AmeriCorps State and National Recovery Act Funding Applications Instructions

AmeriCorps State and National

Grantee Progress Report Instructions

How will the Corporation use the information reported?

The AmeriCorps Grantee Progress Report provides information that Corporation staff use to monitor grantee progress and respond to requests from Congress and other stakeholders. Some information provided in the report (particularly “Great Stories” and demographic information), may be used by the Corporation’s Office of Public Affairs to promote service. In addition, program staff use the information provided to identify trends and issues that may lead to changes in policies and procedures, allocation of training and technical assistance, or opportunities for peer learning.

What information is required?

The AmeriCorps Grantee Progress Report consists of three sections: Demographic Information; Performance Measures; and Narratives. Please complete the report using eGrants http://www.nationalservice.gov/egrants/, the Corporation’s integrated, secure, web-based system for applications, and follow these instructions.

Section I: Demographic Information

This section contains a list of demographic indicators of interest to the Corporation and our stakeholders. To complete this section, enter as accurate an estimate as possible for each indicator that is relevant to your program design. If you do not collect data on an indicator because it is not relevant to your program design, enter a zero (0) in that field.

All grantees are required to report the total number of leveraged volunteers, number of volunteer hours, and the total number of individuals that applied to be AmeriCorps members.

Please note that you are not required to report on every indicator other than the three required elements. However, if your program includes these types of leveraged volunteers or target groups, include an estimate of their totals.

For State Commissions Only: You may enter the demographic data for your formula and your competitive subgrantees in the formula GPR. Enter N/A in the Section I fields in your competitive GPR.

Indicator	Definition	Number
REQUIRED Applicants	Number of individuals who applied to be members.
REQUIRED Leveraged volunteers	Number of volunteers of all ages who were recruited, coordinated, or supported by your Corporation-funded programs. Leveraged volunteers do not include AmeriCorps members.
REQUIRED Volunteer hours	Number of hours leveraged volunteers served during the reporting period.
Leveraged Volunteers
Disadvantaged children and youth	Number of disadvantaged children and youth who served as leveraged volunteers. Disadvantaged children and youth are those up to age 25 with exceptional or special needs (as defined in part 2552.12 (f) and (g) of the DVSA regulations1), or who are economically disadvantaged and for whom one or more of the following apply:  1) out-of-school, including out-of-school youth who are unemployed; 2) in or aging out of foster care; 3) limited English proficiency; 4) homeless or have run away from home; 5) at-risk to leave school without a diploma; and 6) former juvenile offenders or at risk of delinquency.
College students	Number of individuals who served as leveraged volunteers who are enrolled in a degree-seeking program at a community, professional, or technical college, or within an undergraduate or graduate program at a college or university.
Baby Boomers	Number of individuals born between 1946 and 1964 who served as leveraged volunteers.
AmeriCorps Members
Disaster preparedness and response	Number of AmeriCorps members who participated in disaster services projects.
Disaster preparedness and response	Number of AmeriCorps members who have been certified in disaster preparedness and response.
Disaster preparedness and response	Number of AmeriCorps members who were available for deployment in the event of a local, state, or other disaster.
Populations Served
Disadvantaged children and youth	Number of disadvantaged children and youth served (see definition above).
Children of incarcerated parents	Number of children and youth up to age 25, who had one or both parents or legal guardians serving or having served a period of time in jail and/or prison. You should only report the number of children of incarcerated parents served by programs designed to work with this population.
Individuals mentored	Number of formal, sustained relationships established between an older or more experienced person and a younger or less experienced person for the purpose of academic, social, or career support. This does not include the relationship between a teacher and his or her students in a classroom setting. If your program supports mentors who work with multiple mentees, please report total number of individuals mentored.
Independent living services	Number of clients who received independent living services, including respite care, to help them live independently in their homes in community-based settings.
Disaster preparedness and response	Number of local disasters to which members have responded.
Disaster preparedness and response	Number of community members who receive assistance from members responding to disasters and participating in recovery.

Instructions for National Grantees and State Programs

Section II: Performance Measures

The performance measures from approved applications will automatically populate the Grantee Performance Report in eGrants, including the sections for Need, Activity, Activity Dates, Result, Result Statement, and Indicator. Grantees will report on each measure separately. To complete this section, enter the following information for each performance measure:

• Target Actual to Date: In this field, enter a numerical value documenting the actual progress towards the measure. For example, if the program anticipated tutoring 500 students in reading during the reporting period, specify the number of students that were actually tutored.

• Progress toward Measure: You may elaborate on the program’s progress toward a measure in this field, but should not use this field to explain unmet targets or describe correction actions. This field is not required.

• Challenges/Corrective Actions: For each target that a program did not reach, explain why it did not reach the target and the corrective actions that will be carried out to improve performance. This field is required if a program did not reach a target.

Section III: Narratives

This Section in optional. In this section, describe activities from the reporting period in more detail. Focus your remarks as described below. Please limit each narrative to 1,500 words or less, approximately 1-3 pages in length.

1. Monitoring Activities

Describe how you assessed programs’ needs, if applicable. Discuss how technical assistance and monitoring took place. Describe how corrective measures were imposed and how continuous improvement was encouraged.

2. Successes and Challenges

Describe any factors that have positively or negatively influenced program performance. Please consider your entire portfolio, and include examples from particular sites, if applicable, to illustrate the trends that you see affecting your portfolio. The discussion may include but is not limited to enrollment, retention, recruitment, training, supervision, program and financial management, systems, data collection, evaluation, capacity building, and resource development, including raising match funds.

Please describe progress toward securing match. Describe efforts to ensure the sustainability of programming beyond the grant period. This may include a list of match sources, strategic partnerships, in-kind resources, or capacity building efforts. In particular, focus on successful strategies that may be useful to other grantees.

If a program did not fill or retain all of its awarded slots, explain why and identify corrective actions that are being planned to improve recruitment and retention practices, or any planned reduction in slots requested.

3. Great Stories

This section is optional. Share great stories. Highlight member activities which are especially reflective of the impact the program has in the community or which illustrate an innovative or highly successful aspect of program operation.

Section IV: Review and Submit

Please review the report carefully before submitting.

1 2552.12 (f) Children with exceptional needs. Children who are developmentally disabled, such as those who are autistic, have cerebral palsy or epilepsy, are visually impaired, speech impaired, hearing impaired, orthopedically impaired, are emotionally disturbed or have a language disorder, specific learning disability, have multiple disabilities, other significant health impairment or have literacy needs. Existence of a child’s exceptional need shall be verified by an appropriate professional.

2552.12 (g) Children with special needs. Children who are abused or neglected; in need of foster care; adjudicated youth; homeless youths; teen-age parents; and children in need of protective intervention in their homes. Existence of a child's special need shall be verified by an appropriate professional.

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