Dear Grantees, State Commissions, and Sponsors,
As we kick off National Volunteer Month in April, I want to thank you for your dedication to service. Because of your hard work, millions of Americans make volunteering a part of their lives each year. The work of the Corporation for National and Community Service is vital to our nation’s communities and that’s why I believe in our Transformation and Sustainability Plan – to ensure the agency’s future for our next 25 years and beyond. This plan comprises long overdue improvements to how we serve you and support your organization’s focus on impact, and we’ve made tremendous progress thus far. Here are a few updates:
- Reducing Grantee Burden and Supporting Compliance with Criminal History Checks. Last fall, CNCS launched new tools and policies to eliminate barriers to compliance with the National Service Criminal History Check (NSCHC) and reduce noncompliance. We have seen strong use of the new Truescreen system and, last week, announced we are extending the Exemption Period to June 30, 2019 to ensure all grantees, and subgrantees as applicable, take advantage of the opportunity to complete CHC rechecks through CNCS-contracted vendors. If you have not already taken advantage of this Exemption Period, we strongly encourage you to do so.
- Modernizing CNCS’s Grants, Projects, and Member Management System. While there remains much work to do, CNCS is advancing the development of a new grants, projects, and member management system. Over the past several weeks, we engaged grantee and sponsor representatives from all of CNCS’s programs that currently use e-Grants in user experience interviews to uncover user needs, identify unspoken challenges in the current system, and discover opportunities for improvements in a future system.
- Improving How CNCS Serves You. There is a lot of activity underway at CNCS to implement our new portfolio manager roles and regional structure, and it’s important to me that you are kept apprised of what’s happening. With these changes, you will be able to work with one person at CNCS for both the programmatic and financial aspects of your grant, providing a more streamlined experience. Additionally, with the flexibility of a regional office structure, CNCS will be better positioned to provide consistent levels of technical assistance and training across the country.
- Supporting Our Employees Through the Transition. CNCS’s transition to new grant management roles and a regional structure creates new opportunities, however we also recognize the impact it will have on our employees. We are taking several steps to retain our talent and support employees who are impacted by these changes. This includes providing priority hiring to internal staff for 97 percent of the new positions, as well as accelerating the hiring timelines to give employees certainty as soon as possible. In fact, we began the internal hiring process this month, even for regions that won’t stand up until February 2020 or June 2020. We are also offering impacted staff career transition and outplacement services. Many of our employees have dedicated their careers to CNCS, and we want to do all we can to encourage them to stay with us and also support them through this change.
- Transitioning the Physical Office Space. As part of the transition to our regional structure, CNCS will begin closing its physical state office spaces between May 1 and July 1. During this time, CNCS staff in state offices will transition to full-time telework and continue to support you. Your State Program Director will provide more detail on this transition, including changes to their contact information, approximately four weeks before each state office’s transition occurs.
- Improving Training and Business Processes. CNCS staff continue to lay the groundwork for success in our new structure. Our new Business Process Working Group is reviewing our agency’s processes, procedures, and guidance for each phase of the grant and project life cycle, to ensure we have standardized, easy-to-use resources to support employees in doing their jobs and providing service to you. Meanwhile, the Training and Development Working Group is reviewing and developing new plans for how we orient staff to CNCS, onboard and train staff for the positions that play key roles in the grant and project life cycle, and continue to develop employees’ skills and experiences over the course of their careers at CNCS. These efforts will parlay into the support, training, and technical assistance we provide you.
- Articulating How We’ll Support You in the Regional Structure. We know that national service is made stronger with personal contact. In the new regional structure, every grantee or sponsor – including State Commissions – will have a Portfolio Manager assigned as their day-to-day contact for all aspects of grant management. Senior Portfolio Managers will be assigned as “leads” for each state and will supervise the Portfolio Managers who carry grants/projects for those states. The Senior Portfolio Managers will also lead on new program/project development for their assigned states, supported by their respective team of Portfolio Managers. Like today, we will travel as needed to meet in person with grantees, sponsors, and prospective partners, to provide trainings and technical assistance, or to see projects.
- Supporting Our Employees Through the Transition. CNCS’s transition to new grant management roles and a regional structure creates new opportunities, however we also recognize the impact it will have on our employees. We are taking several steps to retain our talent and support employees who are impacted by these changes. This includes providing priority hiring to internal staff for 97 percent of the new positions, as well as accelerating the hiring timelines to give employees certainty as soon as possible. In fact, we began the internal hiring process this month, even for regions that won’t stand up until February 2020 or June 2020. We are also offering impacted staff career transition and outplacement services. Many of our employees have dedicated their careers to CNCS, and we want to do all we can to encourage them to stay with us and also support them through this change.
As we work to build a more sustainable agency, CNCS remains focused on administering and providing oversight to our national service programs. As I’ve communicated previously, the changes in the Transformation and Sustainability Plan do not impact the funds and national service members going to states and communities. I am very excited about this year’s CNCS investments.
- Last month, we announced more than $13.6 million in funding to support Senior Corps RSVP programs in more than 150 communities across the country. These grants will leverage the experience and skills of more than 50,000 Senior Corps volunteers.
- This month, CNCS will announce the 2019 AmeriCorps State and National grant awards including both competitive and formula awards. Last year, we awarded $572 million in AmeriCorps funding to help national and local organizations, faith-based groups, and educational institutions respond to the most critical issues facing communities in the U.S.
Lastly, I want to thank you for your continued input and ideas on the implementation of CNCS’s Transformation and Sustainability Plan. Input from stakeholders – including Congress, CNCS’s Inspector General, the Government Accountability Office, grantees, sponsors, and staff – comprises the foundation of the plan and your additional input continues to shape our decision making and implementation. Please continue to send me your thoughts, ideas, and recommendations for strengthening national service – you can email me at transform@cns.gov.
Kind Regards,
Barbara Stewart
Chief Executive Officer
Corporation for National and Community Service