National Bonner AmeriCorps Community Partner Orientation.

1. Bonner AmeriCorps
Community Partner
Orientation
2011-2012
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2. AmeriCorps 101
• AmeriCorps is a National Service Program ("Domestic Peace Corps")
administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service.
• AmeriCorps is a Service Program that has LOTS of regulations that MUST be
followed by its Members and partner organizations.
• AmeriCorps is Federally funded and Locally implemented.
• AmeriCorps strengthens the communities in which its Members serve by
meeting critical community needs.
• AmeriCorps develops its Members by educating them about community and
citizenship and by giving them the opportunity to serve and earn money
towards education costs.
• AmeriCorps Members complete a Term of Service.
• A Term of Service is a commitment of hours to direct service and training.
• Members receive an Education Award at the completion of their Term of
Service; some also receive a living allowance or Federal work study funds.
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3. AmeriCorps History
• 1990: President Bush signs the National and Community Service Act
of 1990.
• 1993: President Clinton signs the National and Community Service
Trust Act of 1993, creating AmeriCorps and the Corporation for
National and Community Service.
• AmeriCorps serves over 2 million Americans each year through two
main streams of service:
‣ AmeriCorps
‣ Senior Corps
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4. What is Bonner
AmeriCorps?
“Bonner AmeriCorps” refers
to Bonner students being
enrolled in AmeriCorps
through slots administered by
the Bonner Foundation.
AmeriCorps members must
comply with the AmeriCorps
regulations and provisions
during their term of service.
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5. AmeriCorps Member
Benefits:
• Education Award
• Student Loan Forbearance and
Interest Accrual Benefits
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6. Background Checks
Members undergo a comprehensive criminal history record check. These
reports may not be released to your site as our criminal background check
requirements may be different than yours. Campus staff have access to
background check results and status.
Please be sure to run the criminal history checks required to fulfill the
requirements of your organization.
You are also expected to ensure that Members are not left alone with persons of a
vulnerable population (i.e. youth under the age of 18, persons 60 years of age or older,
or individuals who are either physically or intellectually disabled) until required
criminal history checks are completed. You must ensure that Members are
accompanied at all times by an authorized program official who has been cleared for
access to vulnerable populations until Members’ criminal history checks are
completed.
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7. What Can AmeriCorps
Members Do?
• Mentor Youth
• Educate the Public about the Environment
• Renovate and Rebuild Abandoned Homes
• Recruit Volunteers
• Bridge the Digital Divide
• Assist the Homeless
• Provide Support to People with Disabilities
• Support Immigrants through a variety of
Human & Educational Services
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8. Acceptable Service
Fundraising Provisions
1. AmeriCorps members can spend no more than 10% of their hours on fundraising
activities.
2. Members can raise resources to support projects related to their issue area/site's direct
service activities.
3. Members cannot raise resources or funds for an organization’s general operating expenses or
endowment.
4. Members cannot fundraise for their own living allowance.
5. Members cannot write a grant application to any Federal agency including the Corporation for
National and Community Service.
6. Members cannot perform any fundraising where the beneficiaries are international. If the goods
or funds collected will be sent to an international community, the fundraising time cannot be
approved for AmeriCorps.
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9. What Can’t AmeriCorps
Members Do?
• Supervise other Members
• Janitorial duties
• Office work*
• Answering phones*
• Clerical work*
• Manage paperwork or financial issues*
*These duties are only acceptable if they are a
small portion of achieving the Member’s
service goals: ex. volunteer recruitment.
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10. Prohibited Activities
The following slides outline the
comprehensive list of the AmeriCorps
Prohibited Activities. Members cannot
engage in these activities as part of their
AmeriCorps service.
These provisions appear in the AmeriCorps
Member Contract.
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11. Prohibited Activities
(cont.)
The list of Prohibited Activities is outlined on the following 4 slides:
• Participating in efforts to influence legislation,
including lobbying for your program;
• Organizing a letter-writing campaign to
Congress;
• Engaging in partisan political activities, or other
activities designed to influence the outcome of
an election to any public office;
• Participating in, or endorsing, events or activities that
are likely to include advocacy for or against
political parties, political platforms, political
candidates, proposed legislation, or elected
officials;
• Printing politically charged articles in a
Corporation-funded newsletter or
discussion list;
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12. Prohibited Activities
(cont.)
• Taking part in political
demonstrations or rallies;
• Engaging in any efforts to influence
legislation, including state or local
ballot initiatives;
• Voter registration drives;
• Organizing or participating in protests,
petitions, boycotts, or strikes;
• Assisting or deterring union organizing;
• Impairing existing contracts or
collective bargaining agreements;
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13. Prohibited Activities
(cont.)
• Religious activities, including engaging in
religious instruction; conducting worship services;
providing instruction as part of a Program that
includes mandatory religious instruction or
worship; constructing, operating, or maintaining
facilities primarily or inherently devoted to
religious instruction or worship; engaging in any
form of religious proselytization;
• Activities that pose a significant safety risk to
participants;
• Assignments that displace employees;
• Placement of Members into internships with for-
profit businesses as part of the education and
training component of the program;
• Providing assistance to a business organized
for-profit;
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14. Prohibited Activities
(cont.)
• Raising funds for an AmeriCorps
stipend;
• Raising funds for an organization’s
operating expenses or endowment;
• Writing grant applications for
AmeriCorps funding or for any other
funding provided by the Corporation for
National and Community Service;
• Writing grant applications for
funding provided by any other
federal agencies;
• Administrative work, unless it benefits
the Members’ approved direct service
activities; and
• Providing abortion services or
referrals for receipt of such services.
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15. Prohibited Activities
(review)
Please remember that AmeriCorps members cannot engage in:
• Activities that pose a significant risk to AmeriCorps
members or others;
• Internships with a for-profit business as a part of
the education and training component of the program;
• Assignments that displace employees;
• Medical research;
• Part-time work at the service site;
• Activities (service or trainings) performed
internationally;
• Activities performed that serve or educate about
individuals residing outside the US and US
territories; and
• Any of the AmeriCorps Prohibited Activities.
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16. Personnel Policies
Bonner AmeriCorps Policies:
1. Rules of Conduct
2. Suspension
3. Grievance Procedures
4. Notice of Nondiscrimination
5. Reasonable Accommodation
6. Drug-Free Workplace
7. Confidentiality
8. Informed Consent
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17. Personnel Policies
1. Rules of Conduct
At no time as a part of their service may an AmeriCorps
member:
• Engage in any activity that is illegal under local, state or federal law.
• Engage in activities that pose a significant safety risk to others.
• Engage in any AmeriCorps Prohibited Activities.
• Dedicate more than 10% of their total service hours to fundraising
efforts.
• Dedicate more than 20% of their total service hours to training and
enrichment activities.
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18. Personnel Policies
2. Suspension
• The Program may suspend the Member’s term of service for the following
reasons:
1. Compelling personal circumstances (e.g. illness)
2. A violation of the Rules of Conduct.
3. During the term of service the Member has been charged with a
violent felony or the possession, sale or distribution of a controlled
substance.
• During the suspension from service, the Member will not receive credit
for service hours or benefits. The Member may resume his or her term
of service once the circumstances supporting the suspension have been
resolved.
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19. Personnel Policies
3. Grievance Procedures
In the event that informal efforts to resolve disputes are unsuccessful,
AmeriCorps members, labor unions, and other interested individuals may
seek resolution through the following grievance procedures. These
procedures are intended to apply to service-related issues, such as
assignments, evaluations, suspensions, or release for cause, as well as issues
related to non-selection of members, and displacement of employees, or
duplication of activities by AmeriCorps members.
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20. Personnel Policies
4. Notice of Nondiscrimination
It is against the law for organizations that receive Federal financial
assistance from the Corporation for National and Community
Service to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin,
sex, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, political affiliation,
marital or parental status, military service, or religious, community or
social affiliations.
Participation in AmeriCorps is based on merit and equal opportunity
for all, without regard to factors such as race, color, national origin,
sex, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, political affiliation,
marital or parental status, military service, or religious, community or
social affiliations.
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21. Personnel Policies
5. Reasonable Accommodation
Program activities will be be accessible to
persons with disabilities.
The campus or site must provide reasonable
accommodation to the known mental or
physical disabilities of otherwise qualified
Members.
Selection and project assignments must be
made without regard to the need to provide
reasonable accommodation.
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22. Personnel Policies
6. Drug-Free Workplace
Consistent with the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988, The
Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation and The College of
New Jersey are committed to providing a workplace that is
free from the unlawful manufacture, distribution, dispensation,
possession, or use of controlled substances.
• The Member must notify the Program Director in
writing, within five (5) calendar days, if he or she is
convicted of a criminal drug violation in the workplace.
• Violations of the Drug-Free Workplace policy will result
in personnel action against the Member up to and
including dismissal pursuant to The College of New
Jersey procedures relating to Member discipline.
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23. Personnel Policies
7. Confidentiality
The Program requires that Members hold in
complete confidence all information about
clients and/or their families. Discussion
about any client information, with anyone
other than the designated staff of the
service site is prohibited. Members who
violate this policy are subject to disciplinary
action, up to and including termination.
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24. Personnel Policies
8. Informed Consent
AmeriCorps members serving at your site have completed an
informed consent allowing the Staff of the Bonner Foundation, The
College of New Jersey, their campus, service site, the New Jersey
State Commission on National and Community Service and the
Corporation for National and Community Service may:
• discuss personal circumstances (i.e. health) as they relate to the term of service.
• write a recommendation or give a verbal recommendation for employment, etc. at the
end of their term of service.
• photograph them at their service site for recruitment/promotional purposes. If they are
uncomfortable with having their photograph or information published, it will be noted.
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25. Expectations
Service Sites
• Provide tax-exempt status, data and information about
Member activities, and reports, if requested
• Provide an opportunity for direct and meaningful
community-based service for Members. The activities of
Members should allow for personal growth and learning
about the community, and must result in specific
identifiable service or improvement that would otherwise
not be provided, and that does not duplicate the routine
functions of paid employees.
• Recognize that program participants are Members of the
National Bonner AmeriCorps Program and are not
employees of the service site, and cannot be terminated
without the full consent of the Campus Administrator.
Furthermore, as program participants, Members may
occasionally need to participate in national and/or
program service initiatives such as MLK Day of Service,
and the site agrees to support Member participation.
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26. Expectations
Service Sites Cont.
• Report immediately in writing to the Campus
Administrator any problems or work-related
accidents OR if the Member is convicted of any drug
violation occurring in the workplace or during the
performance of any service hours, in accordance with
the Drug Free Workplace Act.
• Ensure that Members are covered by liability
insurance and maintain documentation of such
coverage.
• Provide on-site training and encouragement as
needed and accepted, as well as equipment and or
materials for use by the Members to complete their
service responsibilities.
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27. Hour Logs
Overview
1. Log into BWBRS.org
2. Fundraising hours - Must have * designation on
print out
3. Duplicate entries - Only one entry per site, per
day. All service at a site must be logged as the
total for that day.
4. Your Signature must be dated on or after the
print date (hard copies) as well as the last entry
on the hour log.
5. Timely Submission - Must be submitted to the
Foundation by the 15th of each month. (i.e.
September timesheet is due by October 15)
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28. Hour Logs
eSigning Instructions
1. Using your e-mail address as your log-in (full address, for example,
abby@bonner.org) and the password assigned to you by the
Campus Administrator, log into BWBRS.
2. Click Students in the left-hand menu.
3. Review the Members' hours to check for accuracy. If the hours are
not accurate, please talk with the Member and have them make the
necessary adjustments in BWBRS before you eSign the hours.
4. After reviewing hours, type in your name exactly as shown in
BOLD in the Electronic Signature box.
5. Sign hours by the month - This will ensure that all hours
get signed and do not get cut off by the semester
timetable.
6. To select a specific month, select the semester from the drop-
down menu at the top of the screen, then select the month from
the drop-down below it, and click Update.
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29. Hour Logs (Continued)
Red Flags
• Members are allowed to log a
maximum of 12 hours per day.
• Duplicates: Members must be
log all service occurring at the
same site, on the same day in one
entry in BWBRS.
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30. Common Concerns
These are some common
oversights that need to be closely
watched to ensure AmeriCorps
members are not violating their
Member Contract.
1. AmeriCorps members may not supervise other AmeriCorps
members. This includes AmeriCorps VISTAS.
2. Members and Service Sites must adhere to the schedule that
has been agreed upon for the Member’s service.
3. If there are any concerns, questions or issues pertaining to the
Member who is serving at your site, please contact the
Member’s Campus Administrator.
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31. Resources
Your first resource can be the Campus
Administrator at the Member’s College.
Online Resources
1. FORMS
• National forms
2. BWBRS help
• eSignatures
3. Evaluations
• Will be completed by the campus
administrator after speaking with you
about the Member’s service at your
organization
4. AmeriCorps.gov
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32. Your Campus Contacts
Contact NAME
Phone
Your Campus eMail
Logo Here
Mailing address
Resources
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