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FOIA Number: 2013-0661-F (3)
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the William J. Clinton
Presidential Library Staff.
Collection/Record Group:
Clinton Presidential Records
Subgroup/Office of Origin:
Americorps
Series/Staff Member:
General Files
Subseries:
OA/ID Number:
24239
FolderID:
Folder Title:
[Americorps/USDA - Draft Action Plan, 12/15/93] [2]
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S
66
1
1
3
for mou information:
AMERICORPS/USDA
Joel or Berg
Katherini
DRAFT ACTION PLAN, DECEMBER 13, 1993
Silvey
720-4623
National service is a civic compact in which any citizen can be
tied to the nation by the simple virtue of making a difference
in the lives of others. President Clinton has made it
absolutely clear to his cabinet members that he wants every
one of us to make national service a top priority.
- Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy
I. PURPOSE OF ACTION PLAN
President Clinton's national service initiative now known as AMERICORPS will fund
programs around the country in which Americans will perform at least a year of full-time
community service in exchange for significant educational benefits.
Participants will earn small living stipends while performing work that addresses unmet
human, environmental, educational, and public safety needs. For each year of service
successfully performed, participants will also earn an educational voucher of $4,725, which
they may use to pay for college, vocational school, job training, or graduate school.
The purpose of this plan is to outline how we will turn our generalized plans for
Americorps/USDA into concrete, specific, realistic, and comprehensive grant proposals to be
submitted to the new Corporation for National Service.
Most of the funds provided by the National Service Trust Act will be distributed through
state commissions to programs managed by existing youth corps, non-profit organizations,
and state and local governments. Consequently, USDA will provide significant information
and technical assistance to the wide range of our constituency groups including
environmental, consumer, farming, higher education, minority, rural development,
agribusiness, and nutrition groups to help them apply for such funds or otherwise become
involved in Americorps.
USDA will also develop curricula in key areas such as nutrition, sustainable agriculture,
the environment, and rural development- for external groups that are planning to run
Americorps programs related to these areas.
Yet the focus of this action plan is on the three service programs that USDA itself will run
through a provision of the National Service Trust Act that dedicates over $18 million for
federal agencies to manage Americorps programs of their own. Secretary Espy has directed
us to prepare three different Americorps team proposals as grant applications for submission
to the Corporation for National Service:
Empowerment and Anti-Hunger Team
Public Lands and Environment Team
Rural Development Team
The Rural Development Team will be a professional corps of mostly college and professional
school graduates in which the participants will perform the majority of their work
individually and at separate locations. The Empowerment and Anti-Hunger Team and the
Public Lands and Environment Team, more similar to traditional youth corps, will allow
participants to join the programs before, during, or after post-secondary education or job
training; most of the participants in these two programs will perform their work together at
project sites in crews of ten.
II. TWENTY ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES FOR ALL AMERICORPS/USDA PROGRAMS
We intend to make our programs models of reinventing government. Each and every
AmeriCorps/USDA pilot project will be guided by the following critical 20 principles:
*
Reunite the interests of the middle class and the poor by allowing young people from all
types of families to earn their way through post-secondary education.
*
Recruit groups of participants in each pilot project that are socio-economically diverse.
*
Ensure that citizens of every race, class, gender, age, and region work side-by-side.
*
Give the participants at least a minimum-wage living expense, as well as adequate
supervision, training, and education.
*
Allow young people to perform service either before, during, or after attending post-
secondary education.
*
Provide valuable service to the community by systematically filling unmet social needs.
*
Ensure that none of the work performed duplicates existing programs.
*
Limit the work performed to tasks that fulfill significant missions of USDA and are
generally acceptable to our main farming, consumer, environmental, and rural development
interest groups.
*
Base participant and site selection on quality, not patronage.
*
Reinvent government by promoting opportunity, responsibility, and community.
*
Provide models for how the federal government can manage national service programs.
* Build a distinct identity for the President's AmeriCorps program that is explicitly different
from either targeted jobs programs or diffuse "Points of Light" volunteerism efforts
*
Expand dramatically in the next few years as full-scale national program is phased-in.
*
Forge links to other key Administration initiatives such as empowerment zones, youth
apprenticeship, welfare reform, microenterprise, and health care reform.
*
Act as a multiplier of other national service programs throughout the country.
*
Forge a new form of entrepreneurial and non-bureaucratic government.
*
Build partnerships between community, state, and local groups and the federal government.
* Obtain funding from a combination of sources, including the Corporation for National and
Community Service, USDA program monies, non-profit organizations, charitable
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
3
foundations, corporations, contributions from USDA employees, and state and local
governments.
* Build a management team from existing USDA personnel.
* Be managed across traditional USDA agency lines.
The above 20 principles are essential and must be evident in every pilot proposal.
AmeriCorps can only succeed if every entity helping carry out the program insists on the
highest standards of consistent quality.
III. RURAL DEVELOPMENT TEAM
The Rural Development Team would establish regional clusters of "professional" and
"paraprofessional" participants who could assist communities in identifying needs and
resources necessary for economic well-being. The participants would have diverse education
and training and would be matched up with individual communities or regions that have
specific needs that can be filled by someone with that specific background.
The need to develop new leadership in rural America was a continuing theme of Secretary
Espy's recent Rural Development Forum. Americorps/USDA Rural Development Team can
help redress that need by playing a major role in developing that leadership.
We will make a concerted effort to recruit participants who want to return to areas similar to
those in which they were raised. Thus, this program can help begin reversing the "brain drain"
from rural America.
Individuals will be placed in communities where their particular talents can be best utilized.
Experts in connecting rural homes to municipal water systems will be matched up to areas with
that need. Experts in tourism will be matched up with communities that want to develop their
tourism. Experts in sustainable agriculture will be matched up with groups of farmers who need
technical assistance in that area. Experts in grant writing will be matched up with communities
that need grant writing. Experts in attracting small businesses will be matched up with
communities that want to attract more small business. Experts in watershed protection will be
matched up with areas that need such help. General planners would also be matched up with
communities that need to develop overall economic plans.
This group of individuals would be able to assist communities in planning and prioritizing
efforts. The corps would then assist the community in locating financial resources, preparing
proposals, designing educational programs, and implementing strategies necessary for
revitalization. The focus would be on the community generating its own vision for the future and
the USDA corps assisting them in creating and attaining that vision.
Our eventual goal is for as many Rural Development Team graduates as possible to be
permanently hired by host communities.
a. Social problems to be solved
Some of the worst pockets of poverty and highest rates of unemployment exist in rural America.
While President Clinton's overall economic program should help significantly, special efforts
are needed to boost rural America.
A recent study by USDA indicates that physical infrastructure is rarely sufficient by itself to
promote rural economic development; in order to significantly boost economic growth, it is
necessary to develop the human infrastructure.
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
4
Some rural communities that can afford to do so now pay expensive consultants to advise them
on development; for instance, the Forest Service now gives grants to some communities to hire
such consultants. With proper training, our team members could take the place of these
consultants.
(How often are consultants really hired? How much are they paid? Can they really be replaced
with Rural Development Team participants?)
b. Meeting the rural development goals of USDA
This team will meet many of the top rural development goals of President Clinton, Secretary
Espy, and Undersecretary of Small Community and Rural Development Bob Nash, by
empowering communities to develop local leadership to help themselves. The team could
accomplish much needed community planning activities necessary to assure the economic vitality
and productivity of our rural and mid-sized communities; teach specific skills in community
building, coalition building, and strategic planning; and develop improved federal ties with units
of local government which people encounter in their everyday living.
The team could also focus on meeting Secretary Espy's personal goal of bringing running water
to every rural home in America.
How we define measurable goals for this program in meeting human needs?
c. Working with existing programs
How will this Americorps Team build upon existing programs, including federal programs?
Most states have local Planning and Development Districts which provide for the overall
strategic and project planning efforts for a multi-jurisdictional area. Some of these cover several
counties, and some cover multiple communities within a county or township. They are staffed
by local citizens and all have one thing in common: they are understaffed.
Some of our team participants will be physically located within the offices of local districts, so
that they work with the districts and do not pose the threat of competition over turf.
We could also work with: RDA Coordinators, SCS RC&D program, the Extension Service,
community-based organizations, and independent agencies such as the Appalachian Regional
Commission or the Tennessee Valley Authority.
To support these team members, there already exists an information data base at the National
Agriculture Library called the Rural Information Center. This information center maintains a
data base of organizations which provide financial support to communities on a national,
regional, and local basis. This data base should be made available to all team members for
assisting the community in developing its own action plan and applying for funding. Participants
should be able to easily add to the database and find information about the activities of their
peers. Access to this information could be through the Rural Information Center's Bulletin
Board System.
We must still answer how this program will specifically interact with the districts, with existing
government programs, with 4-H programs, with existing non-profit and volunteer organizations,
with VISTA, and with the ambitious new rural development initiatives being planned by the
Administration.
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
5
d. Specific types of service to be performed
Some possible job descriptions:
1) Assistant State Rural Development Coordinator - Assists USDA State Rural Development
Coordinators in helping boost Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities. Collects data,
provides outreach, coordinates community resources, helps develop strategic plans, helps
implement the program, analyzes local data for agencies and organizations so that the needs of
the under-served are considered.
2) Small Business Plan Developer and Information Broker - Assists in the assessment and
development of markets for unique local products.
3) Regional Circuit Rider - Works part time in a number of towns in a region. Provides
technical assistance to communities throughout a region in brokering, strategic planning, and
community assessment.
4) Sustainable Agriculture Advisor - Works with farmers in the region to help them develop
model sustainable agriculture farms. Directs 4-H volunteers to perform some of the labor
intensive work, such as fence-building, needed for successful sustainable farming.
5) Watershed Assistance Process Facilitator - Works to coordinate local watershed protection
programs in order to save wetlands, guard drinking-water quality, and prevent flooding. The
team member would explain watershed assistance programs, identify key potential participants
in local watershed steering committees, arrange local organizational meetings, and facilitate the
identification of watershed needs, problems, and concerns.
6) Natural Resource Specialist - Under the direction of a Soil Conservation Service professional
employee, the team member would work in low-income and socially disadvantaged areas to
assistant in the acceleration of watershed protection, work with field engineers in the design and
layout of community projects, and work with the local Resource Conservation &
Development(1 Coordinator for economic development for disadvantaged groups.
7) Landscape Architect - The team member would work with soil conservation districts, RC&D
councils, and area conservationists to coordinate and include landscape architectural planning for
the purpose of maintaining, enhancing, or restoring ecological, social, and economic conditions.
8) Recreation Specialist - The team member would provide technical assistance for all activities
relating to recreation and tourism, including coordinating efforts among all government agencies,
furnish recreation planning and design, and collect and disseminate information on what
alternatives will best fit local needs.
9) Regional 4-H Youth Development Coordinator - The team member would work with county
Extension agents and 4-H coordinators to manage local students involved in youth service.
10) Forest Service and SCS Volunteer Coordinators - The team member would recruit and
supervise adult and youth volunteers from local communities to work on Forest Service and Soil
Conservation Service projects.
11) Forest Service Resource Assistants - This position is outlined in the Public Lands Corps
section of the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993. In this position, Rural
Development team participants could work with District Rangers to identify and manage service
projects in the forest for Public Lands and Environment Team members.
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
6
e. Recruiting and selecting applicants
What percentage of participants will be recruited from a national pool of applicants to USDA
or the Corporation?
Participants will be paid $15,000 per year. In addition, they will receive an educational voucher
worth $4,725 at the end of a year of service. Participants may be of any age, but, because of
the special educational requirements of the Rural Development Team, it is unlikely that any
participants will be younger than 21.
Recruitment and selection will be ultimately be accomplished at a centralized, national level, but
applications from pilot locations will be given priority.
We need a comprehensive recruitment strategy. Some ideas: Information and applications
should be sent to post-secondary institutions in or near the pilot project areas. Packets should
be sent to financial aid counselors, placement officers, deans, and student organizations. We
should also target news stories and public service announcements at the student media. We
should also attempt to hold recruitment seminars on key campuses. We should work closely
with the Peace Corps and VISTA to recruit former volunteers in those programs.
f. Matching participants with host communities
Communities should apply for team members through an informal competitive process. Target
communities should be asked what kind of resources would be offered enrollees- - such as office
space, computer equipment, social support, travel, office support -- in exchange for their
services. Extra credit should be given to communities that apply jointly for the services of a
team member or members. Our program should strongly encourage partnerships and teamwork
arrangements between and among adjacent jurisdictions, multi-county consortiums, and/or
regional entities.
We will develop a needs profile for each applicant community and a skills bank and inventory
for the enrollees. The communities and the enrollees would then be matched up by computer.
All assignments for participants must be mutually agreed upon by USDA and by any community,
county, or organization with whom that participant would closely work. Local labor unions
should also agree to any position in which the participant would perform work even somewhat
similar to work performed by local unionized workers.
g. Creating and maintaining program diversity
How do we ensure that this program is managed by a diverse team and includes a diverse set
of participants each and every year?
Diversity must be a key consideration during recruitment, curriculum design, project
development, and training. The first year's program must meet all our diversity requirements
since original problems are nearly impossible to fix.
How will we balance the need to recruit participants from their own communities, some of
which are not very diverse, with the need to have an overall program that is very diverse?
A concentrated recruitment effort must be made at 1890s schools and at all Historically Black
Colleges and Universities. We must also target HACU schools, as well as the many junior and
community colleges throughout the Southwest with substantial American Indian populations.
Special plans should be developed to recruit and place Americans with disabilities
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
7
h. Training the team members
Curriculums for teaching leadership, volunteer development, program management, basic life
skills, and understanding of basic business principles would be necessary.
Participants of this program would hold either Bachelor's degrees or graduate degrees. There
are only two graduate schools in the country now specifically teach rural development (WHERE?
WHAT ARE THEIR CURRICULUMS?); perhaps we could form partnerships with others to
do so. Participants could also be trained in Rural Sociology, Adult and Extension Education,
Agricultural Communications, Marketing, Organizational Development, Applied Social
Research, Urban and Regional Planning, Applied Anthropology, Architecture, Economics,
Business, Geography, Environmental Science, and Computer Science, Public Administration,
Civil Engineering, or Agricultural Science. What other degrees would be useful for participants
to have?
The participants would also need to spend a period of training before being assigned to the local
districts. This training should be planned and held nationally. Who will conduct the training?
How much of the training should be identical for all participants and how much should be unique
to the specific jobs that each participant will be performing?
What type of training will participants receive after they have started the program? They should
receive regional training between 2-4 times a year. This could happen in a one-week seminar
format that included elements of direct education, experience-sharing, and a critical debriefing
session where members input lessons learned, problems overcome, and significant relationships
created into the program's ongoing monitoring and evaluation process.
Will there be a pre-professional training program element of the rural development corps? Can
universities train people for these skills?
i. Supervising the team members
Who will supervise the team member? There will be a need to judge performance, initiate
additional training when needed, and to terminate or initiate re-assignment when necessary.
What role can State RDA Rural Development Coordinators have in supervision?
How will the Team involve participants in leadership positions in implementing and evaluating
the programs?
How much self-government will team members have? How will team members be able to
participate in designing their own programs, mandating their own rules, and helping enforce the
rules?
What types of interactions will team members have with participants in other areas?
j. Effect on the Participants
How will the program promote civic responsibility and produce positive change in participants
through training and participation in meaningful service with opportunities for reflection?
What measurable goals can we set for personal benefits obtained by Team members?
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
8
k. Evaluating the team programs
How will we ensure constant evaluation of the program in order to correct problems
immediately?
Will we contract out for evaluation or ask the Corporation for a waiver so we can do our own
evaluation?
How can we judge whether the program has met the general goals of Americorps and the
specific goals of the Team? The program should be evaluated as to whether it has meet each
of the 20 basic principles in the Section II of this plan.
How many graduates of the program remained in the communities?
1. Sizes and sites of pilot projects
Where should the pilot projects be situated and how large should they be? Should there be a
limit on the population size of communities where there will be pilot projects?
One suggestion has been to limit help to communities of less than 15,000 people and counties
with no town larger than 15,000 residents. In Texas alone, over 1,000 communities meet this
description. While limiting community size would wipe some medium-sized rural towns out of
consideration, it would ensure than each placement would have a sizable impact.
How many participants will be able to be placed in pilot programs? What will be the ultimate
capacity of these programs?
Thirty-two states currently have economic development councils or rural development councils,
so early pilot programs would be easy. Some of the following regions or states would provide
a good mix of pilots:
The Mississippi Delta
The Texas/Mexico Border
Maine
Kansas
The Pacific Northwest
Oklahoma
North Dakota
Southern Illinois
Tennessee
Four Corners (Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico)
Alaska
Appalachia
Oklahoma
California
Pilot programs could also be specifically targeted at rural communities facing short-term job
dislocations because of NAFTA, the Northwest Forest Plan, or military base closings or defense
plant shut-down.
For Corporation for National and Community Service application, we need a description of the
criteria and process through which our grantee programs were selected.
The proposal to the Corporation for National and Community Service will need a description
of the type and number of positions that will receive awards and a description of how approved
national service positions will be apportioned by the applicant.
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
9
For each pilot location, how will we consult with participants and potential participants,
representatives of community served, community-based agencies with demonstrated record of
experience in providing services, and labor organizations?
How will our pilots help priority areas affected adversely by federal policies?
Where are recently closed military installations need potential pilot projects?
m. Growth scenarios
Where, and how quickly, should the program grow? Should we grow by expanding our pilot
projects or by creating new ones?
How will we create a program so popular that it will continue to expand, regardless of the
Administration in power?
n. Management structure
How much of the programs should we run ourselves and how much should we contract out to
existing groups?
The proposal to the Corporation for National and Community Service will need a detailed
description of key members of the management team.
How will we absolutely, positively ensure that we don't create yet another cumbersome
Washington bureaucracy?
How can our programs utilize the latest communications technologies?
How will OWCP (liability) be covered?
How will health care be provided to participants?
What percentage of participants will need child care? How will we provide it to them?
What kind of support will disabled participants need?
0. Staff needed
The Rural Development Teams should have a Director, who reports directly to the head of
USDA national service programs, as well as to the Undersecretary for Rural Economic and
Community Development. The Director of the Rural Development Team should have the
following staff:
Recruitment and Training Coordinator
Internal and External Communications Coordinator
Project Management Coordinator
USDA Inter-Agency Coordinator
Partnership Liaison
Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator
Support Staff
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
10
p. Costs
We roughly estimate that each server in the Rural Development Team will cost roughly $30,000
per year. Thus 400 servers --- 40 in each of ten states or regions --- would cost $10 million.
Each participant will need access to a computer network in order to communicate with each
other via an easy-to-use e-mail, access to the National Agriculture Library's Rural Development
Center Bulletin Board System, and access to INTERNET. Can we get this system donated? If
not, how much will it cost?
Can we get every member of the team an outdated 286 or 386 laptop computer? Can we get
these donated? If so, could they interface with the rest of the system?
q. Outreach needed for stakeholders
We need a strategy for reaching out to the local planning districts, the state districts, and
political and community leaders throughout rural America.
r. Funding sources
What non-profit groups, corporations, individuals, and/or foundations might be willing to help
fund this?
S. Partnerships
What kind of partnerships can we form with other federal agencies? Could the Departments of
Commerce, Interior, Labor, and Health and Human Services, each of which has significant rural
development roles, play significant parts in helping fund and manage these programs? How can
we involve the Monday Management Group, a grouping of 17 federal agencies involved in rural
development?
Other possible partnerships include:
National Association of Counties
National Association of Development Organizations
National Association of Conservation Districts
National Governors Organization
National Association of Towns and Townships
State Rural Development Councils
State Economic Development Councils or Agencies
Local Planning and Development entities both private and public
National Association of State Foresters
Department of Defense Agencies, including the Army Corps of Engineers
1890's, land-grant, and historically Hispanic colleges
VISTA
National Rural Health Care association
Center for Rural Affairs
t. Learning from the VISTA model
What can we learn from both previous and ongoing VISTA rural development projects?
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
11
IV. EMPOWERMENT AND ANTI-HUNGER TEAM
In the Anti-Hunger/Empowerment Team, participants would work in urban and rural areas to
help low-income families and individuals move towards self-sufficiency. The main focus of the
team would be fighting domestic hunger. Team members could help individuals apply for food
stamps, Women, Infants, and Children, and the school breakfast program; overhaul their diets;
learn to prevent foodborne illnesses; and obtain the expanded Earned Income Tax Credits,
microenterprise loans, and help from community development banks. In short, this team would
help put into effect the entire empowerment agenda promoted by President Clinton and Secretary
Espy.
How can we tie into the DC initiative between HUD and DC government aimed at
homelessness?
How can we connect with HUD anti-homeless initiative?
a. Social problems to be solved
Hunger has risen in America over the last decade, particularly among children. One in ten
Americans now use food stamps, and many more are eligible.
Recent studies show that 60 percent of those eligible for the food stamps and WIC program do
not participate. Many of those are the elderly, American Indians, and the homeless.
A new study by the Urban Institute found that 12 percent of older Americans sometimes went
hungry or had to choose between paying the rent and eating or between buying their medications
and eating. In poorer areas, the number is considerably higher. (One in two in poor New
York neighborhoods.)
Tb. Meeting the empowerment and anti-hunger goals of USDA
The new goals of Food and Consumer services are:
1) to increase outreach to those eligible, but not participating, in food assistance programs
2) to expand the nutrition component of food assistance programs
3) to promote self-sufficiency through job training, microenterprise development, and the earned
income tax credit.
This team will meet many of the top empowerment and anti-hunger goals of President Clinton,
Secretary Espy, and Assistant Secretary for Food and Consumer Services Ellen Haas. It will
help reduce domestic hunger, facilitate welfare reform, bolster the preventive medicine
objectives of the Administration's health care plan, and empower citizens to work their own way
out of poverty.
This program can also play a role in helping states enlarge their capacity to run WIC programs
and thus move towards President Clinton's goal of eventually making WIC available to all
eligible Americans.
How we define measurable goals for this program in meeting human needs?
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
12
c. Working with existing programs
How will this Americorps Team build upon existing programs, including federal programs?
We must still answer how this program will specifically interact with the above existing
programs and the ambitious new anti-hunger initiatives being planned by the Administration.
How will this initiative relate to existing volunteer organizations? To existing 4-H programs?
To existing youth service corps? What kind of structure will the initiative have? How will the
structure interact with state and local governments?
d. Specific types of service to be performed
Participants would provide outreach and access services, build the anti-hunger and anti-poverty
infrastructure, and run innovative new empowerment programs:
1) Provide outreach/access services (educating eligible people about program availability and
helping make benefits accessible)
* Outreach Workers - Inform target populations about program availability (all programs)
*
Drivers - Help eligible people apply for and receive program benefits (WIC, CACFP, TEFAP,
NPE, CSFP)
* Delivery Aides - Deliver program benefits to homebound elderly, physically disadvantaged,
and homeless people (TEFAP, CSFP, FDPIR)
*
Bilingual Aides - Provide program information, help with applications, etc. to eligible, non-
English-speaking people (all programs)
*
Service Facilitator - Conduct telephone follow-up with people who don't keep appointments,
direct people to related health and welfare services (WIC, CSFP)
2) Bolster the infrastructure (providing the human capital necessary to deliver the programs
according to congressional intent):
*
Food Handlers - Stock, warehouse, manage, distribute food products (TEFAP, charitable
institutions, NPE, CSFP, school programs, FDPIR)
*
Day Care Workers - Provide child/adult care services to allow eligible people to apply for and
receive program benefits (WIC, TEFAP, FDPIR)
*
Bilingual Case Assistants - Assist case manager with non-English-speaking clients (WIC)
*
Kitchen/Cafeteria Aides - Help with meal preparation and serving, maintaining, monitoring
lunchrooms, and sanitation (school food, CACFP, and commodity programs)
*
Nutrition Assistants - Help with nutrition education, cooking demonstrations (WIC, school
food programs)
*
CACFC Assistant - Improve supervision ratio of provider to participants in child care/meal
preparation functions (CACFP)
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
13
3) Boost innovative new empowerment programs
*
EITC - Help families obtain the newly expanded Earned Income Tax Credit
*
Microenterprise -Teach people how to start small businesses
*
Community Development Banks - Inform families on how to apply for loans from community
development banks
*
Assets Building - Work with families to develop savings plans
*
Tenant management - Help public housing tenants to develop organizations for self-
management
*
Homelessness Programs - Help staff homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and food banks; find
innovative ways to include homeless citizens in USDA nutrition programs
*
Apprenticeship - Work with local schools and businesses to develop new school-to-work
transition programs
* Improvements in USDA Feeding Programs - Indian reservations could be encouraged to grow
foods that could be sold to USDA commodity programs and then provided to the reservation
through various USDA feeding programs. This could save taxpayers money while allowing the
reservations to produce healthier and more culturally sensitive food for their residents.
4) Engage in Community Outreach
Team members can go door-to-door in neighborhoods dispensing information on all the above-
listed programs. The information distributed would be holistic, tying together our nutrition,
anti-hunger, welfare reform, and food safety initiatives.
We can also experiment with innovative approaches such as "healthy baby festivals," where we
attract crowds with music and food and then provide nutrition and anti-hunger services.
e. Selecting and matching applicants
What percentage of participants will be recruited from a national pool of applicants to USDA
or the Corporation?
We will pay participants either the federal or state minimum wage, whichever is higher in their
particular locality. In addition, they will receive an educational voucher worth $4,725 following
their year of service. While Americans of any age will be eligible to participate in this program,
the structure of the educational voucher will make it likely that the bulk of participants will be
between the ages of 17-24.
How will Corps applicants be selected, matched with suitable assignments? Should participants
be picked randomly from among applicants or should they be screened and ultimately hand-
picked? What will be suitable service assignments? What role will USDA, state government,
and local government agencies have in making these assignments?
f. Creating and maintaining program diversity
How we ensure that this program is managed by a diverse team and includes a diverse set of
participants each and every year?
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
14
Diversity must be a key consideration during recruitment, curriculum design, project
development, and training. The first year's program must meet all our diversity requirements
since original problems are nearly impossible to fix.
g. Training the team members
How would the participants be trained? For how long? Where? With what kind of curriculum?
Team members will need training on working with diverse teamates. They will need training
about how to interact with low-income citizens in a culturally and socially sensitive manner.
They will need to be taught about the specific government programs they will be helping deliver.
h. Supervising the team members
How would they be supervised? Would they stay on one project throughout the year or
frequently switch projects? What kind of extra supervision will be needed in residential
programs?
Who will supervise the team member? There will be a need to judge performance, initiate
additional training when needed, and even perhaps to terminate or initiate re-assignment when
necessary.
We now assume one crew leader for every crew of ten people. What projects can suitably use
ten people at once. If members of a crew are separated at different sites, how will the crew
leader be able to manage them?
What types of interactions will team members have with participants in other areas?
What kind of uniforms should the crew leaders wear?
How will the Team involve participants in leadership positions in implementing and evaluating
the programs?
How much self-government will team members have? How will team members be able to
participate in designing their own programs, mandating their own rules, and helping enforce the
rules?
i. Effect on The Participants
How will the program promote civic responsibility and produce positive change in participants
through training and participation in meaningful service with opportunities for reflection?
What measurable goals can we set for personal benefits obtained by Team members?
j. Evaluating the team
How will we ensure constant evaluation of the program in order to correct problems
immediately?
Will we contract out for evaluation or ask the Corporation for a waiver so we can do our own
evaluation?
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
15
k. Sizes and sites of pilot projects
Where should the pilot projects be situated and how large should they be?
For the Corporation for National and Community Service application, we need a description of
the criteria and process through which our grantee programs were selected
The proposal to the Corporation for National and Community Service will need a description
of the type and number of positions that will receive awards and a description of how approved
national service positions will be apportioned by the applicant.
For each pilot location how will we consult with participants and potential participants,
representatives of the community served, community-based agencies with demonstrated record
of experience in providing services, and labor organizations?
How will our pilots help priority areas affected adversely by federal policies?
Where are recently closed military installations on which we might be able to house participants?
I. Growth scenarios
Where, and how quickly, should the program grow? Should we grow by expanding our pilot
projects or by creating new ones? How will we create a program that will grow on its own
regardless of the Administration in power?
m. Management structure needed
How much of the programs should we run ourselves and how much should we contract out to
existing groups?
Possible staff for Team:
Director
Recruitment and Training Coordinator
Internal and External Communications Coordinator
Pilot Project Liaison
Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator
Support Staff
The proposal to the Corporation for National and Community Service will need a detailed
description of key members of the management team.
How will we absolutely, positively ensure that we don't create yet another cumbersome
Washington bureaucracy?
How can our program utilize the latest communications technologies?
How will OWCP (liability) be covered?
n. Staff needed
How many USDA employees will be needed to manage the program? Will outside consultants
also be required?
0. Costs
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
16
If we roughly estimate that each server in the Empowerment and Anti-Hungers Corps will cost
$15,000 per year, then 1,000 participants would cost $15 million. That would fund twenty sites,
half urban and half rural, with 50 participants in each site.
How will provide health care to participants?
What percentage of participants will need child care? How will we provide it to them?
What kind of support will disabled participants need?
p. Outreach needed for stakeholders
We will need strong support from state welfare agencies and from the current participants in
USDA nutrition programs.
q. Funding sources
What section of the National Service Act could potentially fund this program?
What non-profit groups, corporations, individuals, and/or foundations might be willing to help
fund this?
r. Partnerships
What kind of partnerships can we form with other federal agencies? Could we run projects at
public housing units in tandem with HUD? Could we run health projects in tandem with HHS?
Could we run community development projects in tandem with Commerce? Could we run
weatherization projects in tandem with the Department of Energy? Could we run nutrition
education programs in tandem with the Department of Education?
How can we utilize the 60,000 doctors in the Army Reserve and National Guard?
We must definitely work with state social service agencies. Other potential partners include:
Association of WIC Providers Food
Research Action Center Children's Defense Fund
Safe Food Coalition
Urban League
World Hunger Year
S. Engaging senior citizens
How can we engage senior citizens who generally underutilize food stamps -- involved in
helping other senior citizens obtain nutrition help? How can this program work with the existing
Retired Senior Volunteer Program?
t. Lessons from EFNEP
What lessons can we learn from the EFNEP nutrition program now run by the Extension
Service?
V. PUBLIC LANDS AND ENVIRONMENT TEAM
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
17
V. PUBLIC LANDS AND ENVIRONMENT TEAM
The Public Lands and Environment Team would have both urban and rural components.
Participants could renovate urban and rural parks, plant trees, perform conservation work in
national forests, teach environmental education, promote urban farming, test water quality, boost
sustainable agriculture, clean-up rivers and lakes, help families weatherize their homes, instruct
the public on how to dispose of household chemicals, and restore wetlands.
The urban component would be mostly non-residential and members would work on conservation
projects on public and private lands in cities of various sizes. The rural component would be
both residential and non-residential and would perform conservation-related work projects on
private and public lands in rural America.
The urban and rural programs could be linked, with teams members having the option of
transferring between the rural and urban settings. For example, a team member could work in
a rural environment for ten months and then in an urban environment for another two months.
This wide scope of projects will be possible because the new National Service Trust Act gives
all federal agencies including all USDA agencies broad authority to manage community
service projects on private and public lands in both urban and rural areas.
Significant portions of these programs will perform work on federal, state, and municipal lands,
thus fulfilling the specifications of the Public Lands Corps, which Congress -- with the full
support of the Clinton Administration -- has recently required the Departments of Agriculture
and Interior to run.
a. Social problems to be solved
There are currently an estimated 8 million tree-planting sites in communities across America
with the current replacement rate being one tree planted for every four removed. Thousands of
water quality projects nationwide are awaiting manpower in our communities and our rural
areas, as are wetlands restoration, erosion control, stream improvement, roadbank stabilization,
and wildlife habitat projects. Urban farming and sustainable agriculture would also have
important places in this program.
Urban: More than 80 percent of the American population now live in cities of varying size.
Currently, the Forest Service, with 620 Ranger Districts across the country, and the Soil
Conservation Service, with more than 2,000 offices nationwide, have existing partnerships and
delivery systems in many cities.
The program would take the teams to where the people are, operating in any urban community
with an existing network of Forest Service, Soil Conservation Service, or Extension Service
programs in partnerships with local governments or nonprofit organizations.
This non-residential program would focus on urban conservation projects in the areas of water
quality, waste disposal, erosion control, running environmental program in schools, roadbank
and streambank stabilization, urban gardening, the creation of urban buffers, rehabilitation and
maintenance of deteriorating community infrastructure, urban forestry, and the recycling and
reuse of resources. Team members would live in the community or already be a community
member.
Rural: Team members would live in a residential setting in a rural area. The program would
provide full-time logistical support for team members. As in the urban program, the team
members would be expected to pay for living expenses from their wages.
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
18
Work projects could be in erosion control, fire prevention, fire suppression, building or
improving recreation areas, restoration of infrastructure such as buildings and bridges, watershed
protection, and other similar conservation projects. The land base of the National Forests would
be available for projects as well as the privately held land in partnerships with the Soil
Conservation Service.
Team members could also focus on teaching sustainable agriculture, helping small farmers stay
on the land, building rural housing, and engaging in rural development projects. Environmental
Team members could also work under the direction of older participants in the USDA Rural
Development Corps.
The team would provide much needed peoplepower for nationwide conservation projects. The
work of the team could reduce the backlog of conservation-related work across the country.
With the shift from a rural population to an urban one, Americans are losing the ability to learn
firsthand about natural resources. We currently have a relatively uneducated and uninformed
citizenry with regard to natural resources and conservation issues. The team would provide an
opportunity to learn about America's natural resources, their uses, and the need to protect them.
The end result would be a citizenry better informed on national conservation issues.
b. Meeting the public lands and environment goals of USDA
The team will meet many of the top public lands and environmental goals of President Clinton,
Vice President Gore, Secretary Espy, and Assistant Secretary for Natural Resources and the
Environment Jim Lyons.
The Team can be used, as part of the Administration's global warming initiative, to help
dramatically increase the number of trees planted throughout America.
The Team can also begin to reduce the massive backlog of repair and improvement projects
needed for National Forest and other public lands. Youth service corps are perhaps the single
most cost-effective providers of such project work; the Forest Service estimates that Youth
Conservation Corps (YCC) participants in 1992 performed $1.32 worth of work for each dollar
spent on the YCC program by the American taxpayer. With total spending of only $2.508
million in 1992, YCC participants provided a $3.339 million worth of work, broken down into
the following areas:
Recreation Management$1,789,447
Fish and Wildlife Management $401,093
Timber Management $317,723
Facility Construction and Maintenance $218,863
Water and Soil $197,706
Range and Forage Management $139,592
Administration $138,665
Protection $42,300
Research $15,120
All Other $79,344
How we define measurable goals for this program in meeting environmental needs?
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
19
c. Working with existing programs
How will this AmeriCorps Team build upon existing programs, including federal program?
How will this initiative relate to existing volunteer organizations? To existing 4-H programs?
To existing youth service corps?
What kind of structure will the initiative have? How will the structure interact with state and
local governments?
We still need to answer how this program will specifically interact with existing programs and
the ambitious new environmental initiatives being planned by the Administration.
How will it interact with the existing Soil Conservation Service Earth Team?
How will our program affect current Youth Conservation Corps programs managed by USDA
and the Department of Interior? Will any staff or funds be transferred from the
existing program? YCC coordinators believe strongly that the existing program should basically
be left intact, and that it should be used as a "farm team" for 15-17 year-olds who may later
enter year-round programs.
We need to fully research past programs such as CCC and YAC, as well as the current YCC,
to learn any lessons that might be useful for planning our program.
How will this program interact with the National Civilian Community Corps, run in a quasi-
military fashion, that was set up originally by the Boren bill?
d. Specific types of service to be performed
Here are just a few, non-representative, samples of work projects team members can perform:
1. National forests and parks conservation
Because all team members will be at least 18 years old, all of them will be able to use
equipment and machinery that will allow them to perform the most valuable work needed on
public lands.
One type of obvious work that team members can perform is trail maintenance. We should reach
out to some of following groups that already perform similar work:
- Appalachian Trail Conference-David Startzell, 304-535-6331
- Appalachian Mountain Club-Kelly Short, 617-523-0636
- American Hiking Society-Susan Henley, 703-385-3252
- Student Conservation Association
Team members can also engage in some of the following types of work, which are already
performed by YCC participants: recreation management, fish and wildlife management, timber
management, facility construction and maintenance, water and soil work, range and forage
management, administration, protection, and research. More specifically, they can build
barricades around restoration areas, replace old fire pits with new fire grates/stoves, maintain
anti-bear food storage bins, build foot bridges, build campsites, make facilities wheelchair
accessible, and construct leach fields for collecting graywater.
According to a December 1992 report issued by the Forest service, 1,349 service slots could be
created in our forests immediately to begin addressing the vast work backlog. 78,312 slots could
be created within four years.
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
20
The attached chart outlines the major types of work that the Forest Service believes that youth
servers can perform:
YOUTH SERVICE CAPABILITY ON NATIONAL FORESTS
COST ($MILLIONS) AND JOBS POTENTIAL (Employment in
IMMEDIATE - First Year
2ND THRU 4TH
YEARS
NATURAL RESOURCE
LOW
RANGE
HIGH
RANGE
CONSERVATION ACTIVITIES
COSTS
JOBS
COSTS
JOBS
COSTS
JOBS
Watershed Improvements
13.4
276
32.8
674
76.5
1,560
Range Improvements
7.2
181
17.5
438
22.2
458
Range Vegetative
2.9
56
4.8
96
146.4
2,928
Wildlife Habitat Improvement
20.6
514
50.1
1,253
97.5
2,433
Fish Habitat Improvement
14.4
289
34.9
698
92.1
1,846
T&E Species Habitat
4.3
108
27.0
675
50.5
1,268
Timber Stand Improvement
40.7
1,234
81.3
2,464
243.9
7,392
Insect and Disease Control
6.0
120
10.0
200
30.0
600
Minerals (Inactive Mine
--
--
4.5
90
6.0
120
Fuels management
1.3
40
132.0
4,000
396
12,000
Facilities
Administrative Buildings
21.4
325
39.6
600
150.0
2,250
Research Buildings
15.6
237
29.3
443
82.0
1,200
Roads and Bridges
48.3
805
80.8
1,347
300.0
5,000
Dams
3.0
50
5.0
80
10.0
170
Recreation
Facilities Backlog
33.1
663
60.7
1,214
200.0
4,000
Trail Backlog
18.1
548
30.0
909
140.0
5,100
Site Routine O&M
84.0
2,230
140.0
3,720
364.0
9,660
Land Line: Boundary Survey
3.5
100
8.5
250
29.9
885
Research Inventory Plots
4.3
145
10.0
333
30.0
999
Post Graduate Training
9.0
300
15.0
500
45.0
1,500
Urban & Community Tree
50.0
2,500
100.0
5,000
300.0
15,000
Reforestation and TSI on Non
Forest Land
20.0
606
20.0
606
60.0
1,818
Timber Bridges
1.2
20
1.2
20
7.5
125
TOTALS
$422.3
11,349
$935.0
25,610
$2879.
78,312
Note: Employment estimated based on ratios of jobs per thousand dollars in costs. These ratios
vary from $20,000 per labor intensive job to over $60,000 per heavy construction job. They
include materials, supervision and program support.
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
21
A program initiated in 1993 could generate from 11,000 to 25,000 jobs at a cost of $935
million. Thousands of backlogged and unfunded projects would be completed.
Watershed Improvements - Projects to protect wetlands, reestablish vegetative cover in
riparian zones, shape gullied land, revegetate denuded areas and to eliminate acid and other
pollutant drainage from abandoned mines and oil and gas wells -- all in order to improve
watershed conditions, fisheries and wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities.
Range Improvements - Range improvements consist of fencing and water development
structures, and revegetation of denuded areas to improve forage conditions, wildlife and fish
habitat, and soil and water quality.
Range Vegetation Management - Encompasses all activities associated with the management
of NFS rangelands. Includes the description of baseline resource information for rangeland
ecosystems, resource management planning, monitoring, administration of permitted livestock
grazing, coordination of other land uses, and tracking compliance with forest plan and other
management objectives. This is an interdisciplinary effort requiring significant coordination
and commitment of resources by affected resource areas, user groups, and interested
members of the public.
Wildlife Habitat Improvement - Construction and maintenance of structures and
enhancement of habitat. Improvement activities include prescribed burning, opening
construction and rehabilitation, wildlife stand improvement, seeding and planting, and water
hole construction.
Fish Habitat Improvement - Reservoir rejuvenation and enhancement, stream bank
stabilization, construction of fish ponds and spawning riffles, access trails for the disabled,
and fish viewing stations.
Threatened, Endangered, and Sensitive Species Habitat Improvement - Protection and
enhancement of required habitats, including breeding and nesting sites, feeding areas and
escape cover, protection from adverse developments and disturbing human activities.
Timber Stand Improvement - Treatment of timber stands to remove excess and competing
vegetation to improve species composition, quality, growth rates, vigor and resistance to
attacks from insects and diseases. Treatments are generally labor intensive as they favor the
enhancement of selected trees.
Insect And Disease Control - The Forest Service provides protection and control services
from insects and diseases on both Federal and non-Federal lands. Work includes suppression
of pests such as the gypsy moth, southern and mountain pine beatles, and the tussock moth.
Minerals (Inactive Mine Rehab) - Work includes stabilization of mine waste dumps and
spoil piles, and the elimination of acid and other pollutants from abandoned and inactive
mines or oil and gas wells.
Fuels Management - Treating fuels through prescribed burning and other methods to reduce
fire hazard and the severity of fires that do occur. This also greatly enhances the vigor and
healthiness of treated areas.
Administrative Facilities - Pertains to office buildings, warehouses, and living quarters that
are primarily needed to administer the National Forests, rather than serve the public.
Includes repair and maintenance in the short term and new construction for long term
projects.
Research Facilities - Repair, maintenance, upgrade, and improvements to laboratories and
support buildings. Includes providing access for disabled persons, gender separation of
restrooms and sleeping facilities, and correcting health and safety deficiencies. Longterm
activities include new construction where required.
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
22
Roads and Bridges - Addresses deferred maintenance of transportation infrastructure and
new construction essential for public recreation, access for the disabled, fire control and
other activities. This work will reduce negative environmental impacts of roads and bridges
and increase the safety and enjoyment of persons accessing and traveling on the National
Forests.
Dams - Work includes maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation to meet current dam safety
requirements. Dam work will safeguard the public and reduce future costs of these facilities.
Recreation Facility Backlog - Rehabilitation, repair, and reconstruction of recreation
facilities and sites to restore them to the established standard. Includes work to meet current
legal, safety, or sanitation standards, restoration of soil and vegetation, and elimination of
facilities and restoration of site.
Trail Backlog - Maintenance and reconstruction to restore trails to assigned standards. This
is one-time restoration and repair to correct maintenance that has been deferred in the past.
Include realignment of segments, upgrading to accommodate different uses, and obliteration
of unneeded trails.
Recreation Operations and Maintenance - This activity includes the day-to-day care and
operation of developed recreation sites cleaning, painting, routine maintenance, and other
operational tasks are included. Increased attention over current budget levels is needed to
prevent deterioration of facilities and to avoid potential health and safety problems.
Land Line: Boundary Survey & Marking - Only 38% of the 272,409 miles of Forest
Service property have been properly established. This proposal would accurately locate the
legal boundaries between National Forest and private land ownership. Work would enhance
private sector employment of survey and engineering firms.
Establishment and Remeasurement of Forest Inventory Plots - Establish and extend
permanent field plot grid in the Western United States so that both commodity and
noncommodity value statistics would become available on all forest land regardless of
ownership and management status. These statistics are necessary in carrying out needed
long- term research studies and for making decisions on the sustainability of the forest
ecosystems and a basis for rational resource decision-making.
Reforestation and Timber Stand Improvement on Nonindustrial Private Lands: To
demonstrate U. S. commitment to world leadership in forestry, ensure an adequate timber
supply, to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide, and to provide employment in rural areas.
Includes tree planting and methods to enhance natural regeneration of forest stands following
timber harvest, and cultural activities to improve species composition, spacing, growth and
vigor of nonindustrial private forests.
Timber Bridges - Installation of new modern timber bridges and the replacement of existing
structurally deficient and functionally obsolete bridges with local labor to improve
transportation infrastructure in rural areas. Almost one-half (215,398) of rural bridges
greater than 20 feet in length in rural America are deficient.
2. Water quality assessments
Team members can conduct samplings and provide technical help with delivery systems.
They can also work on sanitation and sewerage (wastewater treatment) system improvement.
We should reach out to the following groups that already perform similar work:
- Clean Water Action-Paul Schwartz, 202-457-1286, ext. 130
- Friends of the Earth-Velma Smith, 202-544-2600, ext. 294
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
23
3. Education
Team members --- going door-to-door, working in schools and speaking at civic clubs ---
could teach a wide variety of topics: safe handling of food, how to make your household
more eco-friendly, testing for radon (Greenpeace has information programs on the latter
two); recycling and waste reduction; and reducing nonpoint-source pollution.
Some examples:
The Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) offers a "waste away" program each year
to teach elementary students about the challenges of the solid waste problem. VINS provides
program curriculum and tries to engage the entire community by culminating program with
community-wide event - a "trash festival."
VINS also has an excellent education program called "ELF" -- Environmental Learning for
the Future" geared for elementary students. VINS trains volunteers to go into the classrooms
monthly for an afternoon filled with role playing, hands-on projects, and field trips. The
complete curriculum is taught over the course of five years and is enthusiastically supported
by the community. (802) 457-2779.
American Forest Foundation's Project Learning Tree is an award winning K-12 curriculum
and training program. Contact: Kathy McGlaufin, (202) 463-2455.
4. Energy Conservation- --- Team members could work in crews to provide the physical
assistance in weatherizing homes and generally making them more energy efficient.
Participants could work in public housing and low-income areas in both urban and rural
communities. Team members would need basic training in carpentry, electrical or plumbing
skills. We would recruit professional carpenters, electricians, and plumbers to help with
basic training or to serve as team leaders.
Team members could also provide practical advice about basic ways to make homes more
energy efficient. The participants could also develop educational material on energy
conservation, such as "how to save dollars and help the planet" or a "guide to existing cost-
saving programs provided by utility companies," etc.
One somewhat similar example is Christmas in April (CIA), a national volunteer program
established by University of Pennsylvania students in 1980s to address basic housing needs of
low-income communities in urban areas. With the help of church and community groups,
CIA identifies families that have the greatest need for assistance in home maintenance-
weatherization, painting, carpentry, plumbing, cleaning - and organizes groups of volunteers
to spend a full day doing the work. Materials are donated by corporate sponsors.
Christmas in April USA: 202-326-8268
Another example is EPA's Green Lights program.
5. River and Streams Protection
We could possibly run river protection teams in conjunction with the Department of Interior
and the Environmental Protection Agency.
In a Hudson River Team, USDA participants could work with farmers in the river's
watershed to reduce the run-off of agricultural pesticides.
Team members could clean up and restore rivers and lakes. We should consult the following
groups who already perform similar work:
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
24
- Trout Unlimited- stream restoration project including clean-up, habitat mapping,
water quality monitoring. Contact: Neil Emerald, 703-281-1100
- Izaak Walton League- Save our Stream program. Stream and river clean up and
quality monitoring.
6. Tree planting
As part of the Clinton Administration's initiative to combat global warming, the
Public Lands and Environmental team could play a lead role in tremendously expanding the
number of trees planted annually in America. Plantings could take place in urban and rural
areas on both public and private lands.
We should consult with the following groups already engaged in similar work:
- National Arbor Day Foundation- sponsors numerous tree planting programs. 402-
474-5655.
- American Forests' Global Relief Program, 202-667-3300.
- Trust for Public Land- Jenny Cross, 714-557-2575. Urban Forestry Program.
- Yale School of Forestry's Urban Resources Initiative. Lee Shemis, 203-432-5100
- Tree People, urban planting program in Los Angeles
7. Urban Conservation Projects
Team members can repair facilities in public parks, paint murals, fix playgrounds and other
facilities at public schools, run recycling programs, and run urban farming programs in
which low-income individuals grow their own food.
General Note: Community cleanup, restoration, and urban renewal activities should have an
educational and outreach component. The long-term success of an effort is dependent on the
personal investment of the participants. Groups of volunteers (led by an Americorps
volunteer) who do the cleanup should include people who use the area, who are touched by
the changes, who "benefit" from the restoration effort. This suggestion relates to the general
challenge of attracting volunteers from diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.
8. Urban Farming Projects
Team members could help low-income urban residents to grow their own food. We could
possibly run such a program at public housing complexes in tandem with the Department of
Housing and Urban Renewal. We could possibly run a city-wide program in Chicago in
tandem with the Chicago high school of agriculture.
9. Wetlands Restoration
The Department of Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency has expressed interest
in potentially running a joint program to help restore the Everglades.
10. Disaster relief and Recovery - Existing youth corps have played a vital role in the
recovery of the flooded Midwest. For most disasters, team members could provide physical
labor so critical to short-team clean-up, as well as human services needed for long-term
recovery. They could also assist in some of the long-term infrastructure repair such as levee
re-building.
11. Sustainable Agriculture - Team members could work under the direction of Extension
agents or other sustainable agriculture experts to help local farmers complete some of the
labor intensive work -- such as constructing fences -- that is needed to implement a
sustainable agriculture plan.
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
e. Selecting and matching applicants
What percentage of participants will be recruited from a national pool of applicants to USDA
or the Corporation? Can some participants meet the voucher requirement by working four
summers in a row? Would such an approach hinder our ability to build diverse crews?
Could possibly a small percentage of people in each program be on the four-year plan?
We will pay participants either the federal or state minimum wage, whichever is higher in
their particular locality. In addition, they will receive an educational voucher worth $4,725
following a year of service. Team members will be between the ages of 18 and 25.
How will team applicants be selected and matched? Should participants be selected randomly
or should they be screened and hand-picked?
What will be suitable service assignments? What role will the program have in making these
assignments?
Will participants be engaged in the same type of work for the entire year or will they rotate
between different types of projects?
f. Creating and maintaining program diversity
Diversity must be a key consideration during recruitment, curriculum design, project
development, and training. The first year's program must meet all our diversity requirements
since original problems are nearly impossible to fix.
How do we ensure that this program is managed by a diverse team and includes a diverse set
of participants each and every year?
How can we engage participants in complex and challenging work without requiring
educational levels that would stratify the participants and reduce participants? Simply put,
how can we guarantee that less well educated participants don't spend all their time with
shovels while better educated participants spend all their time with test tubes?
g. Training the team members
How would the participants be trained? For how long? Where? With what kind of
curriculum?
Team members will need training about the general environment in which they will be
working, especially in issues relating to safety. They will need training in use of the tools
they will be using. They will need general training on often-used skills and specific training
before each new project.
h. Supervising the team members
Who will supervise the team member? There will be a need to judge performance, initiate
additional training when needed, and even perhaps to terminate or initiate re-assignment
when necessary. How would they be supervised? Would they stay on one project throughout
the year or frequently switch projects? What kind of extra supervision will be needed in
residential programs?
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
26
We now assume one crew leader for every crew of about ten participants.
What kinds of uniform will team members be required to wear?
What kinds of tools, equipment, and supplies will the participants need and how will our
programs obtain them?
How will the Team involve participants in leadership positions in implementing and
evaluating the programs?
How much self-government will team members have? How will team members be able to
participate in designing their own programs, mandating their own rules, and helping enforce
the rules?
What types of interactions will team members have with participants in other areas?
i. Effect on The Participants
How will the program promote civic responsibility and produce positive change in
participants through training and participation in meaningful service with opportunities for
reflection?
What measurable goals can we set for personal benefits obtained by Team members?
This program can help future farmers attend college. Farmers who graduated college earn an
average of $68,652 in off-farm income, compared to $29,334 for those who were only high
school educated.
j. Evaluating the Team
How will we ensure constant evaluation of the program in order to correct problems
immediately?
Will we contract out for evaluation or ask the Corporation for a waiver so we can do our
own evaluation?
k. Sizes and sites of pilot projects
The Forest Service and youth corps from Oregon and Washington have just received a major
grant from the Commission on National and Community Service to run a national service
training academy. This project will be based on a highly successful summer program. This
program provides us with a very useful model, as do existing YCC programs.
What other facilities now exist in usable shape or near usable shape in the national forests
that have been leftover from the YCC, the YAC, or even the original CCC?
We also want to ensure that we run pilot projects in a wide variety of different ecosystems,
such as old growth forests, cities, coastal areas, new growth forests, suburbs, wetlands,
tundra, and grasslands.
For the Corporation for National Service Proposal, we need a description of the criteria and
process through which our grantee programs were selected.
The proposal to the Corporation for National and Community Service will need a description
of the type and number of positions that will receive awards and a description of how
approved national service positions will be apportioned by the applicant.
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
27
For each pilot location, how will we consult with participants and potential participants,
representatives of the communities served, community-based agencies with demonstrated
record of experience in providing services, and local labor organizations?
How will our pilots help priority areas affected adversely by federal policies?
Where are recently closed military installations that we might be able to use to house
participants?
1. Growth scenarios
Where, and how quickly, should the program grow? Should we grow by expanding our pilot
projects or by creating new ones?
How will we create a program so effective and so popular that will grow on its own
regardless of the Administration in power?
m. Management structure needed
How much of the programs should we run ourselves and how much should we contract out
entirely or partially to existing groups?
The proposal to the Corporation for National and Community Service will need a detailed
description of key members of the management team.
How will we absolutely, positively ensure that we don't create yet another cumbersome
Washington bureaucracy?
We need to devise a legal system in which funds can be delivered directly to national service
programs run by USDA agencies without going through a bureaucracy to charge
administrative overhead. For example, if certain Forest Service employees are running a
pilot project, we need for the funds to go from the USDA Office of National Service directly
to the pilot program, without going through either the national, regional, or local offices of
the Forest Service. Can the USDA Office of National Service issue payment vouchers
directly?
We need to investigate how we can produce payroll checks for less than the $5-per-check fee
now charged by the National Finance Center.
We need to produce one single enrollment form, including a code of conduct and a
performance contract, instead of the seven-to-twelve different forms now required for entry
into the YCC.
How can our program utilize the latest communications technologies?
How will OWCP (liability) be covered?
n. Staff needed
How many USDA employees will be needed to manage the program? Will outside
consultants also be required?
Possible staff for Team:
Director
Recruitment and Training Coordinator
Internal and External Communications Coordinator
Pilot Project Liaison
Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator
Support Staff
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
28
0. Costs
If most servers in the Environmental Corps are residential, then our estimated cost is about
$20,000 per server. Thus a pilot program with 1,000 servers would cost $20 million. This
would allow us five rural sites of 100 each, and ten urban or suburban sites of 250.
How will health care be provided to participants?
What percentage of participants will need child care? How will we provide it to them?
What kind of support will disabled participants need?
p. Outreach needed for stakeholders
We need to gain support from existing youth service corps, from environmental and
conservation groups, from the National Forest Foundation, from labor unions, and from
farming and commodity groups.
q. Funding sources
The National and Community Trust Acts mandates that 25% of all funds used to contract out
work to non-federal conservation corps be obtained from non-federal sources.
What states, municipalities, non-profit groups, corporations, individuals, and/or foundations
might be willing to help fund this?
What types of project might the team be able to complete on a fee-for-service basis?
r. Partnerships
What kind of partnerships can we form with other federal agencies? How would we run the
Public Lands Corps in partnership with the Department of Interior? How can we revise our
Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Interior that we already have to
jointly run the YCC?
Could we run urban farming projects at public housing units in tandem with HUD? Could
we run weatherization projects in tandem with the Department of Energy? Could we run
environmental education programs in tandem with the Environmental Protection Agency or
the Department of Education? Could we run a program in tandem with the Department of
Transportation in which team members would perform conservation and planting projects on
highway right-of-ways?
Could the team work with the Army Corps of Engineers to repair levees?
We have already discussed with the Department of Interior the idea of jointly running a
"Greater Everglades Recovery Team" that would partner up farmers, National Park Service
employees, and youth volunteers in replacing seagrass and taking other steps to save the
fragile ecosystem of the Everglades.
Possible partnerships include:
National Association of Conservation Districts
Audubon Society
Land Grant universities
National Association of State Foresters
National Forest Foundation
National Parks Foundation
National Trust for Historic Preservation
Draft -- For internal Discussion Only
National Tree Trust
Nature Conservancy
National League of Cities
p. Residential and non-residential
Most of the rural programs will be residential and most of the urban programs will be non-
residential. How many residential facilities does the Forest Service now have? What is their
capacity and how much money and time would it take to renovate them for year-round use.
Our partnership programs will be hampered by the lack of residential facilities owned by the
Department of Interior. How can we work with the Department of Defense to use their
residential facilities?
We will try to develop an exchange program so that young people in each type of program
can experience at least a few weeks of the other. Where will rural residents be housed when
visiting urban areas? Can we get local residents to put them up in their homes, as if they
were exchange students from Europe? How will we transport participants between urban and
rural areas?
What kinds of work will have to be performed and what kind of funds will have to be spent
ensure adequate residential facilities for participants in rural areas?
VI. HOW AMERICORPS/USDA PROGRAMS WILL INTERACT
We will attempt to place as many of these programs as possible in newly created
Empowerment Zones and Empowerment Communities. In one rural Empowerment
Community, we might want to test placing a Empowerment and Anti-Hunger Team program,
a Public Lands and Environment Team, AND a Rural Development Team program. How
will each of our three programs interact with each other? In one urban community, we
might want to test placing a Empowerment and Anti-Hunger Team program AND a Public
Lands and Environment Team. We should test how programs in the same area can trade
staff, cross-train participants, and maybe even exchange participants in order to maximize
benefits to the community.
In some rural areas, we might want to place both a Rural Development Team and a Public
Lands and Environment Team; the Rural Development Team could actually plan projects for
the Public Lands and Environment Team. For instance, after studying a local rural
economy, members of a Rural Development Team might determine that the best way to help
the area is to upgrade recreation facilities at a nearby National Forest; they would then
design that upgrade and then direct local members of the Public Lands and Environment
Team to actually perform the construction work.
How will we build a national identity for disparate pilot programs? How will we tie the
identity of the USDA programs to the larger national initiative? Will these programs have
joint training either before or during the period of service?Will we have a joint training
session for all three corps? If so, where will it be held and who will manage it? We need to
build this cost into the budget. Can they have caravans from around the country while
performing service?
VII. FUNDRAISING
We need clear guidelines from our Office of General Counsel on how we can raise money.
Can we raise it directly? Can we funnel it through the Corporation of National Service?
Can we funnel it through the National Forest Foundation? How can we avoid even the
appearance of impropriety in raising money from interests that might be regulated or affected
by the Department of Agriculture?
Can various funders sponsor all or part of pilot projects?
Can we get an exemption from the Combined Federal Campaign monopoly in raising money
from federal employees?
Can we hold a national employees serve-a-thon in which USDA employees perform a day of
service and get sponsored to do so by friends? If each of our 114,000 employees raises or
personally donates an average of $10, we will have raised over $1 million.
Could we institute an employee check-off program in which our employees can donate
weekly or yearly to our national service programs? Could we find a way to match those
contributions with private contributions?
VIII. YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
We need to study a wide variety of ways to boost the upward mobility of youth who
participate in our programs.
We need to discuss our service-learning, national service transcripts, guidance counselor
centers, peer discussion groups and self-management, to help in obtaining other forms of
federal student aid, and help in job placement.
Can private money that we raise be used to supplement the national service voucher be given
to participants?
IX. DIVERSITY
How can we make diversity -- by race, age, religion, class, gender, and orientation -- a
reality in both our management team and our participants?
Diversity must be a key consideration during recruitment, curriculum design, project
development, and training.
How can we use a national recruitment pool to boost diversity?
How can we incorporate physically disabled participants and program managers?
X. INTERACTING WITH ENTERPRISE ZONES AND COMMUNITIES
communities. As much as possible, our prograsm will interact with empowerment zones and enterprise
Empowerment zones:
Each Empowerment Zone gets two HHS Tittle XX grants totalling $40 million. Each
Enterprise Community gets one HHS Tittle XX grant of up to $3 million.
Employer tax credits to Eligible Enterprise Zone employers equal to 20% of the first
415,000 of wages or training expenses for qualified Enterprise zone employees. Can host
organizations that hire Rural development corps participants obtain this benefit?
Are there other deductions that may be available?
XI. USDA ADMINISTRATION AND PERSONNEL
Who will run this program at USDA and what we will have to do to free them from current
programmatic and budgetary duties?
XII. COSTS AND BUDGETS
If most servers in the Environmental Corps are residential, then our estimated cost is about
$20,000 per server. Thus a pilot program with 1,000 servers would cost $20 million. This
would allow us five rural sites of 100 each, and two urban sites of 250 each.
If we roughly estimate that each server in the Empowerment and Anti-Hunger Corps will
cost $15,000 per year, then 1,000 participants would cost $15 million. That would fund
twenty sites, half-urban and half-rural, with 50 participants at each site.
If we roughly estimate that each server in the Rural Development Corps will cost roughly
$30,000 per year, accounting for their higher pay, then 400 servers would cost $10 million.
That would fund ten state programs with 40 participants each.
The total for all three proposals is $45 million. We could potentially meet this target with a
combination of Corporation for National Service Funds, USDA program funds, and private
and non-profit funds.
The above-listed proposals -- if fully funded -- would allow us to have 37 pilot operations
with a total 2,400 participants in our very first year of operation.
We already have a significant source of funding for a Public Lands Corps this year. The FY
94 budget passed by Congress, authorizes the Forest Service to begin collecting fees at
certain sites and to also jointly sell Golden Eagle passports in conjunction with the
Department of Interior. The proceeds of all non-federal sales of the passports just also
authorized by Congress -- will go to conservation corps activities run by Interior and
Agriculture, to be divided up in proportion to the total amount of revenue each Department
generates from entrance fees. The National Recreation Association estimates that this fund
could generate a n) estimated $50 million for youth service in FY 94, of which about $2.5
million would go to USDA.
XIII. TIMELINE FOR RUNNING AMERICORPS/USDA
By January 10, 1994: Work with OBPA to develop line-item budget requests for FY95
budget
By January 15, 1993: Identify possible pilot project locations and partnerships
(institutions to create national service partnerships
By January 20, 1993: Sign memorandums of understanding with other agencies with whom
we will jointly make proposals
By January 30, 1993: Preliminary proposal completed for submission to Corporation for
National Service
By March 1994: Start-up plans finalized for projects approved by the Corporation for
National Service
By April 1994: Project personnel interviewed and placed
April, 19, 1994 - NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE DAY, (Possible national Serve-A-thon)
By May 1994: Recruitment of participants for Fall programs begin
By June 1994: Summer training starts for project managers and crew leaders
By September 1, 1994: Pilot projects begin
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
32
APPENDIX: TIMELINE FOR PROVIDING TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO
CONSTITUENCY GROUPS
How can we provide technical assistance to USDA constituencies that want to apply for
funding from the Corporation for National Service to run their own programs? How can we
help them obtain their funds and how can we aid their actual programs?
Push the Vice-President to brief environmental groups, the First Lady to brief anti-hunger
groups, and the Secretary to brief rural development, higher education, and farming groups.
By December 27, 1993: Send letter explaining new Corporation for National and Community
Service regulations and explaining in simple English how groups may apply for the funding.
By January 10, 1994: Complete series of meetings and phone briefings with all possible
constituency groups who might be interested in program
By January 15, 1993: Have identified staff responsible for preparing environment, nutrition,
sustainable agriculture, and rural development curriculum
By January 21, 1994: Consult with state commissions on national community service in states
in which we are considering running pilot projects
By February 30, 1994: Have all four curriculum first drafts
By March 5, 1994: Have all four curriculum drafts reviewed and start the design process
By March 20, 1994: Mail printed reports to all key constituency groups
sor more inpormanion, onice
AMERICORPS/USDA
goel or Berg
DRAFT ACTION PLAN, DECEMBER 13, 1993
Katherine
Silney
120-462-
National service is a civic compact in which any citizen can be
tied to the nation by the simple virtue of making a difference
in the lives of others President Clinton has made it
absolutely clear to his cabinet members that he wants every
one of us to make national service a top priority.
- Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy
I. PURPOSE OF ACTION PLAN
President Clinton's national service initiative now known as AMERICORPS will fund
programs around the country in which Americans will perform at least a year of full-time
community service in exchange for significant educational benefits.
Participants will earn small living stipends while performing work that addresses unmet
human, environmental, educational, and public safety needs. For each year of service
successfully performed, participants will also earn an educational voucher of $4,725, which
they may use to pay for college, vocational school, job training, or graduate school.
The purpose of this plan is to outline how we will turn our generalized plans for
Americorps/USDA into concrete, specific, realistic, and comprehensive grant proposals to be
submitted to the new Corporation for National Service.
Most of the funds provided by the National Service Trust Act will be distributed through
state commissions to programs managed by existing youth corps, non-profit organizations,
and state and local governments. Consequently, USDA will provide significant information
and technical assistance to the wide range of our constituency groups including
environmental, consumer, farming, higher education, minority, rural development,
agribusiness, and nutrition groups to help them apply for such funds or otherwise become
involved in Americorps.
USDA will also develop curricula in key areas such as nutrition, sustainable agriculture,
the environment, and rural development- for external groups that are planning to run
Americorps programs related to these areas.
Yet the focus of this action plan is on the three service programs that USDA itself will run
through a provision of the National Service Trust Act that dedicates over $18 million for
federal agencies to manage Americorps programs of their own. Secretary Espy has directed
us to prepare three different Americorps team proposals as grant applications for submission
to the Corporation for National Service:
Empowerment and Anti-Hunger Team
Public Lands and Environment Team
Rural Development Team
school graduates in which the participants will perform the majority of their work
individually and at separate locations. The Empowerment and Anti-Hunger Team and the
Public Lands and Environment Team, more similar to traditional youth corps, will allow
participants to join the programs before, during, or after post-secondary education or job
training; most of the participants in these two programs will perform their work together at
project sites in crews of ten.
II. TWENTY ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES FOR ALL AMERICORPS/USDA PROGRAMS
We intend to make our programs models of reinventing government. Each and every
AmeriCorps/USDA pilot project will be guided by the following critical 20 principles:
* Reunite the interests of the middle class and the poor by allowing young people from all
types of families to earn their way through post-secondary education.
*
Recruit groups of participants in each pilot project that are socio-economically diverse.
*
Ensure that citizens of every race, class, gender, age, and region work side-by-side.
* Give the participants at least a minimum-wage living expense, as well as adequate
supervision, training, and education.
* Allow young people to perform service either before, during, or after attending post-
secondary education.
*
Provide valuable service to the community by systematically filling unmet social needs.
* Ensure that none of the work performed duplicates existing programs.
* Limit the work performed to tasks that fulfill significant missions of USDA and are
generally acceptable to our main farming, consumer, environmental, and rural development
interest groups.
* Base participant and site selection on quality, not patronage.
*
Reinvent government by promoting opportunity, responsibility, and community.
*
Provide models for how the federal government can manage national service programs.
* Build a distinct identity for the President's AmeriCorps program that is explicitly different
from either targeted jobs programs or diffuse "Points of Light" volunteerism efforts
* Expand dramatically in the next few years as full-scale national program is phased-in.
* Forge links to other key Administration initiatives such as empowerment zones, youth
apprenticeship, welfare reform, microenterprise, and health care reform.
*
Act as a multiplier of other national service programs throughout the country.
*
Forge a new form of entrepreneurial and non-bureaucratic government.
* Build partnerships between community, state, and local groups and the federal government.
* Obtain funding from a combination of sources, including the Corporation for National and
Community Service, USDA program monies, non-profit organizations, charitable
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
3
foundations, corporations, contributions from USDA employees, and state and local
governments.
* Build a management team from existing USDA personnel.
* Be managed across traditional USDA agency lines.
The above 20 principles are essential and must be evident in every pilot proposal.
AmeriCorps can only succeed if every entity helping carry out the program insists on the
highest standards of consistent quality.
III. RURAL DEVELOPMENT TEAM
The Rural Development Team would establish regional clusters of "professional" and
"paraprofessional" participants who could assist communities in identifying needs and
resources necessary for economic well-being. The participants would have diverse education
and training and would be matched up with individual communities or regions that have
specific needs that can be filled by someone with that specific background.
The need to develop new leadership in rural America was a continuing theme of Secretary
Espy's recent Rural Development Forum. Americorps/USDA Rural Development Team can
help redress that need by playing a major role in developing that leadership.
We will make a concerted effort to recruit participants who want to return to areas similar to
those in which they were raised. Thus, this program can help begin reversing the "brain drain"
from rural America.
Individuals will be placed in communities where their particular talents can be best utilized.
Experts in connecting rural homes to municipal water systems will be matched up to areas with
that need. Experts in tourism will be matched up with communities that want to develop their
tourism. Experts in sustainable agriculture will be matched up with groups of farmers who need
technical assistance in that area. Experts in grant writing will be matched up with communities
that need grant writing. Experts in attracting small businesses will be matched up with
communities that want to attract more small business. Experts in watershed protection will be
matched up with areas that need such help. General planners would also be matched up with
communities that need to develop overall economic plans.
This group of individuals would be able to assist communities in planning and prioritizing
efforts. The corps would then assist the community in locating financial resources. preparing
proposals, designing educational programs, and implementing strategies necessary for
revitalization. The focus would be on the community generating its own vision for the future and
the USDA corps assisting them in creating and attaining that vision.
Our eventual goal is for as many Rural Development Team graduates as possible to be
permanently hired by host communities.
a. Social problems to be solved
Some of the worst pockets of poverty and highest rates of unemployment exist in rural America.
While President Clinton's overall economic program should help significantly, special efforts
are needed to boost rural America.
A recent study by USDA indicates that physical infrastructure is rarely sufficient by itself to
promote rural economic development; in order to significantly boost economic growth, it is
necessary to develop the human infrastructure.
internal only
Some rural communities that can afford to do so now pay expensive consultants to advise them
on development; for instance, the Forest Service now gives grants to some communities to hire
such consultants. With proper training, our team members could take the place of these
consultants.
(How often are consultants really hired? How much are they paid? Can they really be replaced
with Rural Development Team participants?)
b. Meeting the rural development goals of USDA
This team will meet many of the top rural development goals of President Clinton, Secretary
Espy, and Undersecretary of Small Community and Rural Development Bob Nash, by
empowering communities to develop local leadership to help themselves. The team could
accomplish much needed community planning activities necessary to assure the economic vitality
and productivity of our rural and mid-sized communities; teach specific skills in community
building, coalition building, and strategic planning; and develop improved federal ties with units
of local government which people encounter in their everyday living.
The team could also focus on meeting Secretary Espy's personal goal of bringing running water
to every rural home in America.
How we define measurable goals for this program in meeting human needs?
c. Working with existing programs
How will this Americorps Team build upon existing programs, including federal programs?
Most states have local Planning and Development Districts which provide for the overall
strategic and project planning efforts for a multi-jurisdictional area. Some of these cover several
counties, and some cover multiple communities within a county or township. They are staffed
by local citizens and all have one thing in common: they are understaffed.
Some of our team participants will be physically located within the offices of local districts, SO
that they work with the districts and do not pose the threat of competition over turf.
We could also work with: RDA Coordinators, SCS RC&D program, the Extension Service,
community-based organizations, and independent agencies such as the Appalachian Regional
Commission or the Tennessee Valley Authority.
To support these team members, there already exists an information data base at the National
Agriculture Library called the Rural Information Center. This information center maintains a
data base of organizations which provide financial support to communities on a national,
regional, and local basis. This data base should be made available to all team members for
assisting the community in developing its own action plan and applying for funding. Participants
should be able to easily add to the database and find information about the activities of their
peers. Access to this information could be through the Rural Information Center's Bulletin
Board System.
We must still answer how this program will specifically interact with the districts, with existing
government programs, with 4-H programs, with existing non-profit and volunteer organizations,
with VISTA, and with the ambitious new rural development initiatives being planned by the
Administration.
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
5
d. Specific types of service to be performed
Some possible job descriptions:
1) Assistant State Rural Development Coordinator - Assists USDA State Rural Development
Coordinators in helping boost Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities. Collects data,
provides outreach, coordinates community resources, helps develop strategic plans, helps
implement the program, analyzes local data for agencies and organizations so that the needs of
the under-served are considered.
2) Small Business Plan Developer and Information Broker - Assists in the assessment and
development of markets for unique local products.
3) Regional Circuit Rider - Works part time in a number of towns in a region. Provides
technical assistance to communities throughout a region in brokering, strategic planning, and
community assessment.
4) Sustainable Agriculture Advisor - Works with farmers in the region to help them develop
model sustainable agriculture farms. Directs 4-H volunteers to perform some of the labor
intensive work, such as fence-building, needed for successful sustainable farming.
5) Watershed Assistance Process Facilitator - Works to coordinate local watershed protection
programs in order to save wetlands, guard drinking-water quality, and prevent flooding. The
team member would explain watershed assistance programs, identify key potential participants
in local watershed steering committees, arrange local organizational meetings. and facilitate the
identification of watershed needs, problems, and concerns.
6) Natural Resource Specialist - Under the direction of a Soil Conservation Service professional
employee, the team member would work in low-income and socially disadvantaged areas to
assistant in the acceleration of watershed protection, work with field engineers in the design and
layout of community projects, and work with the local Resource Conservation &
Development (RC&D) Coordinator for economic development for disadvantaged groups.
7) Landscape Architect - The team member would work with soil conservation districts, RC&D
councils, and area conservationists to coordinate and include landscape architectural planning for
the purpose of maintaining, enhancing, or restoring ecological, social. and economic conditions.
8) Recreation Specialist - The team member would provide technical assistance for all activities
relating to recreation and tourism, including coordinating efforts among all government agencies.
furnish recreation planning and design, and collect and disseminate information on what
alternatives will best fit local needs.
9) Regional 4-H Youth Development Coordinator - The team member would work with county
Extension agents and 4-H coordinators to manage local students involved in youth service.
10) Forest Service and SCS Volunteer Coordinators - The team member would recruit and
supervise adult and youth volunteers from local communities to work on Forest Service and Soil
Conservation Service projects.
11) Forest Service Resource Assistants - This position is outlined in the Public Lands Corps
section of the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993. In this position, Rural
Development team participants could work with District Rangers to identify and manage service
projects in the forest for Public Lands and Environment Team members.
Only
e. Recruiting and selecting applicants
What percentage of participants will be recruited from a national pool of applicants to USDA
or the Corporation?
Participants will be paid $15,000 per year. In addition, they will receive an educational voucher
worth $4,725 at the end of a year of service. Participants may be of any age, but, because of
the special educational requirements of the Rural Development Team, it is unlikely that any
participants will be younger than 21.
Recruitment and selection will be ultimately be accomplished at a centralized, national level, but
applications from pilot locations will be given priority.
We need a comprehensive recruitment strategy. Some ideas: Information and applications
should be sent to post-secondary institutions in or near the pilot project areas. Packets should
be sent to financial aid counselors, placement officers, deans, and student organizations. We
should also target news stories and public service announcements at the student media. We
should also attempt to hold recruitment seminars on key campuses. We should work closely
with the Peace Corps and VISTA to recruit former volunteers in those programs.
f. Matching participants with host communities
Communities should apply for team members through an informal competitive process. Target
communities should be asked what kind of resources would be offered enrollees- - such as office
space, computer equipment, social support, travel, office support -- in exchange for their
services. Extra credit should be given to communities that apply jointly for the services of a
team member or members. Our program should strongly encourage partnerships and teamwork
arrangements between and among adjacent jurisdictions, multi-county consortiums, and/or
regional entities.
We will develop a needs profile for each applicant community and a skills bank and inventory
for the enrollees. The communities and the enrollees would then be matched up by computer.
All assignments for participants must be mutually agreed upon by USDA and by any community,
county, or organization with whom that participant would closely work. Local labor unions
should also agree to any position in which the participant would perform work even somewhat
similar to work performed by local unionized workers.
g. Creating and maintaining program diversity
How do we ensure that this program is managed by a diverse team and includes a diverse set
of participants each and every year?
Diversity must be a key consideration during recruitment, curriculum design, project
development, and training. The first year's program must meet all our diversity requirements
since original problems are nearly impossible to fix.
How will we balance the need to recruit participants from their own communities, some of
which are not very diverse, with the need to have an overall program that is very diverse?
A concentrated recruitment effort must be made at 1890s schools and at all Historically Black
Colleges and Universities. We must also target HACU schools, as well as the many junior and
community colleges throughout the Southwest with substantial American Indian populations.
Special plans should be developed to recruit and place Americans with disabilities
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
7
h. Training the team members
Curriculums for teaching leadership, volunteer development, program management, basic life
skills, and understanding of basic business principles would be necessary.
Participants of this program would hold either Bachelor's degrees or graduate degrees. There
are only two graduate schools in the country now specifically teach rural development (WHERE?
WHAT ARE THEIR CURRICULUMS?); perhaps we could form partnerships with others to
do so. Participants could also be trained in Rural Sociology, Adult and Extension Education,
Agricultural Communications, Marketing, Organizational Development, Applied Social
Research, Urban and Regional Planning, Applied Anthropology, Architecture, Economics,
Business, Geography, Environmental Science, and Computer Science, Public Administration,
Civil Engineering, or Agricultural Science. What other degrees would be useful for participants
to have?
The participants would also need to spend a period of training before being assigned to the local
districts. This training should be planned and held nationally. Who will conduct the training?
How much of the training should be identical for all participants and how much should be unique
to the specific jobs that each participant will be performing?
What type of training will participants receive after they have started the program? They should
receive regional training between 2-4 times a year. This could happen in a one-week seminar
format that included elements of direct education, experience-sharing, and a critical debriefing
session where members input lessons learned, problems overcome, and significant relationships
created into the program's ongoing monitoring and evaluation process.
Will there be a pre-professional training program element of the rural development corps? Can
universities train people for these skills?
i. Supervising the team members
Who will supervise the team member? There will be a need to judge performance. initiate
additional training when needed, and to terminate or initiate re-assignment when necessary.
What role can State RDA Rural Development Coordinators have in supervision?
How will the Team involve participants in leadership positions in implementing and evaluating
the programs?
How much self-government will team members have? How will team members be able to
participate in designing their own programs, mandating their own rules, and helping enforce the
rules?
What types of interactions will team members have with participants in other areas?
j. Effect on the Participants
How will the program promote civic responsibility and produce positive change in participants
through training and participation in meaningful service with opportunities for reflection?
What measurable goals can we set for personal benefits obtained by Team members?
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
8
k. Evaluating the team programs
How will we ensure constant evaluation of the program in order to correct problems
immediately?
Will we contract out for evaluation or ask the Corporation for a waiver so we can do our own
evaluation?
How can we judge whether the program has met the general goals of Americorps and the
specific goals of the Team? The program should be evaluated as to whether it has meet each
of the 20 basic principles in the Section II of this plan.
How many graduates of the program remained in the communities?
I. Sizes and sites of pilot projects
Where should the pilot projects be situated and how large should they be? Should there be a
limit on the population size of communities where there will be pilot projects?
One suggestion has been to limit help to communities of less than 15,000 people and counties
with no town larger than 15,000 residents. In Texas alone, over 1,000 communities meet this
description. While limiting community size would wipe some medium-sized rural towns out of
consideration, it would ensure than each placement would have a sizable impact.
How many participants will be able to be placed in pilot programs? What will be the ultimate
capacity of these programs?
Thirty-two states currently have economic development councils or rural development councils,
so early pilot programs would be easy. Some of the following regions or states would provide
a good mix of pilots:
The Mississippi Delta
The Texas/Mexico Border
Maine
Kansas
The Pacific Northwest
Oklahoma
North Dakota
Southern Illinois
Tennessee
Four Corners (Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico)
Alaska
Appalachia
Oklahoma
California
Pilot programs could also be specifically targeted at rural communities facing short-term job
dislocations because of NAFTA, the Northwest Forest Plan, or military base closings or defense
plant shut-down.
For Corporation for National and Community Service application, we need a description of the
criteria and process through which our grantee programs were selected.
The proposal to the Corporation for National and Community Service will need a description
of the type and number of positions that will receive awards and a description of how approved
national service positions will be apportioned by the applicant.
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
9
For each pilot location, how will we consult with participants and potential participants,
representatives of community served, community-based agencies with demonstrated record of
experience in providing services, and labor organizations?
How will our pilots help priority areas affected adversely by federal policies?
Where are recently closed military installations need potential pilot projects?
m. Growth scenarios
Where, and how quickly, should the program grow? Should we grow by expanding our pilot
projects or by creating new ones?
How will we create a program so popular that it will continue to expand, regardless of the
Administration in power?
n. Management structure
How much of the programs should we run ourselves and how much should we contract out to
existing groups?
The proposal to the Corporation for National and Community Service will need a detailed
description of key members of the management team.
How will we absolutely, positively ensure that we don't create yet another cumbersome
Washington bureaucracy?
How can our programs utilize the latest communications technologies?
How will OWCP (liability) be covered?
How will health care be provided to participants?
What percentage of participants will need child care? How will we provide it to them?
What kind of support will disabled participants need?
0. Staff needed
The Rural Development Teams should have a Director, who reports directly to the head of
USDA national service programs, as well as to the Undersecretary for Rural Economic and
Community Development. The Director of the Rural Development Team should have the
following staff:
Recruitment and Training Coordinator
Internal and External Communications Coordinator
Project Management Coordinator
USDA Inter-Agency Coordinator
Partnership Liaison
Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator
Support Staff
Draft -- For internal Discussion Unly
p. Costs
We roughly estimate that each server in the Rural Development Team will cost roughly $30,000
per year. Thus 400 servers --- 40 in each of ten states or regions --- would cost $10 million.
Each participant will need access to a computer network in order to communicate with each
other via an easy-to-use e-mail, access to the National Agriculture Library's Rural Development
Center Bulletin Board System, and access to INTERNET. Can we get this system donated? If
not, how much will it cost?
Can we get every member of the team an outdated 286 or 386 laptop computer? Can we get
these donated? If so, could they interface with the rest of the system?
q. Outreach needed for stakeholders
We need a strategy for reaching out to the local planning districts, the state districts, and
political and community leaders throughout rural America.
Γ. Funding sources
What non-profit groups, corporations, individuals, and/or foundations might be willing to help
fund this?
S. Partnerships
What kind of partnerships can we form with other federal agencies? Could the Departments of
Commerce, Interior, Labor, and Health and Human Services, each of which has significant rural
development roles, play significant parts in helping fund and manage these programs? How can
we involve the Monday Management Group, a grouping of 17 federal agencies involved in rural
development?
Other possible partnerships include:
National Association of Counties
National Association of Development Organizations
National Association of Conservation Districts
National Governors Organization
National Association of Towns and Townships
State Rural Development Councils
State Economic Development Councils or Agencies
Local Planning and Development entities both private and public
National Association of State Foresters
Department of Defense Agencies, including the Army Corps of Engineers
1890's, land-grant, and historically Hispanic colleges
VISTA
National Rural Health Care association
Center for Rural Affairs
t. Learning from the VISTA model
What can we learn from both previous and ongoing VISTA rural development projects?
Draft For internal Discussion Only
IV. EMPOWERMENT AND ANTI-HUNGER TEAM
In the Anti-Hunger/Empowerment Team, participants would work in urban and rural areas to
help low-income families and individuals move towards self-sufficiency. The main focus of the
team would be fighting domestic hunger. Team members could help individuals apply for food
stamps, Women, Infants, and Children, and the school breakfast program; overhaul their diets;
learn to prevent foodborne illnesses; and obtain the expanded Earned Income Tax Credits,
microenterprise loans, and help from community development banks. In short, this team would
help put into effect the entire empowerment agenda promoted by President Clinton and Secretary
Espy.
How can we tie into the DC initiative between HUD and DC government aimed at
homelessness?
How can we connect with HUD anti-homeless initiative?
a. Social problems to be solved
Hunger has risen in America over the last decade, particularly among children. One in ten
Americans now use food stamps, and many more are eligible.
Recent studies show that 60 percent of those eligible for the food stamps and WIC program do
not participate. Many of those are the elderly, American Indians, and the homeless.
A new study by the Urban Institute found that 12 percent of older Americans sometimes went
hungry or had to choose between paying the rent and eating or between buying their medications
and eating. In poorer areas, the number is considerably higher. (One in two in poor New
York neighborhoods.)
Tb. Meeting the empowerment and anti-hunger goals of USDA
The new goals of Food and Consumer services are:
1) to increase outreach to those eligible, but not participating, in food assistance programs
2) to expand the nutrition component of food assistance programs
3) to promote self-sufficiency through job training, microenterprise development, and the earned
income tax credit.
This team will meet many of the top empowerment and anti-hunger goals of President Clinton,
Secretary Espy, and Assistant Secretary for Food and Consumer Services Ellen Haas. It will
help reduce domestic hunger, facilitate welfare reform, bolster the preventive medicine
objectives of the Administration's health care plan, and empower citizens to work their own way
out of poverty.
This program can also play a role in helping states enlarge their capacity to run WIC programs
and thus move towards President Clinton's goal of eventually making WIC available to all
eligible Americans.
How we define measurable goals for this program in meeting human needs?
c. Working with existing programs
How will this Americorps Team build upon existing programs, including federal programs?
We must still answer how this program will specifically interact with the above existing
programs and the ambitious new anti-hunger initiatives being planned by the Administration.
How will this initiative relate to existing volunteer organizations? To existing 4-H programs?
To existing youth service corps? What kind of structure will the initiative have? How will the
structure interact with state and local governments?
d. Specific types of service to be performed
Participants would provide outreach and access services, build the anti-hunger and anti-poverty
infrastructure, and run innovative new empowerment programs:
1) Provide outreach/access services (educating eligible people about program availability and
helping make benefits accessible)
*
Outreach Workers - Inform target populations about program availability (all programs)
*
Drivers - Help eligible people apply for and receive program benefits (WIC, CACFP, TEFAP,
NPE, CSFP)
*
Delivery Aides - Deliver program benefits to homebound elderly, physically disadvantaged,
and homeless people (TEFAP, CSFP, FDPIR)
*
Bilingual Aides - Provide program information, help with applications, etc. to eligible, non-
English-speaking people (all programs)
*
Service Facilitator - Conduct telephone follow-up with people who don't keep appointments,
direct people to related health and welfare services (WIC, CSFP)
2) Bolster the infrastructure (providing the human capital necessary to deliver the programs
according to congressional intent):
*
Food Handlers - Stock, warehouse, manage, distribute food products (TEFAP, charitable
institutions, NPE, CSFP, school programs, FDPIR)
*
Day Care Workers - Provide child/adult care services to allow eligible people to apply for and
receive program benefits (WIC, TEFAP, FDPIR)
*
Bilingual Case Assistants - Assist case manager with non-English-speaking clients (WIC)
*
Kitchen/Cafeteria Aides - Help with meal preparation and serving; maintaining, monitoring
lunchrooms, and sanitation (school food, CACFP, and commodity programs)
*
Nutrition Assistants - Help with nutrition education, cooking demonstrations (WIC, school
food programs)
*
CACFC Assistant - Improve supervision ratio of provider to participants in child care/meal
preparation functions (CACFP)
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
3) Boost innovative new empowerment programs
*
EITC - Help families obtain the newly expanded Earned Income Tax Credit
*
Microenterprise -Teach people how to start small businesses
* Community Development Banks - Inform families on how to apply for loans from community
development banks
*
Assets Building - Work with families to develop savings plans
* Tenant management - Help public housing tenants to develop organizations for self-
management
*
Homelessness Programs - Help staff homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and food banks; find
innovative ways to include homeless citizens in USDA nutrition programs
*
Apprenticeship - Work with local schools and businesses to develop new school-to-work
transition programs
* Improvements in USDA Feeding Programs - Indian reservations could be encouraged to grow
foods that could be sold to USDA commodity programs and then provided to the reservation
through various USDA feeding programs. This could save taxpayers money while allowing the
reservations to produce healthier and more culturally sensitive food for their residents.
4) Engage in Community Outreach
Team members can go door-to-door in neighborhoods dispensing information on all the above-
listed programs. The information distributed would be holistic, tying together our nutrition,
anti-hunger, welfare reform, and food safety initiatives.
We can also experiment with innovative approaches such as "healthy baby festivals," where we
attract crowds with music and food and then provide nutrition and anti-hunger services.
e. Selecting and matching applicants
What percentage of participants will be recruited from a national pool of applicants to USDA
or the Corporation?
We will pay participants either the federal or state minimum wage, whichever is higher in their
particular locality. In addition, they will receive an educational voucher worth $4, 725 following
their year of service. While Americans of any age will be eligible to participate in this program,
the structure of the educational voucher will make it likely that the bulk of participants will be
between the ages of 17-24.
How will Corps applicants be selected, matched with suitable assignments? Should participants
be picked randomly from among applicants or should they be screened and ultimately hand-
picked? What will be suitable service assignments? What role will USDA, state government,
and local government agencies have in making these assignments?
f. Creating and maintaining program diversity
How we ensure that this program is managed by a diverse team and includes a diverse set of
participants each and every year?
Diversity must be a key consideration during recruitment, curriculum design, project
development, and training. The first year's program must meet all our diversity requirements
since original problems are nearly impossible to fix.
g. Training the team members
How would the participants be trained? For how long? Where? With what kind of curriculum?
Team members will need training on working with diverse teamates. They will need training
about how to interact with low-income citizens in a culturally and socially sensitive manner.
They will need to be taught about the specific government programs they will be helping deliver.
h. Supervising the team members
How would they be supervised? Would they stay on one project throughout the year or
frequently switch projects? What kind of extra supervision will be needed in residential
programs?
Who will supervise the team member? There will be a need to judge performance, initiate
additional training when needed, and even perhaps to terminate or initiate re-assignment when
necessary.
We now assume one crew leader for every crew of ten people. What projects can suitably use
ten people at once. If members of a crew are separated at different sites, how will the crew
leader be able to manage them?
What types of interactions will team members have with participants in other areas?
What kind of uniforms should the crew leaders wear?
How will the Team involve participants in leadership positions in implementing and evaluating
the programs?
How much self-government will team members have? How will team members be able to
participate in designing their own programs, mandating their own rules, and helping enforce the
rules?
i. Effect on The Participants
How will the program promote civic responsibility and produce positive change in participants
through training and participation in meaningful service with opportunities for reflection?
What measurable goals can we set for personal benefits obtained by Team members?
j. Evaluating the team
How will we ensure constant evaluation of the program in order to correct problems
immediately?
Will we contract out for evaluation or ask the Corporation for a waiver so we can do our own
evaluation?
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
15
k. Sizes and sites of pilot projects
Where should the pilot projects be situated and how large should they be?
For the Corporation for National and Community Service application, we need a description of
the criteria and process through which our grantee programs were selected
The proposal to the Corporation for National and Community Service will need a description
of the type and number of positions that will receive awards and a description of how approved
national service positions will be apportioned by the applicant.
For each pilot location how will we consult with participants and potential participants,
representatives of the community served, community-based agencies with demonstrated record
of experience in providing services, and labor organizations?
How will our pilots help priority areas affected adversely by federal policies?
Where are recently closed military installations on which we might be able to house participants?
1. Growth scenarios
Where, and how quickly, should the program grow? Should we grow by expanding our pilot
projects or by creating new ones? How will we create a program that will grow on its own
regardless of the Administration in power?
m. Management structure needed
How much of the programs should we run ourselves and how much should we contract out to
existing groups?
Possible staff for Team:
Director
Recruitment and Training Coordinator
Internal and External Communications Coordinator
Pilot Project Liaison
Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator
Support Staff
The proposal to the Corporation for National and Community Service will need a detailed
description of key members of the management team.
How will we absolutely, positively ensure that we don't create yet another cumbersome
Washington bureaucracy?
How can our program utilize the latest communications technologies?
How will OWCP (liability) be covered?
n. Staff needed
How many USDA employees will be needed to manage the program? Will outside consultants
also be required?
0. Costs
If we roughly estimate that each server in the Empowerment and Anti-Hungers Corps will cost
$15,000 per year, then 1,000 participants would cost $15 million. That would fund twenty sites,
half urban and half rural, with 50 participants in each site.
How will provide health care to participants?
What percentage of participants will need child care? How will we provide it to them?
What kind of support will disabled participants need?
p. Outreach needed for stakeholders
We will need strong support from state welfare agencies and from the current participants in
USDA nutrition programs.
q. Funding sources
What section of the National Service Act could potentially fund this program?
What non-profit groups, corporations, individuals, and/or foundations might be willing to help
fund this?
Γ. Partnerships
What kind of partnerships can we form with other federal agencies? Could we run projects at
public housing units in tandem with HUD? Could we run health projects in tandem with HHS?
Could we run community development projects in tandem with Commerce? Could we run
weatherization projects in tandem with the Department of Energy? Could we run nutrition
education programs in tandem with the Department of Education?
How can we utilize the 60,000 doctors in the Army Reserve and National Guard?
We must definitely work with state social service agencies. Other potential partners include:
Association of WIC Providers Food
Research Action Center Children's Defense Fund
Safe Food Coalition
Urban League
World Hunger Year
S. Engaging senior citizens
How can we engage senior citizens --- who generally underutilize food stamps -- involved in
helping other senior citizens obtain nutrition help? How can this program work with the existing
Retired Senior Volunteer Program?
t. Lessons from EFNEP
What lessons can we learn from the EFNEP nutrition program now run by the Extension
Service?
V. PUBLIC LANDS AND ENVIRONMENT TEAM
V. PUBLIC LANDS AND ENVIRONMENT TEAM
The Public Lands and Environment Team would have both urban and rural components.
Participants could renovate urban and rural parks, plant trees, perform conservation work in
national forests, teach environmental education, promote urban farming, test water quality, boost
sustainable agriculture, clean-up rivers and lakes, help families weatherize their homes, instruct
the public on how to dispose of household chemicals, and restore wetlands.
The urban component would be mostly non-residential and members would work on conservation
projects on public and private lands in cities of various sizes. The rural component would be
both residential and non-residential and would perform conservation-related work projects on
private and public lands in rural America.
The urban and rural programs could be linked, with teams members having the option of
transferring between the rural and urban settings. For example, a team member could work in
a rural environment for ten months and then in an urban environment for another two months.
This wide scope of projects will be possible because the new National Service Trust Act gives
all federal agencies including all USDA agencies broad authority to manage community
service projects on private and public lands in both urban and rural areas.
Significant portions of these programs will perform work on federal, state, and municipal lands,
thus fulfilling the specifications of the Public Lands Corps, which Congress -- with the full
support of the Clinton Administration has recently required the Departments of Agriculture
and Interior to run.
a. Social problems to be solved
There are currently an estimated 8 million tree-planting sites in communities across America
with the current replacement rate being one tree planted for every four removed. Thousands of
water quality projects nationwide are awaiting manpower in our communities and our rural
areas, as are wetlands restoration, erosion control, stream improvement, roadbank stabilization.
and wildlife habitat projects. Urban farming and sustainable agriculture would also have
important places in this program.
Urban: More than 80 percent of the American population now live in cities of varying size.
Currently, the Forest Service, with 620 Ranger Districts across the country, and the Soil
Conservation Service, with more than 2,000 offices nationwide, have existing partnerships and
delivery systems in many cities.
The program would take the teams to where the people are, operating in any urban community
with an existing network of Forest Service, Soil Conservation Service, or Extension Service
programs in partnerships with local governments or nonprofit organizations.
This non-residential program would focus on urban conservation projects in the areas of water
quality, waste disposal, erosion control, running environmental program in schools, roadbank
and streambank stabilization, urban gardening, the creation of urban buffers, rehabilitation and
maintenance of deteriorating community infrastructure, urban forestry, and the recycling and
reuse of resources. Team members would live in the community or already be a community
member.
Rural: Team members would live in a residential setting in a rural area. The program would
provide full-time logistical support for team members. As in the urban program. the team
members would be expected to pay for living expenses from their wages.
Work projects could be in erosion control, fire prevention, fire suppression, building or
improving recreation areas, restoration of infrastructure such as buildings and bridges, watershed
protection, and other similar conservation projects. The land base of the National Forests would
be available for projects as well as the privately held land in partnerships with the Soil
Conservation Service.
Team members could also focus on teaching sustainable agriculture, helping small farmers stay
on the land, building rural housing, and engaging in rural development projects. Environmental
Team members could also work under the direction of older participants in the USDA Rural
Development Corps.
The team would provide much needed peoplepower for nationwide conservation projects. The
work of the team could reduce the backlog of conservation-related work across the country.
With the shift from a rural population to an urban one, Americans are losing the ability to learn
firsthand about natural resources. We currently have a relatively uneducated and uninformed
citizenry with regard to natural resources and conservation issues. The team would provide an
opportunity to learn about America's natural resources, their uses, and the need to protect them.
The end result would be a citizenry better informed on national conservation issues.
b. Meeting the public lands and environment goals of USDA
The team will meet many of the top public lands and environmental goals of President Clinton,
Vice President Gore, Secretary Espy, and Assistant Secretary for Natural Resources and the
Environment Jim Lyons.
The Team can be used, as part of the Administration's global warming initiative, to help
dramatically increase the number of trees planted throughout America.
The Team can also begin to reduce the massive backlog of repair and improvement projects
needed for National Forest and other public lands. Youth service corps are perhaps the single
most cost-effective providers of such project work; the Forest Service estimates that Youth
Conservation Corps (YCC) participants in 1992 performed $1.32 worth of work for each dollar
spent on the YCC program by the American taxpayer. With total spending of only $2.508
million in 1992, YCC participants provided a $3.339 million worth of work. broken down into
the following areas:
Recreation Management$1,789,447
Fish and Wildlife Management $401,093
Timber Management $317,723
Facility Construction and Maintenance $218,863
Water and Soil $197,706
Range and Forage Management $139,592
Administration $138,665
Protection $42,300
Research $15,120
All Other $79,344
How we define measurable goals for this program in meeting environmental needs?
Draft -- For Internal Discussion Only
19
c. Working with existing programs
How will this AmeriCorps Team build upon existing programs, including federal program?
How will this initiative relate to existing volunteer organizations? To existing 4-H programs?
To existing youth service corps?
What kind of structure will the initiative have? How will the structure interact with state and
local governments?
We still need to answer how this program will specifically interact with existing programs and
the ambitious new environmental initiatives being planned by the Administration.
How will it interact with the existing Soil Conservation Service Earth Team?
How will our program affect current Youth Conservation Corps programs managed by USDA
and the Department of Interior? Will any staff or funds be transferred from the
existing program? YCC coordinators believe strongly that the existing program should basically
be left intact, and that it should be used as a "farm team" for 15-17 year-olds who may later
enter year-round programs.
We need to fully research past programs such as CCC and YAC, as well as the current YCC,
to learn any lessons that might be useful for planning our program.
How will this program interact with the National Civilian Community Corps, run in a quasi-
military fashion, that was set up originally by the Boren bill?
d. Specific types of service to be performed
Here are just a few, non-representative, samples of work projects team members can perform:
1. National forests and parks conservation
Because all team members will be at least 18 years old, all of them will be able to use
equipment and machinery that will allow them to perform the most valuable work needed on
public lands.
One type of obvious work that team members can perform is trail maintenance. We should reach
out to some of following groups that already perform similar work:
- Appalachian Trail Conference-David Startzell, 304-535-6331
- Appalachian Mountain Club-Kelly Short, 617-523-0636
- American Hiking Society-Susan Henley, 703-385-3252
- Student Conservation Association
Team members can also engage in some of the following types of work, which are already
performed by YCC participants: recreation management, fish and wildlife management, timber
management, facility construction and maintenance, water and soil work, range and forage
management, administration, protection, and research. More specifically, they can build
barricades around restoration areas, replace old fire pits with new fire grates/stoves, maintain
anti-bear food storage bins, build foot bridges, build campsites, make facilities wheelchair
accessible, and construct leach fields for collecting graywater.
According to a December 1992 report issued by the Forest service, 1,349 service slots could be
created in our forests immediately to begin addressing the vast work backlog. 78,312 slots could
be created within four years.
The attached chart outlines the major types of work that the Forest Service believes that youth
servers can perform:
YOUTH SERVICE CAPABILITY ON NATIONAL FORESTS
COST ($MILLIONS) AND JOBS POTENTIAL (Employment in
IMMEDIATE - First Year
2ND THRU 4TH
YEARS
NATURAL RESOURCE
LOW
RANGE
HIGH
RANGE
CONSERVATION ACTIVITIES
COSTS
JOBS
COSTS
JOBS
COSTS
JOBS
Watershed Improvements
13.4
276
32.8
674
76.5
1,560
Range Improvements
7.2
181
17.5
438
22.2
458
Range Vegetative
2.9
56
4.8
96
146.4
2,928
Wildlife Habitat Improvement
20.6
514
50.1
1,253
97.5
2,433
Fish Habitat Improvement
14.4
289
34.9
698
92.1
1,846
T&E Species Habitat
4.3
108
27.0
675
50.5
1,268
Timber Stand Improvement
40.7
1,234
81.3
2,464
243.9
7,392
Insect and Disease Control
6.0
120
10.0
200
30.0
600
Minerals (Inactive Mine
--
--
4.5
90
6.0
120
Fuels management
1.3
40
132.0
4,000
396
12,000
Facilities
Administrative Buildings
21.4
325
39.6
600
150.0
2,250
Research Buildings
15.6
237
29.3
443
82.0
1,200
Roads and Bridges
48.3
805
80.8
1,347
300.0
5,000
Dams
3.0
50
5.0
80
10.0
170
Recreation
Facilities Backlog
33.1
663
60.7
1,214
200.0
4,000
Trail Backlog
18.1
548
30.0
909
140.0
5,100
Site Routine O&M
84.0
2,230
140.0
3,720
364.0
9,660
Land Line: Boundary Survey
3.5
100
8.5
250
29.9
885
Research Inventory Plots
4.3
145
10.0
333
30.0
999
Post Graduate Training
9.0
300
15.0
500
45.0
1,500
Urban & Community Tree
50.0
2,500
100.0
5,000
300.0
15,000
Reforestation and TSI on Non
Forest Land
20.0
606
20.0
606
60.0
1,818
Timber Bridges
1.2
20
1.2
20
7.5
125
TOTALS
$422.3
11,349
$935.0
25,610
$2879.
78,312
Note: Employment estimated based on ratios of jobs per thousand dollars in costs. These ratios
vary from $20,000 per labor intensive job to over $60,000 per heavy construction job. They
include materials, supervision and program support.
A program initiated in 1993 could generate from 11,000 to 25,000 jobs at a cost of $935
million. Thousands of backlogged and unfunded projects would be completed.
Watershed Improvements - Projects to protect wetlands, reestablish vegetative cover in
riparian zones, shape gullied land, revegetate denuded areas and to eliminate acid and other
pollutant drainage from abandoned mines and oil and gas wells -- all in order to improve
watershed conditions, fisheries and wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities.
Range Improvements - Range improvements consist of fencing and water development
structures, and revegetation of denuded areas to improve forage conditions, wildlife and fish
habitat, and soil and water quality.
Range Vegetation Management - Encompasses all activities associated with the management
of NFS rangelands. Includes the description of baseline resource information for rangeland
ecosystems, resource management planning, monitoring, administration of permitted livestock
grazing, coordination of other land uses, and tracking compliance with forest plan and other
management objectives. This is an interdisciplinary effort requiring significant coordination
and commitment of resources by affected resource areas, user groups, and interested
members of the public.
Wildlife Habitat Improvement - Construction and maintenance of structures and
enhancement of habitat. Improvement activities include prescribed burning, opening
construction and rehabilitation, wildlife stand improvement, seeding and planting, and water
hole construction.
Fish Habitat Improvement - Reservoir rejuvenation and enhancement, stream bank
stabilization, construction of fish ponds and spawning riffles, access trails for the disabled.
and fish viewing stations.
Threatened, Endangered, and Sensitive Species Habitat Improvement - Protection and
enhancement of required habitats, including breeding and nesting sites, feeding areas and
escape cover, protection from adverse developments and disturbing human activities.
Timber Stand Improvement - Treatment of timber stands to remove excess and competing
vegetation to improve species composition, quality, growth rates, vigor and resistance to
attacks from insects and diseases. Treatments are generally labor intensive as they favor the
enhancement of selected trees.
Insect And Disease Control - The Forest Service provides protection and control services
from insects and diseases on both Federal and non-Federal lands. Work includes suppression
of pests such as the gypsy moth, southern and mountain pine beatles, and the tussock moth.
Minerals (Inactive Mine Rehab) - Work includes stabilization of mine waste dumps and
spoil piles, and the elimination of acid and other pollutants from abandoned and inactive
mines or oil and gas wells.
Fuels Management - Treating fuels through prescribed burning and other methods to reduce
fire hazard and the severity of fires that do occur. This also greatly enhances the vigor and
healthiness of treated areas.
Administrative Facilities - Pertains to office buildings, warehouses, and living quarters that
are primarily needed to administer the National Forests, rather than serve the public.
Includes repair and maintenance in the short term and new construction for long term
projects.
Research Facilities - Repair, maintenance, upgrade, and improvements to laboratories and
support buildings. Includes providing access for disabled persons, gender separation of
restrooms and sleeping facilities, and correcting health and safety deficiencies. Longterm
activities include new construction where required.
Roads and Bridges - Addresses deferred maintenance of transportation infrastructure and
new construction essential for public recreation, access for the disabled, fire control and
other activities. This work will reduce negative environmental impacts of roads and bridges
and increase the safety and enjoyment of persons accessing and traveling on the National
Forests.
Dams - Work includes maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation to meet current dam safety
requirements. Dam work will safeguard the public and reduce future costs of these facilities.
Recreation Facility Backlog - Rehabilitation, repair, and reconstruction of recreation
facilities and sites to restore them to the established standard. Includes work to meet current
legal, safety, or sanitation standards, restoration of soil and vegetation, and elimination of
facilities and restoration of site.
Trail Backlog - Maintenance and reconstruction to restore trails to assigned standards. This
is one-time restoration and repair to correct maintenance that has been deferred in the past.
Include realignment of segments, upgrading to accommodate different uses, and obliteration
of unneeded trails.
Recreation Operations and Maintenance - This activity includes the day-to-day care and
operation of developed recreation sites cleaning, painting, routine maintenance, and other
operational tasks are included. Increased attention over current budget levels is needed to
prevent deterioration of facilities and to avoid potential health and safety problems.
Land Line: Boundary Survey & Marking - Only 38% of the 272,409 miles of Forest
Service property have been properly established. This proposal would accurately locate the
legal boundaries between National Forest and private land ownership. Work would enhance
private sector employment of survey and engineering firms.
Establishment and Remeasurement of Forest Inventory Plots - Establish and extend
permanent field plot grid in the Western United States so that both commodity and
noncommodity value statistics would become available on all forest land regardless of
ownership and management status. These statistics are necessary in carrying out needed
long- term research studies and for making decisions on the sustainability of the forest
ecosystems and a basis for rational resource decision-making.
Reforestation and Timber Stand Improvement on Nonindustrial Private Lands: To
demonstrate U.S. commitment to world leadership in forestry, ensure an adequate timber
supply, to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide, and to provide employment in rural areas.
Includes tree planting and methods to enhance natural regeneration of forest stands following
timber harvest, and cultural activities to improve species composition, spacing, growth and
vigor of nonindustrial private forests.
Timber Bridges - Installation of new modern timber bridges and the replacement of existing
structurally deficient and functionally obsolete bridges with local labor to improve
transportation infrastructure in rural areas. Almost one-half (215,398) of rural bridges
greater than 20 feet in length in rural America are deficient.
2. Water quality assessments
Team members can conduct samplings and provide technical help with delivery systems.
They can also work on sanitation and sewerage (wastewater treatment) system improvement.
We should reach out to the following groups that already perform similar work:
- Clean Water Action-Paul Schwartz, 202-457-1286, ext. 130
- Friends of the Earth-Velma Smith, 202-544-2600, ext. 294
3. Education
Team members --- going door-to-door, working in schools and speaking at civic clubs ---
could teach a wide variety of topics: safe handling of food, how to make your household
more eco-friendly, testing for radon (Greenpeace has information programs on the latter
two); recycling and waste reduction; and reducing nonpoint-source pollution.
Some examples:
The Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) offers a "waste away" program each year
to teach elementary students about the challenges of the solid waste problem. VINS provides
program curriculum and tries to engage the entire community by culminating program with
community-wide event - a "trash festival."
VINS also has an excellent education program called "ELF" -- Environmental Learning for
the Future" geared for elementary students. VINS trains volunteers to go into the classrooms
monthly for an afternoon filled with role playing, hands-on projects, and field trips. The
complete curriculum is taught over the course of five years and is enthusiastically supported
by the community. (802) 457-2779.
American Forest Foundation's Project Learning Tree is an award winning K-12 curriculum
and training program. Contact: Kathy McGlaufin, (202) 463-2455.
4. Energy Conservation- --- Team members could work in crews to provide the physical
assistance in weatherizing homes and generally making them more energy efficient.
Participants could work in public housing and low-income areas in both urban and rural
communities. Team members would need basic training in carpentry, electrical or plumbing
skills. We would recruit professional carpenters, electricians, and plumbers to help with
basic training or to serve as team leaders.
Team members could also provide practical advice about basic ways to make homes more
energy efficient. The participants could also develop educational material on energy
conservation, such as "how to save dollars and help the planet" or a "guide to existing cost-
saving programs provided by utility companies," etc.
One somewhat similar example is Christmas in April (CIA), a national volunteer program
established by University of Pennsylvania students in 1980s to address basic housing needs of
low-income communities in urban areas. With the help of church and community groups,
CIA identifies families that have the greatest need for assistance in home maintenance-
weatherization, painting, carpentry, plumbing, cleaning - and organizes groups of volunteers
to spend a full day doing the work. Materials are donated by corporate sponsors.
Christmas in April USA: 202-326-8268
Another example is EPA's Green Lights program.
5. River and Streams Protection
We could possibly run river protection teams in conjunction with the Department of Interior
and the Environmental Protection Agency.
In a Hudson River Team, USDA participants could work with farmers in the river's
watershed to reduce the run-off of agricultural pesticides.
Team members could clean up and restore rivers and lakes. We should consult the following
groups who already perform similar work:
- Trout Unlimited- stream restoration project including clean-up, habitat mapping,
water quality monitoring. Contact: Neil Emerald, 703-281-1100
- Izaak Walton League- Save our Stream program. Stream and river clean up and
quality monitoring.
6. Tree planting
As part of the Clinton Administration's initiative to combat global warming, the
Public Lands and Environmental team could play a lead role in tremendously expanding the
number of trees planted annually in America. Plantings could take place in urban and rural
areas on both public and private lands.
We should consult with the following groups already engaged in similar work:
- National Arbor Day Foundation- sponsors numerous tree planting programs. 402-
474-5655.
- American Forests' Global Relief Program, 202-667-3300.
- Trust for Public Land- Jenny Cross, 714-557-2575. Urban Forestry Program.
- Yale School of Forestry's Urban Resources Initiative. Lee Shemis, 203-432-5100
- Tree People, urban planting program in Los Angeles
7. Urban Conservation Projects
Team members can repair facilities in public parks, paint murals, fix playgrounds and other
facilities at public schools, run recycling programs, and run urban farming programs in
which low-income individuals grow their own food.
General Note: Community cleanup, restoration, and urban renewal activities should have an
educational and outreach component. The long-term success of an effort is dependent on the
personal investment of the participants. Groups of volunteers (led by an Americorps
volunteer) who do the cleanup should include people who use the area, who are touched by
the changes, who "benefit" from the restoration effort. This suggestion relates to the general
challenge of attracting volunteers from diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.
8. Urban Farming Projects
Team members could help low-income urban residents to grow their own food. We could
possibly run such a program at public housing complexes in tandem with the Department of
Housing and Urban Renewal. We could possibly run a city-wide program in Chicago in
tandem with the Chicago high school of agriculture.
9. Wetlands Restoration
The Department of Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency has expressed interest
in potentially running a joint program to help restore the Everglades.
10. Disaster relief and Recovery - Existing youth corps have played a vital role in the
recovery of the flooded Midwest. For most disasters, team members could provide physical
labor so critical to short-team clean-up, as well as human services needed for long-term
recovery. They could also assist in some of the long-term infrastructure repair such as levee
re-building.
11. Sustainable Agriculture - Team members could work under the direction of Extension
agents or other sustainable agriculture experts to help local farmers complete some of the
labor intensive work -- such as constructing fences -- that is needed to implement a
sustainable agriculture plan.
e. Selecting and matching applicants
What percentage of participants will be recruited from a national pool of applicants to USDA
or the Corporation? Can some participants meet the voucher requirement by working four
summers in a row? Would such an approach hinder our ability to build diverse crews?
Could possibly a small percentage of people in each program be on the four-year plan?
We will pay participants either the federal or state minimum wage, whichever is higher in
their particular locality. In addition, they will receive an educational voucher worth $4,725
following a year of service. Team members will be between the ages of 18 and 25.
How will team applicants be selected and matched? Should participants be selected randomly
or should they be screened and hand-picked?
What will be suitable service assignments? What role will the program have in making these
assignments?
Will participants be engaged in the same type of work for the entire year or will they rotate
between different types of projects?
f. Creating and maintaining program diversity
Diversity must be a key consideration during recruitment, curriculum design, project
development, and training. The first year's program must meet all our diversity requirements
since original problems are nearly impossible to fix.
How do we ensure that this program is managed by a diverse team and includes a diverse set
of participants each and every year?
How can we engage participants in complex and challenging work without requiring
educational levels that would stratify the participants and reduce participants? Simply put,
how can we guarantee that less well educated participants don't spend all their time with
shovels while better educated participants spend all their time with test tubes?
g. Training the team members
How would the participants be trained? For how long? Where? With what kind of
curriculum?
Team members will need training about the general environment in which they will be
working, especially in issues relating to safety. They will need training in use of the tools
they will be using. They will need general training on often-used skills and specific training
before each new project.
h. Supervising the team members
Who will supervise the team member? There will be a need to judge performance, initiate
additional training when needed, and even perhaps to terminate or initiate re-assignment
when necessary. How would they be supervised? Would they stay on one project throughout
the year or frequently switch projects? What kind of extra supervision will be needed in
residential programs?
We now assume one crew leader for every crew of about ten participants.
What kinds of uniform will team members be required to wear?
What kinds of tools, equipment, and supplies will the participants need and how will our
programs obtain them?
How will the Team involve participants in leadership positions in implementing and
evaluating the programs?
How much self-government will team members have? How will team members be able to
participate in designing their own programs, mandating their own rules, and helping enforce
the rules?
What types of interactions will team members have with participants in other areas?
i. Effect on The Participants
How will the program promote civic responsibility and produce positive change in
participants through training and participation in meaningful service with opportunities for
reflection?
What measurable goals can we set for personal benefits obtained by Team members?
This program can help future farmers attend college. Farmers who graduated college earn an
average of $68,652 in off-farm income, compared to $29,334 for those who were only high
school educated.
j. Evaluating the Team
How will we ensure constant evaluation of the program in order to correct problems
immediately?
Will we contract out for evaluation or ask the Corporation for a waiver so we can do our
own evaluation?
k. Sizes and sites of pilot projects
The Forest Service and youth corps from Oregon and Washington have just received a major
grant from the Commission on National and Community Service to run a national service
training academy. This project will be based on a highly successful summer program. This
program provides us with a very useful model, as do existing YCC programs.
What other facilities now exist in usable shape or near usable shape in the national forests
that have been leftover from the YCC, the YAC, or even the original CCC?
We also want to ensure that we run pilot projects in a wide variety of different ecosystems,
such as old growth forests, cities, coastal areas, new growth forests, suburbs, wetlands,
tundra, and grasslands.
For the Corporation for National Service Proposal, we need a description of the criteria and
process through which our grantee programs were selected.
The proposal to the Corporation for National and Community Service will need a description
of the type and number of positions that will receive awards and a description of how
approved national service positions will be apportioned by the applicant.
For each pilot location, how will we consult with participants and potential participants,
representatives of the communities served, community-based agencies with demonstrated
record of experience in providing services, and local labor organizations?
How will our pilots help priority areas affected adversely by federal policies?
Where are recently closed military installations that we might be able to use to house
participants?
1. Growth scenarios
Where, and how quickly, should the program grow? Should we grow by expanding our pilot
projects or by creating new ones?
How will we create a program so effective and so popular that will grow on its own
regardless of the Administration in power?
m. Management structure needed
How much of the programs should we run ourselves and how much should we contract out
entirely or partially to existing groups?
The proposal to the Corporation for National and Community Service will need a detailed
description of key members of the management team.
How will we absolutely, positively ensure that we don't create yet another cumbersome
Washington bureaucracy?
We need to devise a legal system in which funds can be delivered directly to national service
programs run by USDA agencies without going through a bureaucracy to charge
administrative overhead. For example, if certain Forest Service employees are running a
pilot project, we need for the funds to go from the USDA Office of National Service directly
to the pilot program, without going through either the national, regional, or local offices of
the Forest Service. Can the USDA Office of National Service issue payment vouchers
directly?
We need to investigate how we can produce payroll checks for less than the $5-per-check fee
now charged by the National Finance Center.
We need to produce one single enrollment form, including a code of conduct and a
performance contract, instead of the seven-to-twelve different forms now required for entry
into the YCC.
How can our program utilize the latest communications technologies?
How will OWCP (liability) be covered?
n. Staff needed
How many USDA employees will be needed to manage the program? Will outside
consultants also be required?
Possible staff for Team:
Director
Recruitment and Training Coordinator
Internal and External Communications Coordinator
Pilot Project Liaison
Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator
Support Staff
0. Costs
If most servers in the Environmental Corps are residential, then our estimated cost is about
$20,000 per server. Thus a pilot program with 1,000 servers would cost $20 million. This
would allow us five rural sites of 100 each, and ten urban or suburban sites of 250.
How will health care be provided to participants?
What percentage of participants will need child care? How will we provide it to them?
What kind of support will disabled participants need?
p. Outreach needed for stakeholders
We need to gain support from existing youth service corps, from environmental and
conservation groups, from the National Forest Foundation, from labor unions, and from
farming and commodity groups.
q. Funding sources
The National and Community Trust Acts mandates that 25% of all funds used to contract out
work to non-federal conservation corps be obtained from non-federal sources.
What states, municipalities, non-profit groups, corporations, individuals, and/or foundations
might be willing to help fund this?
What types of project might the team be able to complete on a fee-for-service basis?
Γ. Partnerships
What kind of partnerships can we form with other federal agencies? How would we run the
Public Lands Corps in partnership with the Department of Interior? How can we revise our
Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Interior that we already have to
jointly run the YCC?
Could we run urban farming projects at public housing units in tandem with HUD? Could
we run weatherization projects in tandem with the Department of Energy? Could we run
environmental education programs in tandem with the Environmental Protection Agency or
the Department of Education? Could we run a program in tandem with the Department of
Transportation in which team members would perform conservation and planting projects on
highway right-of-ways?
Could the team work with the Army Corps of Engineers to repair levees?
We have already discussed with the Department of Interior the idea of jointly running a
"Greater Everglades Recovery Team" that would partner up farmers, National Park Service
employees, and youth volunteers in replacing seagrass and taking other steps to save the
fragile ecosystem of the Everglades.
Possible partnerships include:
National Association of Conservation Districts
Audubon Society
Land Grant universities
National Association of State Foresters
National Forest Foundation
National Parks Foundation
National Trust for Historic Preservation
National Tree Trust
Nature Conservancy
National League of Cities
p. Residential and non-residential
Most of the rural programs will be residential and most of the urban programs will be non-
residential. How many residential facilities does the Forest Service now have? What is their
capacity and how much money and time would it take to renovate them for year-round use.
Our partnership programs will be hampered by the lack of residential facilities owned by the
Department of Interior. How can we work with the Department of Defense to use their
residential facilities?
We will try to develop an exchange program so that young people in each type of program
can experience at least a few weeks of the other. Where will rural residents be housed when
visiting urban areas? Can we get local residents to put them up in their homes, as if they
were exchange students from Europe? How will we transport participants between urban and
rural areas?
What kinds of work will have to be performed and what kind of funds will have to be spent
ensure adequate residential facilities for participants in rural areas?
VI. HOW AMERICORPS/USDA PROGRAMS WILL INTERACT
We will attempt to place as many of these programs as possible in newly created
Empowerment Zones and Empowerment Communities. In one rural Empowerment
Community, we might want to test placing a Empowerment and Anti-Hunger Team program.
a Public Lands and Environment Team, AND a Rural Development Team program. How
will each of our three programs interact with each other? In one urban community, we
might want to test placing a Empowerment and Anti-Hunger Team program AND a Public
Lands and Environment Team. We should test how programs in the same area can trade
staff, cross-train participants, and maybe even exchange participants in order to maximize
benefits to the community.
In some rural areas, we might want to place both a Rural Development Team and a Public
Lands and Environment Team; the Rural Development Team could actually plan projects for
the Public Lands and Environment Team. For instance, after studying a local rural
economy, members of a Rural Development Team might determine that the best way to help
the area is to upgrade recreation facilities at a nearby National Forest; they would then
design that upgrade and then direct local members of the Public Lands and Environment
Team to actually perform the construction work.
How will we build a national identity for disparate pilot programs? How will we tie the
identity of the USDA programs to the larger national initiative? Will these programs have
joint training either before or during the period of service?Will we have a joint training
session for all three corps? If so, where will it be held and who will manage it? We need to
build this cost into the budget. Can they have caravans from around the country while
performing service?
We need clear guidelines from our Office of General Counsel on how we can raise money.
Can we raise it directly? Can we funnel it through the Corporation of National Service?
Can we funnel it through the National Forest Foundation? How can we avoid even the
appearance of impropriety in raising money from interests that might be regulated or affected
by the Department of Agriculture?
Can various funders sponsor all or part of pilot projects?
Can we get an exemption from the Combined Federal Campaign monopoly in raising money
from federal employees?
Can we hold a national employees serve-a-thon in which USDA employees perform a day of
service and get sponsored to do so by friends? If each of our 114,000 employees raises or
personally donates an average of $10, we will have raised over $1 million.
Could we institute an employee check-off program in which our employees can donate
weekly or yearly to our national service programs? Could we find a way to match those
contributions with private contributions?
VIII. YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
We need to study a wide variety of ways to boost the upward mobility of youth who
participate in our programs.
We need to discuss our service-learning, national service transcripts, guidance counselor
centers, peer discussion groups and self-management, to help in obtaining other forms of
federal student aid, and help in job placement.
Can private money that we raise be used to supplement the national service voucher be given
to participants?
IX. DIVERSITY
How can we make diversity by race, age, religion, class, gender, and orientation -- a
reality in both our management team and our participants?
Diversity must be a key consideration during recruitment, curriculum design, project
development, and training.
How can we use a national recruitment pool to boost diversity?
How can we incorporate physically disabled participants and program managers?
X. INTERACTING WITH ENTERPRISE ZONES AND COMMUNITIES
As much as possible, our prograsm will interact with empowerment zones and enterprise
communities.
Empowerment zones:
Each Empowerment Zone gets two HHS Tittle XX grants totalling $40 million. Each
Enterprise Community gets one HHS Tittle XX grant of up to $3 million.