AmeriCorps ProgramDevelopment – January 26, 2017Prohibited Activities

Welcome!AmeriCorps Program Development

We’ll get started in just a couple of minutes.

Be sure to call in:888-906-7802,

Passcode 5577152

Technology Check

ON THE PHONE:The phone lines will be opened for Q&A during the presentation.

ON SKYPE:Use the dialogue box on the left side of your screen to provide input or ask a question at any time during the presentation. Test it now with a greeting.

REPLAY:Today’s presentation will be posted on the National Service Knowledge Network: www.nationalservice.gov/resources

CNCSAmeriCorps State and National

BARBARA ELLEN REYNOLDS TRAINING SPECIALIST

Works with AmeriCorps national and tribal programs and state commissions

On CNCS staff since 2013

Former commission director and AmeriCorps State director

AmeriCorps Program Development Series

The AmeriCorps Program Development Series is designed to build knowledge in core AmeriCorps program areas. The 2016-2017 series includes:

• CNCS Orientation, Financial Management, Criminal History Checks• AmeriCorps Member/Site Management, Financial Management

Systems• Program Start-up Grantee Panel: What I Wish I Knew in Year 1

• Reasonable Accommodations Technical Assistance• AmeriCorps Branding: Working Together to Tell Our Story

• AmeriCorps Prohibited Activities

Today’s Topics

• Introductions: Who are we, and why are we here?• AmeriCorps Prohibited Activities Overview• Ensuring Compliance• Training Activities and Demonstration• Monitoring• Q&A• Resources and Wrap Up

Today’s Content

• This is a new webinar; it builds on an existing eCourse.• This session is under construction, and your feedback

would be very welcome.• Our discussion today will help staff finalize the webinar

content and develop an in-person workshop.

Prohibited Activities Course

www.nationalservice.gov/resources/americorps/americorps-prohibited-activities

Prohibited Activities Course

www.nationalservice.gov/resources/americorps/americorps-prohibited-activities

Who is on the webinar today?

• Please use the dialogue box to answer these questions:

• What is your name?• What is the name of your AmeriCorps

program or state commission?• Where are you?• What is your favorite winter sport?

Example

• Barbara• CNCS

• Baltimore• Sledding

Presentation Target Audience

• AmeriCorps State and National Prime Grantees:

• State Service Commissions• Tribal programs• National/multi-state programs

AmeriCorps State and National Prohibited Activities

As a federal program, AmeriCorps has specific resources that it brings to local communities and participants as well

as specific rules on how the AmeriCorps funds may be used and the types of services that AmeriCorps members

may provide.

AmeriCorps grantees must be aware of and fully comply with all laws, regulations, provisions, etc. that govern

AmeriCorps member service.

2016 AmeriCorps General Terms and Conditions

Page 5:“The recipient must comply with, and require all subrecipients to comply with, the prohibitions on use of CNCS funds applicable to their program as identified in sections 132A and 174 of the NCSA (42 U.S.C.§§12584a and 12634) and section 403 of the DVSA (42 U.S.C. §5043), and provisions by Congress in annual appropriations acts. More specific guidance on these prohibitions will be provided in CNCS’s Specific Terms and Conditions and in other guidance.”

2016 AmeriCorps Specific Terms and ConditionsPages 7-8:

“While charging time to the AmeriCorps program, accumulating service or training hours, or otherwise performing activities supported by the AmeriCorps program or CNCS, staff and members may not engage in the following activities (see 45 CFR § 2520.65):

a. Attempting to influence legislation;

b. Organizing or engaging in protests, petitions, boycotts, or strikes;

c. Assisting, promoting, or deterring union organizing;

d. Impairing existing contracts for services or collective bargaining agreements;

e. Engaging in partisan political activities, or other activities designed to influence the outcome of an election to any public office;

f. 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;

g. Engaging in religious instruction, conducting worship services, providing instruction as part of a program that includes mandatory religious instruction or worship, constructing or operating facilities devoted to religious instruction or worship, maintaining facilities primarily or inherently devoted to religious instruction or worship, or engaging in any form of religious proselytization;

h. Providing a direct benefit to—

i. A business organized for profit;

ii. A labor union;

iii. A partisan political organization;

iv. A nonprofit organization that fails to comply with the restrictions contained in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 related to engaging in political activities or substantial amount of lobbying except that nothing in these 9 provisions shall be construed to prevent participants from engaging in advocacy activities undertaken at their own initiative; and

v. An organization engaged in the religious activities described in paragraph.g. above, unless CNCS assistance is not used to support those religious activities;

i. Conducting a voter registration drive or using CNCS funds to conduct a voter registration drive;

j. Providing abortion services or referrals for receipt of such services; and

k. Such other activities as CNCS may prohibit.”

2016 AmeriCorps Specific Terms and Conditions Continued

“AmeriCorps members may not engage in the above activities directly or indirectly by recruiting, training, or managing others for the primary purpose of engaging in one of the activities listed above. Individuals may exercise their rights as private citizens and may participate in the activities listed above on their initiative, on non-AmeriCorps time, and using non-CNCS funds. Individuals should not wear the AmeriCorps logo while doing so.”

When do restrictions on prohibited activities apply?• During any work or service hours that are funded by the

AmeriCorps grant• Applies to personnel listed in the approved AmeriCorps

program grant budget and AmeriCorps members listed in section 2 of the approved AmeriCorps program grant budget (as shown in eGrants)

• Also applies to community volunteers recruited and managed by AmeriCorps members

When do restrictions on prohibited activities NOT apply?• The prohibited activities apply to time that is charged to the

AmeriCorps grant (for personnel and AmeriCorps members). The restrictions do not apply to activities conducted during personal time.

• Individuals are free to exercise their rights as citizens when not charging staff or AmeriCorps member time to the AmeriCorps grant.

• However, individuals must not wear AmeriCorps gear during personal time or display the AmeriCorps or CNCS logo in the course of conducting personal business. Members of the national and community service field must always be sure to avoid even the “appearance of impropriety.”

Consequences of Violating Restrictions on Prohibited Activities

• For the AmeriCorps member• For the service program or commission• For the field of national and community service• For our communities

What about a new opportunity?

In the event a new service opportunity or potential community project comes up during the course of the program year, the commission or program director should ask these types of questions to determine if an activity is prohibited:

What are the exact duties of the requested AmeriCorps members or volunteers?

What are the proposed outcomes of the activity? Are the proposed activities within the scope of the

approved AmeriCorps grant and the AmeriCorps member position description?

Would AmeriCorps members receive service hours and wear AmeriCorps logos or gear during the proposed activities?

What helps to ensure compliance?Strong program

design and aligned performance

measures

Extensive and impactful staff,

member, and site training

Detailed member position descriptions and

site agreements

Regular and thorough monitoring of members,

service sites, and/or subgrantees

Frequent communication with

CNCS Program Officer

Focus on TrainingStrong program

design and aligned performance

measures

Extensive and impactful staff,

member, and site training

Detailed member position descriptions and

site agreements

Regular and thorough monitoring of members,

service sites, and/or subgrantees

Frequent communication with

CNCS Program Officer

Extensive and Impactful Training

• Extensive: train staff, board, members, sites, volunteers; re-enforce and re-train throughout program year; use multiple and diverse methods for delivering content; dedicate significant time to this task

• Impactful: check knowledge of all training participants

Training Activities for Prohibited Activities

Examples:

• Lecture• Case Study• Role-play• Interactive Games (e.g., AmeriJeopardy)

What does your training look like?

What types of activities do you use to train on the prohibited activities?

Who leads your training on prohibited activities?

Please take a moment to answer the questions in the Chat Box.

Recommendations for Success

Additional tips for providing extensive and impactful training on prohibited activities:

• Deliver message from the top• Over prepare and stay on script in training (avoid off the

cuff comments or examples; limit ‘what ifs’ from participants)

• Assume good faith and positive intent; use positive approach to training material

• Be sensitive to emotional response to this issue

Training Demonstration

Scenarios created by AmeriCorps State and National Program Officers

Focus on 3 specific activities:

– Political advocacy = prohibited– Abortion services or referrals = prohibited– Religious instruction = prohibited

No Political Advocacy

Examples of specific prohibited activities:

– No campaigning for political candidates– No voter registration or voter registration drives – No protesting against or demonstrating for any type of legislation

No Abortion Services or Referrals

Examples of specific prohibited activities:

– No referral to abortion services as part of the national service role– No accompaniment of clients at facilities that perform abortions– No protesting or demonstrating in support of or against abortion

services or laws

No Religious Instruction

Examples of specific prohibited activities:

– No leading prayer service as part of AmeriCorps service hours– No teaching classes on a religious text or practices to children or

adults in any setting– No testifying or engaging in activities that are meant to engage

individuals in or convert individuals to a particular religion

Scenario 1 – Prohibited or Not?

The AmeriCorps members serving in a large after-school program want to petition the city’s mayor. The members provide academic enrichment activities. The mayor is considering cutting subsidized public transit passes for youth attending after-school programs. The AmeriCorps members are concerned that their students will no longer be able to participate in their program. They argue that the city’s budget has nothing to do with their AmeriCorps program, and they should be allowed to petition the mayor and earn AmeriCorps service hours for doing so.

According to CNCS rules, is this a prohibited activity for the AmeriCorps members?

Scenario 1 – Prohibited While charging time to the AmeriCorps program, accumulating service or training hours, or otherwise performing activities supported by the AmeriCorps program or CNCS, staff and members may not engage in the following activities (see 45 CFR § 2520.65):

a. Attempting to influence legislation; b. Organizing or engaging in protests, petitions, boycotts, or strikes; c. Assisting, promoting, or deterring union organizing;

d. Impairing existing contracts for services or collective bargaining agreements;

e. Engaging in partisan political activities, or other activities designed to influence the outcome of an election to any public office;

f. 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; g. Engaging in religious instruction, conducting worship services, providing instruction as part of a program that includes mandatory religious instruction or worship, constructing or operating facilities devoted to religious instruction or worship, maintaining facilities primarily or inherently devoted to religious instruction or worship, or engaging in any form of religious proselytization;

h. Providing a direct benefit to—

i. A business organized for profit;

ii. A labor union;

iii. A partisan political organization;

iv. A nonprofit organization that fails to comply with the restrictions contained in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 related to engaging in political activities or substantial amount of lobbying except that nothing in these 9 provisions shall be construed to prevent participants from engaging in advocacy activities undertaken at their own initiative; and

v. An organization engaged in the religious activities described in paragraph g. above, unless CNCS assistance is not used to support those religious activities;

i. Conducting a voter registration drive or using CNCS funds to conduct a voter registration drive;

j. Providing abortion services or referrals for receipt of such services; and

k. Such other activities as CNCS may prohibit.

Scenario 2 – Prohibited or Not?

An AmeriCorps member is serving in an understaffed clinic for low-income women. The clinic does not provide abortions, but many times referrals to abortion services at other facilities are included in the general information that the clinic provides to patients. The AmeriCorps member assumes that the dissemination of general information is an acceptable member activity.

According to CNCS rules, is this a prohibited activity for the AmeriCorps member?

Scenario 2 – Prohibited While charging time to the AmeriCorps program, accumulating service or training hours, or otherwise performing activities supported by the AmeriCorps program or CNCS, staff and members may not engage in the following activities (see 45 CFR § 2520.65):

a. Attempting to influence legislation;

b. Organizing or engaging in protests, petitions, boycotts, or strikes;

c. Assisting, promoting, or deterring union organizing;

d. Impairing existing contracts for services or collective bargaining agreements;

e. Engaging in partisan political activities, or other activities designed to influence the outcome of an election to any public office;

f. 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;

g. Engaging in religious instruction, conducting worship services, providing instruction as part of a program that includes mandatory religious instruction or worship, constructing or operating facilities devoted to religious instruction or worship, maintaining facilities primarily or inherently devoted to religious instruction or worship, or engaging in any form of religious proselytization;

h. Providing a direct benefit to—

i. A business organized for profit;

ii. A labor union;

iii. A partisan political organization;

iv. A nonprofit organization that fails to comply with the restrictions contained in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 related to engaging in political activities or substantial amount of lobbying except that nothing in these 9 provisions shall be construed to prevent participants from engaging in advocacy activities undertaken at their own initiative; and

v. An organization engaged in the religious activities described in paragraph g. above, unless CNCS assistance is not used to support those religious activities;

i. Conducting a voter registration drive or using CNCS funds to conduct a voter registration drive;

j. Providing abortion services or referrals for receipt of such services; and

k. Such other activities as CNCS may prohibit.

Scenario 3 – Prohibited or Not?

During her free time, an AmeriCorps member has been frequently sharing her political position regarding the upcoming gubernatorial election on facebook. The member’s facebook profile photo shows her wearing the AmeriCorps service gear issued by her program at the beginning of the service year.

According to CNCS rules, is this a prohibited activity for the AmeriCorps member?

Scenario 3 – Not Prohibited

The prohibition on political advocacy only applies to activities for which a member may accrue AmeriCorps service hours, so she is free to express her political beliefs and positions at will.

However, the member should not use a photo that contains the AmeriCorps gear/logo for personal business at any time. This is an example of an activity that would give the appearance of impropriety, since a casual observer may not be able to distinguish the individual’s personal political position from the AmeriCorps program or CNCS.

Scenario 4 – Prohibited or Not?

Following the destruction of a local church, a team of AmeriCorps members would like to volunteer to help clear away debris from the site so reconstruction can begin. The members live in the community, and they serve at a local nonprofit where many of their program staff and clients are members of the destroyed church. The members would volunteer on their own time with their families and friends to help the church.

According to CNCS rules, is this a prohibited activity for the AmeriCorps members?

Scenario 4 – Not Prohibited

The restrictions on religious activities do not apply in this scenario, since the members would be engaging in the proposed activities on their own time. No AmeriCorps resources would be used for this activity.

Scenario 5 – Prohibited or Not?

After a series of tornadoes destroyed several small towns along the Mississippi River, a team of AmeriCorps members were deployed by CNCS to engage in disaster response. As part of the disaster response, several members were asked by a local pastor to recruit and manage volunteers who would provide spiritual counseling and prayer groups for the community to help citizens cope with the disaster.

According to CNCS rules, is this a prohibited activity for the AmeriCorps members?

Scenario 5 – Prohibited While charging time to the AmeriCorps program, accumulating service or training hours, or otherwise performing activities supported by the AmeriCorps program or CNCS, staff and members may not engage in the following activities (see 45 CFR § 2520.65):

a. Attempting to influence legislation;

b. Organizing or engaging in protests, petitions, boycotts, or strikes;

c. Assisting, promoting, or deterring union organizing;

d. Impairing existing contracts for services or collective bargaining agreements;

e. Engaging in partisan political activities, or other activities designed to influence the outcome of an election to any public office;

f. 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;

g. Engaging in religious instruction, conducting worship services, providing instruction as part of a program that includes mandatory religious instruction or worship, constructing or operating facilities devoted to religious instruction or worship, maintaining facilities primarily or inherently devoted to religious instruction or worship, or engaging in any form of religious proselytization;

h. Providing a direct benefit to—

i. A business organized for profit;

ii. A labor union;

iii. A partisan political organization;

iv. A nonprofit organization that fails to comply with the restrictions contained in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 related to engaging in political activities or substantial amount of lobbying except that nothing in these 9 provisions shall be construed to prevent participants from engaging in advocacy activities undertaken at their own initiative; and

v. An organization engaged in the religious activities described in paragraph 3.g. above, unless CNCS assistance is not used to support those religious activities;

i. Conducting a voter registration drive or using CNCS funds to conduct a voter registration drive;

j. Providing abortion services or referrals for receipt of such services; and

k. Such other activities as CNCS may prohibit.

What helps to ensure compliance?Strong program

design and aligned performance

measures

Extensive and impactful staff,

member, and site training

Detailed member position descriptions and

site agreements

Regular and thorough monitoring of members,

service sites, and/or subgrantees

Frequent communication with

CNCS Program Officer

Grantee Requirements—Monitoring

45 CFR § 2541.400 Monitoring and reporting program performance. (a) Monitoring by grantees. Grantees are responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of grant and subgrant supported activities. Grantees must monitor grant and subgrant supported activities to assure compliance with applicable Federal requirements and that performance goals are being achieved. Grantee monitoring must cover each program, function or activity.

Member and Site activities

Getting things done

Another Way to See Monitoring

Regular and Thorough Monitoring

• When? On-going• Who? Program staff roles• What? Ensuring compliance with restrictions on

prohibited activities• Why? Prevent, detect, and enforce all federal

rules; continuously improve program delivery• How? Methods depend on program design;

include extensive documentation

Monitoring Examples

Site Visits

Written Reports/Desk

Reviews

Timesheet Review and Verification

On going ‐Communication

What does your monitoring look like?

What types of monitoring activities do you use to ensure compliance with restrictions on prohibited activities?

Who conducts these activities?

Please take a moment to answer the questions in the Chat Box.

Examples of Corrective Actions

• What if I find a problem? – Document everything– Re-train staff, members, volunteers– Follow-up within a reasonable period to confirm

correction– Take management steps if correction does not occur

(e.g., terminate staff or member, end site partnership)– Notify CNCS and the OIG if you discover a violation of

the prohibited activities– Always err on the side of over-informing when it comes to

prohibited activities

Q&A

What questions do you have?

Wrap Up for Today

• Resources on the CNCS website- www.nationalservice.gov

- Grant Terms and Conditions, Regulations

• Resources on the National Service Knowledge Network- www.nationalservice.gov/resources/americorps

- Program Development Recordings, Slides

Upcoming Training

• Next AmeriCorps Program Development Webinar:

• February 24, 3:00 – 4:30 pm Eastern • Topic: AmeriCorps Member Training and Retention

Contact Information

Please share feedback on today’s presentation!

Barbara Ellen ReynoldsAmeriCorps State and National

Training Specialistbreynolds@cns.gov

Thank You!