The Corporation for National and Community Service: Overview of Programs and FY2008 Funding

Publication Date: March 2007

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Social conditions

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Abstract:

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is an independent federal agency that administers the programs authorized by two statutes: the National and Community Service Act (NCSA, P.L. 101-610) of 1990, as amended, and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act (DVSA, P.L. 93-113) of 1973, as amended. This report first provides an overview of each NCSA and DVSA program and then compares CNCS funding from the FY2007 Appropriation (P.L.109-149) and the FY2008 budget request.

The NCSA is designed to meet unmet human, educational, environmental, and public safety needs, and to renew an ethic of civic responsibility by encouraging citizens to participate in national service programs. The NCSA authorizes four community service programs: Learn and Serve America, AmeriCorps State and National Grants, the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), and the Points of Light Foundation. The NCSA also authorizes the National Service Trust, which funds educational awards for community service participants. Additionally, America's Promise, sometimes referred to as a partnership grant, is funded under the general authority of the NCSA.

A central purpose of the DVSA, which authorizes the Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program and the National Senior Volunteer Corps, is to foster and expand voluntary service in communities while helping the vulnerable, the disadvantaged, the elderly, and the poor. The National Senior Volunteer Corps includes three main programs: the Foster Grandparents Program, the Senior Companion Program, and the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP).

Appropriations for the DVSA and the NCSA programs are made annually through the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (Labor-HHS-ED). In the 109th Congress, a series of continuing resolutions (CRs) were enacted in the fall of 2006 to fund appropriations for fiscal year FY2007. In the 110th Congress, H.J.Res. 20 was introduced to continue FY2007 appropriations through the end of the fiscal year, and was enacted on February 15, 2007, as P.L. 110-5. For FY2007, CNCS is funded at $884.124 million. For FY2008, the President has requested $828.680 million.

This report will be updated as warranted by legislative developments.