National Civilian Community Corps
AmeriCorps*NCCC, or National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), is an AmeriCorps program in which 18 to 24-year-olds dedicate 10 months to address national and community needs. 1,200 members are trained annually at and operate from one of three regional campuses, located in Sacramento, California, Denver, Colorado,
and Perry Point, Maryland. They travel with their team throughout a multi-state region to a series of six- to eight-week-long service projects. Projects fall in the areas of the environment, education, public safety, unmet human needs, disaster relief, and homeland security. While in the program, members receive room and board, a modest living stipend of approximately $13 a day, health coverage, and, upon successful completion of the program, a taxable education award of $4,725. Members are required to complete a minimum of 1,700 hours of service, including 80 independent service hours. As of 2006, NCCC cost $27,859 per member for each 10 month service year. $4,725 of this is accounted for via the taxable education award, with the balance going toward salaries and operating/living expenses across the four campuses and numerous project sites.
History
The NCCC program was loosely based on the depression era Civilian Conservation Corps, although in practice, the differences between NCCC and CCC projects were quite marked in both practical intent and outcome. The Civilian Conservation Corps focused its efforts on substantial, necessary domestic works projects (Building bridges, paving roads, constructing buildings, etc), whereas the NCCC model trends more heavily towards the "social program" archetype.
The program was created in 1993 by Bill Clinton as a demonstration program charged with determining: [1]
- 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.
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, unmet human needs, disaster relief, and the addition of a "homeland security" heading in 2002/3)
In 2005, the Office of Management and Budget issued an assessment citing the NCCC program as being "ineffective", leading to drastic cuts in funding for the program. [2] 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.
Criticisms
The NCCC program has met with sharp criticisms from some fiscal conservatives who accused it of being a "boondoggle". [1] Most notably, Libertarian pundit and commentator James Bovard has been one of the most vocal Americorps NCCC opponents, calling it a "waste and fraud" [2], in addition to dedicating an entire chapter of criticisms of the program in his book "Feeling Your Pain: The Explosion and Abuse of Government Power in the Clinton-Gore Years"
External links
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