The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.
By Kori Bertun January 31, 2019
AmeriCorps, a program originally conceived by President Kennedy as a domestic Peace Corps, is a federally funded program that provides paid service opportunities in nonprofits across the country. A 2013 report by the Aspen Institute and Voices for National Service estimates the total social benefit of service programs to be $3.95 billion per year, for a nearly quadruple return on investment. As an AmeriCorps alumna myself, I have always wanted to understand how we can better promote a culture of national service to both the public and elected officials. To better understand how, I reached out to seven different professionals who work for AmeriCorps member organizations. Here is what they had to say about the challenges of, and the future for, national service.
Service on the Chopping Block
As recently as the last congressional session, the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) has consistently been at risk for total elimination. This has created an extremely unstable funding environment for service programs. However, when interviewees were asked if they felt support for AmeriCorps would increase, decrease or maintain at current levels, over half believed support would actually increase. One interviewee even said, “Congressional support is now at an all-time high.” All interviewees felt that national service’s bipartisan appeal was a major benefit to the cause, and would bode well for continued funding.
Recruitment Matters
Recruiting the right people into volunteer service, particularly with an average living allowance of about $13,000 per year, is a difficult endeavor. Young people in particular are attracted to the idea of a gap year before college. However they do not always understand the larger civic ideals behind AmeriCorps programs, and the low stipends that are provided. To address this issue, one interviewee expressed her desire for service to become a cultural standard. She imagined, “Instead of asking someone you meet where they went to college, you would ask where they did their year of service.”
Service as a Choice, not a Draft
Many other countries make national service mandatory, and some have argued that the same should be done in the United States. I asked all interviewees whether they thought national service, both civilian and military, should be required. With the exception of one individual, all agreed that giving a year of service should be an individual choice. Many agreed that young people need avenues to give back to their country, but thought that making it mandatory was not in line with the “American way.” Instead of forcing citizens to serve their country, we should instead build a culture where service is respected and valued.
Career Pathways
AmeriCorps programs, particularly those targeted towards young adults and recent graduates, give corps members professional experience and transferrable skills that would otherwise be difficult to obtain in a competitive job market. Recent research from CNCS found that for recent college graduates, AmeriCorps experience on a resume had a positive and significant effect on the likelihood of getting an interview offer. This supports the idea that national service leads to better employment outcomes for participants. All interviewees felt this was a tangible benefit of national service, and often implemented specific programming around professional development in their service year programs.
AmeriCorps could also function as a pipeline of talent into the public sector itself. Many of the interviewees noted that they often hired corps members into full-time roles at their organizations. This is confirmed via my own experience; most individuals in my service cohort went on to be teachers and nonprofit professionals. As government agencies and nonprofits look to recruit a new generation of talent, they should consider the more than 1 million AmeriCorps alumni who have already committed to bettering the country.
Service Can Bring Us Together
Proponents of mandatory national service argue that it provides a medium where people from all backgrounds, incomes, races, ethnicities and education levels can come together in a way that does not exist elsewhere in our highly segregated society. In interviews, most of the nonprofit professionals agreed that this was an outcome, if not necessarily an explicit goal, of non-mandatory service years. As one interviewee stated, “[Service] opens the worldview of members…they learn not only from themselves, but from each other.”
Why AmeriCorps?
As one interviewee astutely noted, the idea of national service does not typically garner outright opposition. However, it will take concerted effort to ensure that service remains on the table for funding and prioritization. With the American populace volunteering at an all-time high rate, the public sector has a unique opportunity to capture this energy by promoting new and established service opportunities for their constituents. Programs such as City Year, Public Allies and Foster Grandparents provide much needed services to at-risk populations. These programs also give corps members a unique opportunity to engage with diverse communities while building career skills. Such programs have also been proven through quantitative analysis to be a high-return investment for taxpayer dollars. AmeriCorps should be here to stay!
Author: Kori Bertun is a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Chicago studying Public Administration. She has worked in the nonprofit sector for six years, and is passionate about national service, volunteerism, and philanthropy. She can be reached at [email protected]
Why AmeriCorps?
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.
By Kori Bertun
January 31, 2019
AmeriCorps, a program originally conceived by President Kennedy as a domestic Peace Corps, is a federally funded program that provides paid service opportunities in nonprofits across the country. A 2013 report by the Aspen Institute and Voices for National Service estimates the total social benefit of service programs to be $3.95 billion per year, for a nearly quadruple return on investment. As an AmeriCorps alumna myself, I have always wanted to understand how we can better promote a culture of national service to both the public and elected officials. To better understand how, I reached out to seven different professionals who work for AmeriCorps member organizations. Here is what they had to say about the challenges of, and the future for, national service.
Service on the Chopping Block
As recently as the last congressional session, the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) has consistently been at risk for total elimination. This has created an extremely unstable funding environment for service programs. However, when interviewees were asked if they felt support for AmeriCorps would increase, decrease or maintain at current levels, over half believed support would actually increase. One interviewee even said, “Congressional support is now at an all-time high.” All interviewees felt that national service’s bipartisan appeal was a major benefit to the cause, and would bode well for continued funding.
Recruitment Matters
Recruiting the right people into volunteer service, particularly with an average living allowance of about $13,000 per year, is a difficult endeavor. Young people in particular are attracted to the idea of a gap year before college. However they do not always understand the larger civic ideals behind AmeriCorps programs, and the low stipends that are provided. To address this issue, one interviewee expressed her desire for service to become a cultural standard. She imagined, “Instead of asking someone you meet where they went to college, you would ask where they did their year of service.”
Service as a Choice, not a Draft
Many other countries make national service mandatory, and some have argued that the same should be done in the United States. I asked all interviewees whether they thought national service, both civilian and military, should be required. With the exception of one individual, all agreed that giving a year of service should be an individual choice. Many agreed that young people need avenues to give back to their country, but thought that making it mandatory was not in line with the “American way.” Instead of forcing citizens to serve their country, we should instead build a culture where service is respected and valued.
Career Pathways
AmeriCorps programs, particularly those targeted towards young adults and recent graduates, give corps members professional experience and transferrable skills that would otherwise be difficult to obtain in a competitive job market. Recent research from CNCS found that for recent college graduates, AmeriCorps experience on a resume had a positive and significant effect on the likelihood of getting an interview offer. This supports the idea that national service leads to better employment outcomes for participants. All interviewees felt this was a tangible benefit of national service, and often implemented specific programming around professional development in their service year programs.
AmeriCorps could also function as a pipeline of talent into the public sector itself. Many of the interviewees noted that they often hired corps members into full-time roles at their organizations. This is confirmed via my own experience; most individuals in my service cohort went on to be teachers and nonprofit professionals. As government agencies and nonprofits look to recruit a new generation of talent, they should consider the more than 1 million AmeriCorps alumni who have already committed to bettering the country.
Service Can Bring Us Together
Proponents of mandatory national service argue that it provides a medium where people from all backgrounds, incomes, races, ethnicities and education levels can come together in a way that does not exist elsewhere in our highly segregated society. In interviews, most of the nonprofit professionals agreed that this was an outcome, if not necessarily an explicit goal, of non-mandatory service years. As one interviewee stated, “[Service] opens the worldview of members…they learn not only from themselves, but from each other.”
Why AmeriCorps?
As one interviewee astutely noted, the idea of national service does not typically garner outright opposition. However, it will take concerted effort to ensure that service remains on the table for funding and prioritization. With the American populace volunteering at an all-time high rate, the public sector has a unique opportunity to capture this energy by promoting new and established service opportunities for their constituents. Programs such as City Year, Public Allies and Foster Grandparents provide much needed services to at-risk populations. These programs also give corps members a unique opportunity to engage with diverse communities while building career skills. Such programs have also been proven through quantitative analysis to be a high-return investment for taxpayer dollars. AmeriCorps should be here to stay!
Author: Kori Bertun is a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Chicago studying Public Administration. She has worked in the nonprofit sector for six years, and is passionate about national service, volunteerism, and philanthropy. She can be reached at [email protected]
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