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Serve Michigan Update
A program of the ConnectMichigan Alliance
Issue #8
February 15, 2006
- President's Budget Calls for Significant Cuts to National and Community Service
- Mentoring and FY 2007 Budget
- Bureau of Labor Statistics Releases Volunteering in the United States 2005
- Congress Extends SafetyNet Background Check Program
- National Volunteer Week Materials Available
- National Youth Service Day Planning Materials Available
President's Budget Calls for Significant Cuts to National and Community Service
President Bush recently announced his proposed FY 2007 budget. Beginning in October, the Corporation for National and Community Service's budget will be reduced by 5.4 percent or $48.5 million. More than half of this reduction comes from the shutting down of the AmeriCorps*NCCC. Since 2005, the Corporation's budget has declined, which in turn, lessens the dollars available for national and community service programs in Michigan. The following is an overview of the Corporation's FY 2007 budget and its projected impact on Michigan programs.
Learn and Serve America – the budget requests only $34.1 million for this program, which is down from $42.6 million in 2005. Based on this proposed appropriation it is projected that Learn and Serve Michigan will receive $841,538. This is a 19 percent decrease from 2005 funding levels.
AmeriCorps*National Civilian Community Corps – this program is slated to receive only $4.9 million to cover the cost of closing-out the campuses. This will eliminate the deployment of teams that have worked in Michigan on a variety of issues including tutoring in Detroit Public Schools and programs that reach out to underprivileged youth at area YMCA's.
AmeriCorps*State (a competitive grant) – only $96.3 million is requested for this program, this is down from $102.3 million in FY 2006 and $114.6 in FY 2005. Total funding for this program has decreased by $18.2 million since FY 2005. Michigan’s AmeriCorps (competitive) funding is expected to decrease by $127,987. This is a 15 percent decrease in funding since FY 2005.
AmeriCorps*State (formula) – the President’s budget includes $78.3 million for this program. This is a decrease of $2.4 million since FY 2006 and $8.8 million since FY 2005. Michigan’s AmeriCorps (formula) funding is expected to decrease by $85,521. This is a 10 percent decline in funding since FY 2005.
AmeriCorps*National and AmeriCorps* VISTA – the funding for both of these programs will increase slightly under the President’s proposal. Based on projected numbers, funding for AmeriCorps* Michigan (national) could increase by $204,307 (a two percent increase since FY 2005). Funding for AmeriCorps*VISTA (MI) is projected to increase by only $2,626 (a 1.3 percent increase from FY 2005).
Senior Service Corps – funding for these programs remains relatively the same in FY 2007. Although the Foster Grandparent Program has seen a decrease in funding since FY 2005, funding will actually increase slightly from FY 2006.
Details and justification for the budget is available online at http://www.nationalservice.org/pdf/2007_budget_justification.pdf . As the President's budget goes to Congress, ServeMichigan will provide additional information on the status of funding for Michigan programs
The President’s FY 2007 budget was released last week, indicating significant cuts in funding that benefits mentoring. The President in recent years has been a staunch supporter and advocate of mentoring programs and National Mentoring Month. This budget year, however, proves to be difficult, as a large number of programs are facing level funding, cuts or elimination.
Specifically, the budget proposes a phase-out of the Department of Education’s Mentoring Programs grants, requesting only $19 million to support the final year of funding for current grant recipients. After this fiscal year, funding for these mentoring programs would be eliminated, discontinuing this important source of financial support for mentoring organizations nationwide.
In addition, the FY 2007 budget requests $40 million for the Department of Health and Human Services’ Mentoring Children of Prisoners program, currently funded at $49 million. This assures that no new grants can be awarded. Furthermore, the budget proposes numerous cuts in other Department of Education programs that involve mentoring as part of their activities, including the elimination of GEAR UP and a large reduction for TRIO programs.
Source: MENTOR www.mentoring.org
Bureau of Labor Statistics Releases Volunteering in the United States 2005
The United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics has released its newest data on volunteering in the United States. The number of people who volunteered in 2005 has held relatively steady at 65.4 million. This represents about 28.8% of the civilian non-institutional population over age 16. The study found women volunteering in greater numbers than men regardless of age group and education level. One-fourth of the men did volunteer work while one-third of the women volunteered. Statistics are based on data collected from September 2004 to September 2005. The report is available at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/volun.pdf.
Congress Extends SafetyNet Background Check Program
SafetyNET, created as a pilot program in 2003, allows mentoring programs to access nationwide background checks of volunteers at low costs and with a very short turnaround time. By extending the SafetyNET program through June 2008, Congress signaled its support and also opened eligibility to youth-serving organizations of all kinds. A process for youth-serving organizations to access these background checks will be developed. More information on SafetyNET.
National Volunteer Week Materials Available
National Volunteer Week, April 23-29, 2006 is a chance to thank volunteers and highlight all that they do to improve our communities. Take this opportunity to thank and recognize the volunteers in your organization! Great planning materials including media materials, sample proclamations and certificates, volunteering quotes and logos are available on the Points of Light website. More information.
National Youth Service Day Planning Materials Available
Start planning now for National & Global Youth Service Day, April 21-23, 2006. A service day planning toolkit and a service learning planning guide are both available in English & Spanish. Downloadable posters and other useful resources can also be found on the Youth Service America website. More information.