independent Service Projects (ISPs), which Corps Members seek out for themselves while in the field (Team Leaders are exempt from this requirement).<ref name = "Handbook" />


NCCC members may choose to resign from the program at any time. While serving, members receive room and board, uniforms, limited health benefits, and a modest, taxable stipend for other living expenses. Members are required to refrain from using federally illegal drugs such as [[marijuana]], and are subject to random drug tests.<ref name = "Handbook" />
== Impact and reactions ==


Those who successfully complete the program are eligible to receive a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award, which can be used to pay tuition costs at qualified institutions of higher education, for educational training, or to repay qualified student loans. The award amount is considered taxable income and is equal to the maximum value of the [[Pell Grant]] ($7,395 as of Fiscal Year 2023). <ref name = "Segal">{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps/segal-americorps-education-award|title=Segal AmeriCorps Education Award|website=Corporation for National and Community Service}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-pell-grant|title=Everything You Need to Know About the Pell Grant|website=U.S. News & World Report |author1 = Kerr, Emma |author2 = Wood, Sarah}}</ref> Individuals can only receive Education Awards for two terms of AmeriCorps service.<ref name = "Segal" /> Generally speaking, individuals who leave the program early forfeit their claim to the Award, but those who depart for “compelling personal circumstances” may be eligible for a partial award at the discretion of the Region Director.<ref name = "Handbook" />
"Since 1994, more than 12,000 members have invested more than 20 million service hours on 6,500 service projects with thousands of nonprofit organizations and other public agencies to provide disaster services, tutor children, preserve the environment, build homes for low-income families and meet other challenges.
==Impact and criticism==
In FY 2008, 60 percent of members served in the [[Gulf Coast]] Region on multiple team deployments assisting local communities to recover from the effects of Hurricanes [[Hurricane Katrina|Katrina]], [[Hurricane Rita|Rita]], [[Hurricane Gustav|Gustav]], [[Hurricane Ike|Ike]], [[Hurricane Dolly (2008)|Dolly]], and [[Hurricane Wilma|Wilma]].<ref name=autogenerated1 />
A 2022 survey found that 87% of project sponsors believed “to a large or moderate extent” that NCCC teams strengthened the communities in which they served, while 89% believed that NCCC helped them accomplish their objectives in a shorter period of time. In 2009, then-[[Mississippi]] [[Governor of Mississippi|Governor]] [[Haley Barbour]] hailed NCCC’s response to [[Hurricane Katrina]], saying that teams had rendered “tremendous service” to the [[Gulf Coast]]’s recovery efforts.<ref name = "Vicksburg" />


However, NCCC has also come under substantial criticism, with many arguing that its costs are exorbitantly high relative to its impact. In 2006, President Bush’s proposal to eliminate NCCC drew support from some [[fiscal conservatism|fiscal conservatives]], with U.S. Representative [[Jerry Lewis (California politician)|Jerry Lewis]] calling the program “very costly and poorly administered” and libertarian activist [[James Bovard]] calling it a wasteful “[[boondoggle]]”.<ref name = "Fox" /> In 2016, AmeriCorps’s own [[Inspector General]] published a sharply critical assessment, finding that NCCC suffers from high attrition and low enrollment rates, and that its services “cost the taxpayers four to eight times more than the same services by…other AmeriCorps programs” yet “achieve no better long-term outcomes.” The report recommended that AmeriCorps divert funds away from NCCC and towards other programs like [[AmeriCorps VISTA|VISTA]] and [[AmeriCorps Seniors|Senior Corps]], which it deemed more cost-effective. In response, NCCC leadership stated that because of NCCC’s residential nature, it is “[u]nlike any other national service program,” and that “direct comparisons to other national service programs are difficult and cannot adequately capture” the program’s value.<ref name = "OIG" />
=== Hurricane Katrina response ===
AmeriCorps NCCC, a team-based residential program for 18–24 year-olds, has made [[Hurricane Katrina]] response its primary focus these past three years, deploying more than 4,000 members to intensive assignments in the Gulf. National Civilian Community Corps members have refurbished 9,500 homes, built 1,450 new homes, completed 52,000 damage assessments, and trained and supervised more than 227,000 volunteers."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americorps.gov/about/newsroom/releases_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1123|title=Three Years After Katrina, National Service Remains a Critical Force in Rebuilding Effort|work=AmeriCorps|date=August 25, 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916004645/http://www.americorps.gov/about/newsroom/releases_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1123|archivedate=2008-09-16}}
</ref>


==List of National Directors==
===Criticisms===
{| class= "wikitable"
AmeriCorps (which includes the NCCC program) is a US federally funded "network of more than 3,000 non-profit organizations, public agencies, and faith-based organizations." AmeriCorps has met with sharp criticisms from fiscal conservatives who accused it of being a "boondoggle", most notably by libertarian [[James Bovard]] in a [[Fox News Channel|Fox News]] article that covered proposals to cut funding for the program.<ref>{{cite news|title=AmeriCorps on Budget Chopping Block |date= March 20, 2006 |author= Kelley Beaucar Vlahos|publisher=[[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,188385,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060617164451/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,188385,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 17, 2006 }}</ref>
|+ National Directors of NCCC
|-
! Name !! Term
|-
| Brig. Gen. Donald L. Scott (Ret.)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9615/scott.html|title=Donald Scott Appointed Deputy Librarian|website=Library of Congress|date= September 16, 1996|publisher= United States Copyright Office}}</ref> || 1993 – 1996
|-
| Col. Fred L. Peters (Ret.)**<ref name = "Generals Press">{{cite press release |title = Retired Military Leaders Support NCCC Service|last1= Scott |first1 = Donald |last2 = Peters |first2 = Fred |last3 = Chambers |first3 = Andrew |date = May 29, 2006 |url=https://www.americorpsalums.org/resource/resmgr/nccc/nccc_support-_generals_scott.pdf}}</ref> || 1996 – 1998
|-
| Lt. Gen. Andrew P. Chambers (Ret.)<ref name = "Generals Press" /> || 1998 – 2000
|-
| Col. Fred L. Peters (Ret.)**<ref name = "Generals Press" />|| 2000 – 2002
|-
| Wendy Zenker<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2003/04/28/03-10303/proposed-information-collection-comment-request|title=Proposed Information Collection: Comment Request|website=Federal Register|date= April 28, 2003|publisher= National Archives}}</ref> || 2002 – 2003
|-
| Merlene Mazyck**<ref>{{cite web|title = Federal Register, Vol. 68 |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2003-11-06/pdf/03-27937.pdf| website=GovInfo|date= November 6, 2003|publisher= U.S. Government Publishing Office}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2008/02/12/E8-2473/proposed-information-collection-comment-request|title=Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request|website=Federal Register|date= February 12, 2008|publisher= National Archives}}</ref> || 2003 – 2009
|-
| Mikel Herrington**<ref name = "Herrington" >{{cite web|title= Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request |url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2009/10/16/E9-24865/proposed-information-collection-comment-request| website=Federal Register|date= October 16, 2009|publisher= U.S. Government Publishing Office}}</ref><ref name = "Herrington1">{{cite news |last1=Honan |first1=William H. |title=Message from NCCC National Director Mikel Herrington|url=https://hoppinjohns.net/WP_Johns/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/NCCC-E-Newsletter-April-2011.pdf|access-date=March 6, 2024 |date = April 2011 |work=AmeriCorps NCCC E-Newsletter |publisher = Corporation for National and Community Service}}</ref> || 2009 – 2011
|-
| Kate Raftery<ref name = "Herrington1" /><ref name = "Raftery">{{cite press release |author=<!--Not Stated--> |title= Statement of Kate Raftery, Director, AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps, Regarding Death of National Service Member |url= https://americorps.gov/newsroom/official-statements/2014/statement-kate-raftery-director-americorps-national-civilian|publisher = Corporation for National and Community Service |date = 2014-03-09|access-date = 2024-04-21}}</ref> || 2011 – 2014
|-
| Gina Cross**<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2014/05/06/2014-10350/information-collection-submission-for-omb-review-comment-request |title = Information Collection; Submission for Comment Request| website=Federal Register|date= May 6, 2014|publisher= U.S. Government Publishing Office}}</ref> || 2014 – 2021
|-
| Jake Sgambati**<ref>{{cite press release |author=<!--Not Stated--> |title= AmeriCorps Graduates 80+ Members of FEMA Corps in Vicksburg |url= https://americorps.gov/newsroom/press-release/americorps-graduates-80-members-fema-corps-vicksburg|publisher = Corporation for National and Community Service |date = 2022-03-11|access-date = 2024-03-06}}</ref>
|| 2021 – 2022
|-
| Ken Goodson<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/07/29/2022-16334/agency-information-collection-activities-submission-to-the-office-of-management-and-budget-for|title = Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment Request; NCCC Service Project Application| website=Federal Register|date= July 29, 2022|publisher= U.S. Government Publishing Office}}</ref> || 2022 – ''present''
|}
<nowiki>**</nowiki>Indicates that the individual initially assumed the National Directorship in an Acting capacity


== See also ==
== See also ==
Line 102: Line 124:


== References ==
== References ==
{{notelist-la}}
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Reflist|30em}}


== External links ==
== External links ==
* [https://www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps/americorps-programs/americorps-nccc NCCC official web site]
* [http://www.americorps.gov/nccc National Civilian Community Corps]


[[Category:AmeriCorps organizations]]
[[Category:AmeriCorps organizations]]
[[Category:Service year programs in the United States]]
[[Category:Service year programs in the United States]]
[[Category:Environmental organizations based in the United States]]
[[Category:Environmental organizations based in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Emergency organizations]]
[[Category:Emergency organizations]]
[[Category:AmeriCorps]]

Latest revision as of 10:06, 12 November 2024

National Civilian Community Corps
Agency overview
FormedOctober 1, 1993
JurisdictionFederal government of the United States
HeadquartersWashington, D.C.
Agency executive
  • Ken Goodson, National Director
Parent agencyAmeriCorps
Websitehttps://americorps.gov/serve/americorps/americorps-nccc
An AmeriCorps NCCC team on deployment in 2024 at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park in California.

The National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), or AmeriCorps NCCC[a], is an AmeriCorps program founded in 1993 that engages young adults, aged 18 to 26, in team-based, residential community service projects across the United States. Each year, approximately 2,200 individuals representing all colors, creeds, states, and economic statuses serve in one of four regions covering all 50 states and five territories.[1]

The mission of AmeriCorps NCCC is "to strengthen communities and develop leaders through direct, team-based national and community service."[2] Each year, NCCC members complete a total of over 1.2 million hours of service across hundreds of projects in the areas of disaster response, infrastructure improvement, environmental conservation, energy conservation, and urban and rural development.[3][4][5]

History

[edit]

Inception

[edit]

The National Civilian Community Corps is loosely based on the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a New Deal-era work relief program founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to employ young men left jobless by the Great Depression. Run by officers of the United States Army Reserve, the CCC employed three million men aged 18 to 26 across tens of thousands of projects related to environmental conservation and natural resource development.[6] By the time the program was discontinued in 1942, CCC members had planted more than 3 billion trees, built nearly 100,000 miles of fire roads, and erected drainage systems for over 80 million acres of agricultural land.[7]

In the early 1990s, the end of the Cold War sparked renewed interest in volunteerism and in the idea of using surplus military resources to solve domestic problems. In 1992, a bipartisan group of senators including John McCain, Harris Wofford, Bob Dole, and Barbara Mikulski inserted provisions into the National Defense Authorization Act of 1993 authorizing the creation of a “Civilian Community Corps Demonstration Program” to test the viability of resurrecting the CCC model as a response to contemporary problems.[8][9] The following year, President Bill Clinton signed legislation creating the Corporation for National and Community Service (also known as AmeriCorps), which absorbed the nascent Corps as well as other pre-existing programs such as VISTA.[9]

Early development

[edit]

The first class of 850 NCCC members was sworn in by President Clinton at a White House ceremony on September 13, 1994.[10] Like its New Deal-era forerunner, the new program was closely linked to the military: it was administered by a staff of officers recommended by the Secretary of Defense, and Corps units were trained and housed at campuses owned by the Department of Defense.[11]

The original five campuses were located in San Diego, California; Charleston, South Carolina; Denver, Colorado; Perry Point, Maryland; and Washington, D.C. Each campus served as headquarters for a region covering multiple states. Between 1994 and 1999, more than 20,000 individuals applied to serve with NCCC, but only 6,000 were accepted due to budget constraints. Over the course of a typical program year, NCCC teams would complete between 300 and 400 projects focused on “environmental activities, education, human needs, and disaster response.” A majority of projects would be sponsored by nonprofit organizations, roughly a quarter by federal, state, and local government entities, and the rest by educational organizations and other institutions fitting the NCCC mandate. Frequent sponsoring organizations included Habitat for Humanity, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, YMCA, and The Nature Conservancy.[8]

Disaster response soon became an important area of focus for NCCC. In its first five years, the Corps developed strong relationships with FEMA, the American Red Cross, and the U.S. Forest Service. By 1999, roughly 11% of NCCC projects saw teams working with these organizations to respond to hurricanes, forest fires, and other natural disasters.[8] In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, 80% of NCCC teams across all five regions were pulled from their projects to aid in the response.[12] Over the following four years, more than 4,000 NCCC members would serve on relief and recovery projects throughout the impacted region.[13]

In 2006, then-President George W. Bush proposed a federal budget which would have eliminated NCCC, but the proposal was ultimately not adopted.[12]

2007 – present

[edit]

In 2007, the Charleston campus closed down and responsibility for the region was divided among other campuses.[14] A new campus opened in Vinton, Iowa the following year, by which point the Washington, D.C. campus had also closed down and the San Diego campus had relocated to Sacramento.[15] In 2009, the newest NCCC campus was opened in Vicksburg, Mississippi.[13] The Perry Point campus relocated to Baltimore in 2014 before closing down four years later.[16][17]

Example of an AmeriCorps NCCC FEMA Corps Team

Disaster relief remains a significant priority for NCCC. Teams have been deployed in response to events such as Hurricane Sandy and the 2011 Joplin tornado, and between 2012 and 2019, half of all projects involved disaster services.[5][18] In 2012, NCCC launched an official partnership with FEMA that led to the creation of FEMA Corps, which adapts the NCCC model to concentrate exclusively on disaster relief efforts.[19] FEMA Corps members “are dedicated to FEMA deployments in areas of logistics, disaster survivor assistance, individual and public assistance, and recovery.”[5] In 2022, the partnership was formally extended for another five years.[20]

In 2023, NCCC announced a new “Summer of Service” program which allows members to serve for three months rather than a full ten.[21] Later that year, NCCC struck an arrangement with the U.S. Forest Service to create the NCCC Forest Corps, which trains teams to assist the Forest Service in conducting conservation projects such as fuels reduction, trail maintenance, prescribed burns, and wildlife surveys.[22][23] The first Forest Corps class was inducted in July of 2024 at the Pacific Region headquarters in Sacramento.[24]

Program overview

[edit]
A map of the four regions of AmeriCorps NCCC: Pacific, Southwest, North Central, and Southern.

AmeriCorps NCCC is divided into four regions, each covering multiple states and territories. These include the Pacific Region, headquartered in Sacramento and covering most of the Far West, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and American Samoa; the Southwest Region, headquartered in Aurora, Colorado and covering several of the West South Central states as well as Arizona, Colorado, and Wyoming; the North Central region, headquartered in Vinton, Iowa and covering the Midwest, Pennsylvania, New York, and northern New England; and the Southern Region, headquartered in Vicksburg, Mississippi and covering the Southeast as well as New Jersey, southern New England, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.[25] The regions operate with considerable autonomy, recruiting their own members and selecting their own projects.

To ensure that teams are available year-round, regions operate on staggered, ten-month cycles. Each region is assigned a season (Summer, Fall, or Winter) that fluctuates based on need.[26] In 2024, both the Southwest and North Central regions will receive summer recruits.[27] The term is divided into three or four service rounds lasting from seven to fourteen weeks; each round typically corresponds to one project, although some teams may split the round between two or more projects.[5][28]

Individuals apply to serve either as Corps Members or Team Leaders.[28] At the start of the term, those chosen to serve report to their regional campus, where they are assigned to a team and trained in tool management, first aid, conflict resolution, and other skills. After the training period, teams are dispatched to their first projects, generally returning to campus to transition between rounds. At the end of the term, those who successfully complete the program with the requisite number of service hours graduate in an on-campus ceremony.[29]

Structure

[edit]

At the start of the service term, each team consists of one Team Leader and eight to ten Corps Members.[28] The Team Leader serves as the liaison between the team, the project sponsor, and NCCC staff, and is responsible for ensuring the safety and well-being of the team as well as adherence to NCCC policies and procedures. Teams are organized into Units of five to seven, each headed by a Unit Leader. Every campus has one Region Director and three Deputy Region Directors.[29]

Projects

[edit]

Each region selects projects round-by-round from a pool of applications submitted from within its geographical purview. Only nonprofits, faith-based organizations, schools, government entities, and public land trusts may be selected as project sponsors. Sponsors are required to provide teams with a work plan, on-site supervision, and lodging which includes showers and cooking facilities.[30]

While on deployment, teams work, live, eat, and sleep together. Each team is provided with a 15-passenger van for transportation purposes as well as an allowance for purchasing food and supplies. As of 2019, approximately half of all NCCC projects were primarily concerned with disaster response, one-quarter with urban and rural development, one-fifth with environmental conservation, and the rest with infrastructure improvement or energy conservation. It is common for the same sponsor to host multiple teams over the course of several years; a study of 5,004 projects between 2012 and 2019 identified only 1,439 unique project sponsors. Projects vary widely in scope and scale, and the work can encompass a broad array of tasks and responsibilities such as tutoring schoolchildren, clearing away invasive species, building affordable housing, and helping community members file their taxes.[18]

Benefits and requirements

[edit]

In order to serve, all NCCC members must be citizens or lawful permanent residents of the United States over the age of 18. Corps Members may be no older than 26, while there is no upper age limit for Team Leaders.[28] In order to graduate from the program, all members must complete 1,700 hours of community service over a ten-month period. At least 80 of these hours must come in the form of Independent Service Projects (ISPs), which Corps Members seek out for themselves while in the field (Team Leaders are exempt from this requirement).[29]

NCCC members may choose to resign from the program at any time. While serving, members receive room and board, uniforms, limited health benefits, and a modest, taxable stipend for other living expenses. Members are required to refrain from using federally illegal drugs such as marijuana, and are subject to random drug tests.[29]

Those who successfully complete the program are eligible to receive a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award, which can be used to pay tuition costs at qualified institutions of higher education, for educational training, or to repay qualified student loans. The award amount is considered taxable income and is equal to the maximum value of the Pell Grant ($7,395 as of Fiscal Year 2023). [31][32] Individuals can only receive Education Awards for two terms of AmeriCorps service.[31] Generally speaking, individuals who leave the program early forfeit their claim to the Award, but those who depart for “compelling personal circumstances” may be eligible for a partial award at the discretion of the Region Director.[29]

Impact and criticism

[edit]

A 2022 survey found that 87% of project sponsors believed “to a large or moderate extent” that NCCC teams strengthened the communities in which they served, while 89% believed that NCCC helped them accomplish their objectives in a shorter period of time. In 2009, then-Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour hailed NCCC’s response to Hurricane Katrina, saying that teams had rendered “tremendous service” to the Gulf Coast’s recovery efforts.[13]

However, NCCC has also come under substantial criticism, with many arguing that its costs are exorbitantly high relative to its impact. In 2006, President Bush’s proposal to eliminate NCCC drew support from some fiscal conservatives, with U.S. Representative Jerry Lewis calling the program “very costly and poorly administered” and libertarian activist James Bovard calling it a wasteful “boondoggle”.[12] In 2016, AmeriCorps’s own Inspector General published a sharply critical assessment, finding that NCCC suffers from high attrition and low enrollment rates, and that its services “cost the taxpayers four to eight times more than the same services by…other AmeriCorps programs” yet “achieve no better long-term outcomes.” The report recommended that AmeriCorps divert funds away from NCCC and towards other programs like VISTA and Senior Corps, which it deemed more cost-effective. In response, NCCC leadership stated that because of NCCC’s residential nature, it is “[u]nlike any other national service program,” and that “direct comparisons to other national service programs are difficult and cannot adequately capture” the program’s value.[5]

List of National Directors

[edit]
National Directors of NCCC
Name Term
Brig. Gen. Donald L. Scott (Ret.)[33] 1993 – 1996
Col. Fred L. Peters (Ret.)**[34] 1996 – 1998
Lt. Gen. Andrew P. Chambers (Ret.)[34] 1998 – 2000
Col. Fred L. Peters (Ret.)**[34] 2000 – 2002
Wendy Zenker[35] 2002 – 2003
Merlene Mazyck**[36][37] 2003 – 2009
Mikel Herrington**[38][39] 2009 – 2011
Kate Raftery[39][40] 2011 – 2014
Gina Cross**[41] 2014 – 2021
Jake Sgambati**[42] 2021 – 2022
Ken Goodson[43] 2022 – present

**Indicates that the individual initially assumed the National Directorship in an Acting capacity

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ NCCC is usually pronounced "N-triple-C”.
  1. ^ "AmeriCorps NCCC". Corporation for National and Community Service. 16 September 2022.
  2. ^ "AmeriCorps NCCC Pacific Region at a Glance" (PDF). Corporation for National and Community Service. 2023.
  3. ^ "AmeriCorps NCCC Service Project Database Fact Sheet" (PDF). Corporation for National and Community Service.
  4. ^ FY 2023 Congressional Budget Justification (PDF) (Report). Corporation for National and Community Service. March 2022. p. 27. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e Office of Inspector General, Corporation for National and Community Service (December 5, 2016). Evaluation of the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) (PDF) (Report). p. 3. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  6. ^ John A. Salmond, The Civilian Conservation Corps CCC 1933–1942: a New Deal case study (1967)
  7. ^ "Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)". www.u-s-history.com. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
  8. ^ a b c "1999 GPRA Performance Report". AmeriCorps, 1993-2004. Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis.
  9. ^ a b "Statutes and Regulations". AmeriCorps. Corporation for National and Community Service. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  10. ^ Honan, William H. (13 September 1994). "President Leads Swearing-In Of New Corps of Volunteers". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  11. ^ National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 (Section 195A). United States Congress. 23 October 1992. p. 206-230.
  12. ^ a b c Kelley Beaucar Vlahos (March 20, 2006). "AmeriCorps on Budget Chopping Block". Fox. Archived from the original on June 17, 2006.
  13. ^ a b c "National Service Agency Opens AmeriCorps Campus in Vicksburg" (Press release). Corporation for National and Community Service. 2009-09-01. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  14. ^ "NCCC Charleston Campus Slated to Close". AmeriCorps Alums. 11 December 2006.
  15. ^ "Iowa Leaders Welcome AmeriCorps NCCC to State". AmeriCorps Alums. 24 April 2008.
  16. ^ Dacey, Kim (3 November 2014). "AmeriCorps NCCC moves regional HQ to Dundalk".
  17. ^ "AmeriCorps NCCC Sponsor Survey Fact Sheet" (PDF). Corporation for National and Community Service.
  18. ^ a b "Analysis of the AmeriCorps NCCC Service Project Database: How NCCC Service Projects Strengthen Communities and Impact Members---Final-Report". Corporation for National and Community Service. 2020.
  19. ^ "Welcome to the FEMA Corps Inaugural Class". 14 September 2012.
  20. ^ "National service and emergency management agencies renew specialty National Civilian Community Corps program inter-agency reimbursable work agreement". Federal Emergency Management Agency. 16 May 2022.
  21. ^ AmeriCorps (2023-02-09). "AmeriCorps Announces Summer Service Opportunities Supporting the Environment, Affordable Housing and Economic Opportunity" (Press release). Globe Newswire. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  22. ^ "AmeriCorps NCCC Forest Corps". Corporation for National and Community Service.
  23. ^ "President Biden Launches the American Climate Corps, Announces AmeriCorps NCCC Forest Corps" (Press release). Corporation for National and Community Service. 2023-09-03. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  24. ^ "Inaugural class of new Forest Corps inducted in Sacramento". CBS News. July 16, 2024. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  25. ^ "AmeriCorps NCCC Regions". Corporation for National and Community Service.
  26. ^ AmeriCorps NCCC: Summer of Service Webinar. Retrieved 2024-04-03 – via www.youtube.com. [8:20]
  27. ^ https://americorps.gov/sites/default/files/document/2024%20SoS%20FAQ%20Flyer%20-%20v1%20-%20508.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  28. ^ a b c d "AmeriCorps NCCC Traditional Corps". Corporation for National and Community Service.
  29. ^ a b c d e "AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps Member Handbook" (PDF). Corporation for National and Community Service.
  30. ^ "Sponsor a Team". Corporation for National and Community Service.
  31. ^ a b "Segal AmeriCorps Education Award". Corporation for National and Community Service.
  32. ^ Kerr, Emma; Wood, Sarah. "Everything You Need to Know About the Pell Grant". U.S. News & World Report.
  33. ^ "Donald Scott Appointed Deputy Librarian". Library of Congress. United States Copyright Office. September 16, 1996.
  34. ^ a b c Scott, Donald; Peters, Fred; Chambers, Andrew (May 29, 2006). "Retired Military Leaders Support NCCC Service" (PDF) (Press release).
  35. ^ "Proposed Information Collection: Comment Request". Federal Register. National Archives. April 28, 2003.
  36. ^ "Federal Register, Vol. 68" (PDF). GovInfo. U.S. Government Publishing Office. November 6, 2003.
  37. ^ "Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request". Federal Register. National Archives. February 12, 2008.
  38. ^ "Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request". Federal Register. U.S. Government Publishing Office. October 16, 2009.
  39. ^ a b Honan, William H. (April 2011). "Message from NCCC National Director Mikel Herrington" (PDF). AmeriCorps NCCC E-Newsletter. Corporation for National and Community Service. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
  40. ^ "Statement of Kate Raftery, Director, AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps, Regarding Death of National Service Member" (Press release). Corporation for National and Community Service. 2014-03-09. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  41. ^ "Information Collection; Submission for Comment Request". Federal Register. U.S. Government Publishing Office. May 6, 2014.
  42. ^ "AmeriCorps Graduates 80+ Members of FEMA Corps in Vicksburg" (Press release). Corporation for National and Community Service. 2022-03-11. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
  43. ^ "Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment Request; NCCC Service Project Application". Federal Register. U.S. Government Publishing Office. July 29, 2022.
[edit]