Overview

Commission Name:OneStar National Service Commission, OneStar Foundation

Federal Agency:Corporation for National and Community Service, CFDA 94.006

Funding Opportunity Types:AmeriCorpsState Grants: New/Recompete

Note for Continuation Programs:If you are funded by OneStar through an AmeriCorps*State Operating or Full-time Fixed-amountcompetitiveor formula grant for the 2012-2013 year and need to apply for year 2 or year 3 continuation funding, this notification does not apply. Continuation instructions will be e-mailed directly to you by OneStar.

This Notice of Funding Opportunity should be read together with the AmeriCorps regulations 45 CFR Sections 2520-2550 and the Application Instructions and Submission Instructions.

Dates: All New and Recompete Applications are due in eGrants by 10:59:59 PM CST on November2, 2012.

The mission of the Corporation for National and Community Service (hereinafter referred to as CNCS) is to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic participation through service and volunteering. For more than fifteen years, CNCS – through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs – has helped to engage millions of citizens in meeting community and national challenges through service and volunteer action.

On April 21, 2009, President Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, the most sweeping expansion of national service in a generation. This landmark law not only expands service opportunities, but also focuses national service on key outcomes; builds the capacity of individuals, nonprofits, and communities to succeed; and encourages innovative approaches to solving problems.

In order to carry out Congress’ intent and to maximize the impact of the investment in national service, CNCS and OneStar seek to fund programs that can demonstrate community impact and solve community problems through an evidence-based approach (e.g. performance data, research, theory of change).

OneStar National Service Commission (hereinafter referred to as OneStar) is the Governor-designated National Service Commission in Texas and administers the AmeriCorps*State grant program. The Governor-appointed Board members oversee the legal and policy governance of the AmeriCorps*Texas program portfolio.OneStar Foundation connects partners and resources to build a stronger nonprofit sector in Texas.

Funding Opportunity DescRiption

  1. Purpose of AmeriCorps Funding

Since this notice is for programs that may be funded under Competitive funding, it is important to understand CNCS’s purpose and focus areas. The purpose of CNCS is to maximize the power of service and volunteering to improve lives in communities across the country. In the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, Congress directed CNCS to focus national service in areas where service can make a major impact, including education; energy conservation; health; economic opportunity for economically vulnerable individuals; increasing service by and for veterans; and providing disaster services.

CNCS is carrying out Congress’s intent by targeting funding in these six focus areas.In accordance with the Act, through this Notice, and its other activities, CNCS seeks to:

  • Direct the power of national service to solve a common set of challenges.
  • Expand opportunities for all Americans to serve.
  • Build the enduring capacity of individuals, organizations and communities to effectively use service and volunteering to solve community problems.
  • Embrace innovative solutions that work.

AmeriCorps grants are awarded to eligible organizations engaged in evidence-based (see Application Instructions for details) interventions that utilize AmeriCorps members to strengthen communities.

AmeriCorps Member: An AmeriCorps member is an individual who is enrolled in an approved national service position and engages in community service. A program must select as AmeriCorps members only those individuals who are eligible to enroll in AmeriCorps. In order to be eligible, an individual must meet the statutory requirements noted below. The program is responsible for obtaining and maintaining adequate documentation to demonstrate the eligibility of members.An eligible member means an individual:

  • Who has been selected by the Sub-Grantee to serve in an approved national service position;
  • Who is a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or lawful permanent resident alien of the United States;
  • Who is at least 17 years of age at the commencement of service unless the member is out of school and enrolled
  • in a full-time, year-round youth corps or full-time summer program as defined in the Act (42 U.S.C. 12572 (a) (2)), in which case he or she must be between the ages of 16 and 25, inclusive, or
  • in a program for economically disadvantaged youth as defined in the Act (42 U.S.C. 12572 (a)(9)), in which case he or she must be between the ages of 16 and 24, inclusive; and
  • Who has a high school diploma or an equivalency certificate (or agrees to obtain a high school diploma or its equivalent before using an education award) and who has not dropped out of elementary or secondary school in order to begin a term of service as an AmeriCorps member (unless enrolled in an institution of higher education on an ability to benefit basis and is considered eligible for funds under section 484 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C. 1091), or who has been determined through an independent assessment conducted by the Sub-Grantee to be incapable of obtaining a high school diploma or its equivalent.

Members may receive a living allowance and other benefits while serving. Upon successful completion of their service members receive a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award from the National Service Trust.

  1. CNCS Focus Areas
  • Disaster Service
  • Economic Opportunity
  • Education
  • Environmental Stewardship
  • Healthy Futures
  • Veterans and Military Families
  1. National Performance Measures

National Performance Measures allow CNCS to demonstrate the aggregated impact of all AmeriCorps programs by Focus Area. OneStar requires that all applicants utilize the National Performance Measures.

  1. Encore Programs - Congress set a goal that 10 percent of competitive AmeriCorps funding should support encore service programs that engage a significant number of participants age 55 or older. CNCS seeks to meet that 10 percent target in this competition and encourages encore programs to apply.

Award Infomration

This notice is for AmeriCorps*Texas programs, which are AmeriCorps*State grants.These grants are awarded to organizations that will place members in service solely within Texas.Selected organizations receive grants to support AmeriCorps member positions that will engage members in service to meet critical needs in Texas.

AmeriCorps funding comes to Texas through two separate funding streams: formula and competitive funds. OneStar receives formula funds from CNCS through a population-based allocation.The amount of formula funds granted to Texas will not be known until spring 2013and is subject to the availability of appropriations for fiscal year 2013. Competitive funds are awarded through a national competition to programs that have competed successfully at both the state and federal levels. The amount of funding available for the national competition is also subject to the availability of appropriations for fiscal year 2013.

OneStar’s review and selection process will be used to determine applications that will be considered for formula and competitive funding.Some finalists will be nominated for the national competition.These applications will be sent to CNCS to be reviewed and scored in the national competition.CNCS will make final funding decisions for programs that will be funded with competitive funds.If selected for competitive funds, these applicants are considered grantees of OneStar Foundation.Applications submitted to the national competition are not guaranteed funding at the competitive level; however, OneStar may choose to fund these applicants through formula dollars if available.

OneStar and CNCS anticipate that the 2013-2014 AmeriCorps grant competition will be highly competitive.

Project/Award Period

OneStar generally makes grant awards for a three-year project period, with funding in annual increments. Continuation funding for years two and three is contingent upon satisfactory performance, a grantee’s demonstrated capacity to manage a grant and comply with grant requirements, and the availability of Congressional appropriations (funds). OneStar and CNCS reserve the right to adjust the amount of a grant award for subsequent years, or elect not to continue funding, on these bases.

AmeriCorps members may not begin service until OneStar issues a grant award. Applicants may only request start dates from OneStar that begin August 1, September 1 or January 1. Requests for alternate start dates may be submitted to OneStar and will be considered on a case-by-case basis. You may not request a start date earlier than June 15.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants must meet all the stated requirements in each of the following categories in order to be eligible and evaluated for funding. Any application that fails to meet one or more of these requirements will not be eligible for funding:

  1. Designated Focus Area:
  • State Focus Area

OR

  • National Focus Area
  1. Type of Organization
  2. Minimum Size Corps (20 MSYs); and
  3. Minimum Organizational Capability
  1. Designated Focus Area: State Focus Area OR National Focus Areas

State Focus Area: Youth Educational Attainment

Eligible programs will be those that have as a primary goal, and measure the results of, educational attainment of youth. For the purposes of this proposal, “youth” is defined as 1) a person enrolled in an educational institution from pre-kindergarten to undergraduate or 2) a person under the age of 21 who has dropped-out of high school and is seeking to enroll in an educational program to obtain their high school equivalency. The applicant’s program will have a primary goal of one or more of the following:

  • Increase school-readiness rates among children
  • Improve literacy rates among youth
  • Improve attendance rates
  • Earn higher standardized test scores
  • Increase grade performance in core curriculum subjects (e.g. math, reading)
  • Decrease in students that repeat the third or ninth grade (grade retention)
  • Increase enrollment in postsecondary education
  • Improve attainment of postsecondary degree
  • Increase rate in attainment of high school diploma and/or high school equivalency
  • Other goals than listed above that measure increased educational attainment

National Focus Areas

Eligible programs will be those that propose activities with the primary goal of addressing one or more of CNCS’s focus areas. For any of the focus areas described OneStar will not mandate any set activities; however, all applicants will demonstrate how their proposed activities directly align with one or more of the designated focus areas. Additionally, all programs applying under a national focus area are required to utilize CNCS’s Standard Performance Measures. Currently, the Focus Areas are:

  1. Disaster Service

Grants will help individuals and communities prepare, respond, recover and mitigate disasters and increase community resiliency. Grant activities will:

  • Increase the preparedness of individuals,
  • Increase the individuals’ readiness to respond,
  • Help individuals recover from disasters; and
  • Help individuals mitigate disasters.
  1. Economic Opportunity

Grants will provide support and/or facilitate access to services and resources that contribute to the improved economic well-being and security of economically disadvantaged people. Grant activities will help economically disadvantaged people to:

  • Have improved access to services and benefits aimed at contributing to their enhanced financial literacy,
  • Transition into or remain in safe, healthy, affordable housing; and
  • Have improved employability leading to increased success in becoming employed.
  1. Education

Grants will provide support and/or facilitate access to services and resources that contribute to improved educational outcomes for economically disadvantaged people, especially children. CNCS is particularly interested in program designs that support youth engagement and service-learning as strategies to achieve high educational outcomes. Grant activities will improve:

  • School readiness for economically disadvantaged young children,
  • Educational and behavioral outcomes of students in low-achieving elementary, middle, and high schools; and
  • The preparation for and prospects of success in post-secondary education institutions for economically disadvantaged students.
  1. Environmental Stewardship

Grants will provide direct services that contribute to increased energy and water efficiency, renewable energy use, or improving at-risk ecosystems, and support increased citizen behavioral change leading to increased efficiency, renewable energy use, and ecosystem improvements particularly for economically disadvantaged households and economically disadvantaged communities. Grants will:

  • Decrease energy and water consumption,
  • Improve at-risk ecosystems,
  • Increase behavioral changes that lead directly to decreased energy and water consumption or improve at-risk ecosystems; and
  • Increase green training opportunities that may lead to decreased energy and water consumption or improve at-risk ecosystems.
  1. Healthy Futures

Grants will meet health needs within communities including access to care, aging in place, and addressing childhood obesity. Grant activities will:

  • Increase seniors’ ability to remain in their own homes with the same or improved quality of life for as long as possible,
  • Increase physical activity and improve nutrition in youth with the purpose of reducing childhood obesity; and
  • Improve access to primary and preventative health care for communities served by CNCS-supported programs (access to health care).
  1. Veterans and Military Families

Grants will positively impact the quality of life of veterans and improve military family strength. Grant activities will increase:

  • The number of veterans and military service members and their families served by CNCS-supported programs; and
  • The number of veterans and military family members engaged in service provision through CNCS-supported programs.

Capacity Building

In addition to the six Focus Areas described above, grants also will provide support for capacity building activities provided by national service participants. As a general rule, CNCS considers capacity building activities to be indirect services that enable CNCS-supported organizations to provide more, better and sustained direct services. Capacity building activities cannot be solely intended to support the administration or operations of the organization. Examples of capacity building activities include:

  • Recruiting and/or managing community volunteers.
  • Implementing effective volunteer management practices.
  • Completing community assessments that identify goals and recommendations.
  • Developing new systems and business processes (technology, performance management, training, etc.) or enhancing existing systems and business processes.
  1. Type of Organization

The applicant organization will be a public or private nonprofit organization, including faith-based and other community organizations; institution of higher education; government entities within states or territories (e.g., cities, counties); Indian Tribes, labor organizations, partnerships and consortia; and intermediaries planning to subgrant funds awarded. Organizations that have been convicted of a Federal crime are disqualified from receiving the assistance described in this Notice.

Any organization described in Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(4) that engages in lobbying activities is not eligible to apply, serve as a host site for member placements, or act in any type of supervisory role in AmeriCorps programs.

  1. Minimum Size Corps

The applicant organization, either by itself or through agreements with partner organizations, will support at least 20 member service years (MSYs). An application requesting fewer than 20 MSYs is not eligible for funding.

  1. Minimum Organizational Capacity

The applicant organization will have an A-133 Audit or an Independent Financial Audit. They will also certify they have experience in managing a state and/or federal grant.

Types of AmeriCorps grants available in this competition

  1. Applicant Types
  1. New Programs

New programs are those that have not previously received an AmeriCorps State or National grant, are not currently managing a 2012-13 AmeriCorps State or National program, or are submitting an application for a program design or funding type for which they have not previously received AmeriCorps funding.

CNCS encourages organizations that have never received funding from CNCS or AmeriCorps to apply for the grants described in this Notice.

  1. Previous Programs

Previous programs are those that have previously received an AmeriCorps State or National grant, but are not currently managing a 2012-13 AmeriCorps State or National program.

  1. Recompeting Programs

Current grantees entering the final year of their grant project period in 2012-2013are required to submit a new application if they wish to be considered for future AmeriCorps funding. This process is known as recompetition. Recompeting programs are reminded that submitting an application does not guarantee success in securing future funding.

  1. AmeriCorps*Texas Funding Types

There will be four types of AmeriCorps programs offered through this AmeriCorps*Texas funding opportunity: (1)State Formula or State Competitive, (2) Professional Corps(3) Full-time Fixed-amount Grant, and (4) Education Award Program Fixed Amount Grant.

  1. State Formula or State Competitive

These grants are awarded to fund a portion of program costs and members’ living allowance.An applicant that applies for a State program must provide a cash and/or in-kind match to support its members and operate the program. A State program is a cost-reimbursement grant, which means that all expenses are reimbursed through the submission of expense reports to OneStar.

  1. Professional Corps

Professional Corps programs place AmeriCorps members as teachers, health care providers, police officers, engineers, or other professionals in communities where there is a documented shortage of such professionals. Applicants are eligible to apply for funding for a portion of program costs. Professional Corps member salaries are paid entirely by the organizations with which the members serve, and are not included in the budget.