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Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
AmeriCorps is on the chopping block – despite research showing that the national service agency is making a difference in local communities
Hundreds of thousands of U.S. nonprofits provide vital services, such as running food banks and youth programs, supporting public health initiatives and helping unemployed people find new jobs. Although this work helps sustain local communities, obtaining the money and staff they require is a constant struggle for many of these groups. That's where AmeriCorps often comes in. The independent federal agency for national service and volunteerism has facilitated the work of approximately 200,000 people a year, placing them through partnerships with thousands of nonprofits that provide tutoring, disaster relief and many other important services. But Americorps' fate is now uncertain. In April 2025, the Trump administration canceled more than 1,000 grants, suddenly ending the stipends that were supporting more than 32,000 AmeriCorps volunteers. On June 5, a judge ordered that these grants be restored in Washington D.C. and 24 states in response to a lawsuit they had filed. The judge also ordered that all volunteers who had been deployed in those places be reinstated 'if they are willing and able to return.' The Trump administration has also put most of AmeriCorps administrative staff on leave and indicated that it wants to eliminate the independent agency, along with its US$1.2 billion annual budget. AmeriCorps doesn't appear in a detailed 2026 budget request the administration released on May 30. I'm a sociology and public affairs professor who has studied nonprofits and volunteering for decades. My research suggests that dismantling AmeriCorps would harm the organizations that rely on national service members and take a toll on the communities that benefit from their work. AmeriCorps traces its roots to the mid-1960s, when Volunteers in Service to America, known as VISTA, was founded as a domestic counterpart to the Peace Corps. Several earlier service programs were consolidated when Congress passed the National and Community Service Trust Act in 1993. AmeriCorps was officially launched in 1994 – and VISTA became one of its programs. Since then, AmeriCorps members have built housing and infrastructure, delivered disaster relief, tutored in low-income schools, provided health care and helped older adults age with dignity in both urban and rural communities across the nation. AmeriCorps includes a variety of programs, each designed to address specific public needs. Some AmeriCorps volunteers provide direct services, such as tutoring, food delivery and in disaster response efforts. Others focus on building the long-term capacity of local nonprofits through volunteer recruitment, fundraising strategy and community outreach. AmeriCorps volunteers, whom the agency calls 'members,' are placed in thousands of nonprofits, schools and local agencies. Many of them are recent college graduates or early-career professionals. Some programs specifically ask people over 55 to serve. Those 'senior' volunteers support children through the Foster Grandparents program, volunteer for organizations or assist other older people through the Senior Companions program. Many AmeriCorps volunteers are paid a modest allowance for this work that runs about $500 per week. AmeriCorps senior volunteers receive smaller sums in hourly stipends to offset the costs of volunteering. AmeriCorps has long funded research that assesses its impact. One such study found that every dollar invested in national service generates $11.80 in benefits for society, such as higher earnings, better mental and physical health, and economic growth. Additionally, every federal dollar spent on national service produces $17.30 in savings across other government programs through reductions in public assistance, health and criminal justice spending. As part of AmeriCorps' research grants program, I have received funding to study civic engagement and AmeriCorps programming. In one of those studies, which I conducted with two former colleagues at the University of Texas at Austin in 2021, we found that VISTA volunteers were able to help nonprofits gain volunteers. After two years, an organization with that support had 71% more volunteers than those that didn't participate in the VISTA program. We also found that the longer a nonprofit had a staffer supported by the VISTA program, the more its overall pool of volunteers increased. Nonprofits with VISTA volunteers also had three times as many donations two years later, compared with nonprofits without VISTA service members. But the total value of donations the nonprofit obtained didn't always rise. That is, we found that VISTA builds people power, but not necessarily fundraising revenue. Findings like these indicate that AmeriCorps hasn't just helped the people it serves or the people who volunteer through the program. It also strengthens nonprofits and increases engagement within local communities, reinforcing the civic fabric that knits communities together. As members of Congress and the White House decide whether to preserve AmeriCorps, I hope they consider the evidence that demonstrates this worthwhile program's positive impact. Pamela Paxton has received funding from the Office of Research and Evaluation at AmeriCorps.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DOGE comes for AmeriCorps staff in Washington and across the country
AmeriCorps placed employees at its Washington headquarters and around the nation on administrative leave Wednesday as the Trump administration and DOGE moved to make sweeping cuts at an organization that deploys volunteers across the U.S. Employees received a memo from Interim Director Jennifer Bastress Tahmasebi informing them they had been placed on leave effective immediately, according to a copy of the memo obtained by POLITICO and agency staff with direct knowledge of the situation who were granted anonymity to avoid repercussions. A spokesperson for AmeriCorps did not immediately respond to questions but staff members said hundreds of people appear to have been placed on leave, jeopardizing the organization's programs with nonprofits around the country. Only a handful of senior officials and program heads remain active at the agency, one of the affected employees said. 'The work we perform for the American public is vital and we've now been stripped of our ability to do that,' said an AmeriCorps employee placed on leave. 'I worry about the impact that this will have on grantees, members, and volunteers who have committed themselves to providing service for Americans.' The action is the latest move by the Department of Government Efficiency, overseen by Elon Musk, to carry out cutbacks across departments and agencies. The billionaire Tesla CEO once pledged to cut $1 trillion from the federal budget but seems to have recently pared that down to $150 billion. Nearly half of AmeriCorps' 600-person workforce had already accepted the Trump administration's deferred resignations and the agency earlier this week dismissed 1,500 young volunteers for the National Civilian Community Corps who provide disaster relief and other services around the country. The broader cuts will be felt throughout the country with the loss of such programs as Senior Companions, which connects elderly volunteers with other people in their age group who need help and Foster Grandparents, which pairs retirees with children with special needs. 'When people think of AmeriCorps, we think of young volunteers, but it's much larger than that,' said Pete McRoberts, a former corps member and AmeriCorps advisory board chair. 'There are tens of thousands of retired senior volunteers.' McRoberts said the effects will be felt across the country, especially in rural areas where the organization has long enjoyed bipartisan support. 'This is huge in rural Iowa where we don't have a ton of nursing homes,' he said. 'To have that dissolved in this way is such a loss.' DOGE did not respond to a request for comment.
Politico
17-04-2025
- Business
- Politico
DOGE comes for AmeriCorps staff in Washington and across the country
AmeriCorps placed employees at its Washington headquarters and around the nation on administrative leave Wednesday as the Trump administration and DOGE moved to make sweeping cuts at an organization that deploys volunteers across the U.S. Employees received a memo from Interim Director Jennifer Bastress Tahmasebi informing them they had been placed on leave effective immediately, according to a copy of the memo obtained by POLITICO and agency staff with direct knowledge of the situation who were granted anonymity to avoid repercussions. A spokesperson for AmeriCorps did not immediately respond to questions but staff members said hundreds of people appear to have been placed on leave, jeopardizing the organization's programs with nonprofits around the country. Only a handful of senior officials and program heads remain active at the agency, one of the affected employees said. 'The work we perform for the American public is vital and we've now been stripped of our ability to do that,' said an AmeriCorps employee placed on leave. 'I worry about the impact that this will have on grantees, members, and volunteers who have committed themselves to providing service for Americans.' The action is the latest move by the Department of Government Efficiency, overseen by Elon Musk, to carry out cutbacks across departments and agencies. The billionaire Tesla CEO once pledged to cut $1 trillion from the federal budget but seems to have recently pared that down to $150 billion . Nearly half of AmeriCorps' 600-person workforce had already accepted the Trump administration's deferred resignations and the agency earlier this week dismissed 1,500 young volunteers for the National Civilian Community Corps who provide disaster relief and other services around the country. The broader cuts will be felt throughout the country with the loss of such programs as Senior Companions, which connects elderly volunteers with other people in their age group who need help and Foster Grandparents, which pairs retirees with children with special needs. 'When people think of AmeriCorps, we think of young volunteers, but it's much larger than that,' said Pete McRoberts, a former corps member and AmeriCorps advisory board chair. 'There are tens of thousands of retired senior volunteers.' McRoberts said the effects will be felt across the country, especially in rural areas where the organization has long enjoyed bipartisan support. 'This is huge in rural Iowa where we don't have a ton of nursing homes,' he said. 'To have that dissolved in this way is such a loss.' DOGE did not respond to a request for comment.
