2022 National Service and Civic Engagement Terms and Conditions

AmeriCorps National Service and Civic Engagement

FY 2022 COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT TERMS AND CONDITIONS

These AmeriCorps (AmeriCorps is the operating name for the Corporation for

National and Community Service) Program Specific Terms and Conditions and the

2022 AmeriCorps General Terms and Conditions, are binding on the recipient.

Table of Contents

I. STATUTORY AUTHORITY ................................................................................................. 2

II. NATIONAL SERVICE AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT RESARCH PROGRAM SPECIFIC

TERMS AND CONDITIONS ....................................................................................................... 2

A. DEFINITIONS ................................................................................................................ 2

B. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE RECIPIENT ............................................... 3

C. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF AMERICORPS ................................................. 4

D. NOTIFICATION OF BUDGET, STAFF, AND MANAGEMENT CHANGES .............. 5

E. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS .................................................................................... 6

F. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT PERIOD AND INCREMENTAL FUNDING ............... 8

G. BREACHES OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION (PII) ....................... 9

I. STATUTORY AUTHORITY

This award is authorized by and subject to Subtitle H – Investment for Quality and

Innovation, Part III – National Service and Civic Engagement Research Competitions

Pilot Program, Section 198K (Funds) of the National and Community Service Act of

1990, as amended by the Serve America Act (the “NCSA”), 42 U.S.C. §12653(d) and by

the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act (FGCAA), 31 U.S.C. §§6301-6308.

Other authorities are outlined in the General Terms and Conditions.

II. NATIONAL SERVICE AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT RESARCH PROGRAM-

SPECIFIC TERMS AND CONDITIONS

A. DEFINITIONS

For this Cooperative Agreement the following definitions apply:

1. Application means all information and materials (including all assurances and

certifications, the proposed budget as approved by AmeriCorps, or any

information incorporated by reference) submitted by the Awardee in

AmeriCorps’ eGrants system in response to the Notice of Federal Funds

Availability, including any amendments or modifications to the information and

materials made in response to any AmeriCorps request for clarification. Copies

of the assurances and certifications agreed to in the eGrants system are included

for reference as appendices to these Terms and Conditions.

2. Awardee means the direct recipient of this award under section 198k of the

NCSA (42U.S.C. 12653k).

3. Civic infrastructure is defined as the “invisible structures and processes through

which the social contract is written and rewritten in communities,” “the formal

and informal processes and networks through which communities make

decisions and solve problems”, or “the network that exists among local groups

such as community development corporations (CDCs), foundations, other

nonprofits, local governments, public housing authorities, businesses, and

voluntary associations”.

4. Civic engagement is defined as a cluster of individual efforts and activities

oriented toward making “a difference in the civic life of … communities and

developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make

that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through

both political and non-political processes” and through informal or formal

networks.

5. Volunteering is unpaid, noncompulsory work, specifically, time one gives

without pay to activities performed either through organizations such as schools,

nonprofits, churches, civic, or political organizations (e.g., formal) or directly for

others outside one’s own household (e.g., informal).

6. National service is defined as a structured opportunity for individuals to serve

their communities for an extended period of time through volunteering with or

without a stipend. AmeriCorps is the largest supporter of national service,

though other avenues for national service exist and this competition is not

exclusive to opportunities funded by AmeriCorps.

7. Social capital can be understood as the “shared norms or values that promote

social cooperation, instantiated in actual social relationships” (Fukuyama 2002)

or as the facilitating agent for social cohesion and civic engagement.

B. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE RECIPIENT

1. General

The Awardee must perform the activities supported by this Cooperative

Agreement in compliance with the statutes, regulations and administrative

authorities cited or referred to in these Terms and Conditions, in conformance

with its approved Application (including the approved budget), and consistent

with any approvals or directions provided by AmeriCorps in the course of

carrying out the Cooperative Agreement. The Awardee is legally accountable to

AmeriCorps for the use of award funds and is bound by the provisions of the

award.

2. National Service Criminal History Check Requirements

AmeriCorps has determined that the National Service Criminal History Check

Requirements as set forth under the General Terms and Conditions, paragraph

3. E., are not applicable to this Research grant competition and that awardees

need not fulfill that requirement to be in compliance with the responsibilities

under this Cooperative Agreement.

3. Affiliation with AmeriCorps and with the National Service and Civic

Engagement Research Competition

a. Sharing Award Products. Awardees will make their products available to

others in the field, including posting to relevant websites (i.e., the

grantee’s university website, community partners), to facilitate

AmeriCorps linking to our website to increase public access.

b. Acknowledgement of support. All publications, conference presentations,

posters, or other dissemination activities related to the project funded by

the National Service and Civic Engagement Research Competition must

explicitly state that the project is funded by AmeriCorps.

c. The awardee is responsible for assuring that the following

acknowledgement and disclaimer appears in any external report or

publication of material based upon work supported by this award:

“This material is based upon work funded by the Office of Research and

Evaluation at AmeriCorps under Grant No. ____ through the National

Service and Civic Engagement research grant competition. Opinions or

points of view expressed in this document are those of the authors and do

not necessarily reflect the official position of, or a position that is

endorsed by, AmeriCorps.”

d. The Awardee will include the appropriate AmeriCorps logo on documents

and presentation materials.

e. The Awardee may not use or display the AmeriCorps name or logo in

connection with any activity prohibited in these provisions, or if the activity

is not funded by this grant or is not prohibited in these provisions, the

Awardee may not use or display the AmeriCorps name or logo unless they

have received written permission to do so from the AmeriCorps Office of

External Affairs.

4. Approval from Institutional Review Board

Awardees must submit protocols and receive approval from their institution’s

Institutional Review Board.

C. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF AMERICORPS

Performance under this Cooperative Agreement is subject to the general oversight and

monitoring of AmeriCorps. Additional substantial involvement of AmeriCorps will

include:

1. Research Plans

Reviewing and approving the Awardee’s work plan and final research plan for

carrying out the research project.

2. Convening of Awardees

Convening awardees to discuss projects and share feedback with one another.

These convenings may include awardees attending and presenting at the

AmeriCorps Research Summit, Grantee meetings, AmeriCorps program

convenings, webinars, etc. The convenings may also include AmeriCorps staff

and external experts identified by AmeriCorps and the awardees.

3. Access to AmeriCorps data and Program Staff

a. Facilitating access to AmeriCorps data sources that are publicly available

and reasonable to obtain as well as facilitating restricted use data with

additional data sharing agreements.

b. Facilitating access to AmeriCorps program staff relevant to the awardees’

research projects, in a manner that is reasonable and not overly

burdensome on AmeriCorps staff.

c. AmeriCorps is under no obligation to provide access to data or staff if

such access is not feasible or deemed overly costly by AmeriCorps.

4. Dissemination of Research Project Results

a. AmeriCorps may decide to disseminate the results of awardee research

projects, either in a report produced by awardees, or material produced

by AmeriCorps based on the report.

b. AmeriCorps will provide feedback for final product.

D. NOTIFICATION OF BUDGET, STAFF, AND MANAGEMENT CHANGES

1. Within 5 business days, the Awardee must notify the AmeriCorps Portfolio

Manager of any change in the staffing of any key position included (in whole or

in part) as a cost in the award budget. This requirement applies regardless of

whether the position is included in the federal or matching cost portions of the

budget. The Awardee must also notify AmeriCorps of any changes in any

positions which are not included in the approved budget, but which involve

leadership oversight of the activity under this award. The Awardee must also

notify AmeriCorps of any change in the senior leadership of the Awardee.

2. The recipient must first obtain the prior written approval of the AmeriCorps

Portfolio Manager before changes in the scope, objectives or goals of the

program, and whether they involve budgetary changes.

3. The recipient must obtain the prior written approval of AmeriCorps’ Portfolio

Manager before deviating from the approved budget in any of the following

ways:

a. Specific Costs Requiring Prior Approval before Incurrence under the

uniform administrative requirement, cost principles, and audit

requirements for Federal awards at 2 CFR Parts 200 and 2205. Certain

cost items in 2 CFR Parts 200 and 2205 require approval of the award

agency for the cost to be incurred as allowable. Please consult the

regulations and/or your Portfolio Manager prior to incurring costs to

ensure allowability.

b. Purchases of Equipment over $5,000 using award funds, unless specified

in the approved application and budget.

c. Unless the AmeriCorps award is $50,000 or less, changes to cumulative

and/or aggregate budget line items that amount to 10 percent or more of

the total budget must be approved in writing in advance by AmeriCorps.

Recipients may transfer funds among approved direct cost categories

when the cumulative amount of such transfers does not exceed 10

percent of the total budget.

4. Approvals of Budget, Staff, and Management Changes. AmeriCorps’

Portfolio Managers are the only officials who have the authority to alter or change the

terms and conditions or requirements of the award. Portfolio Managers will execute

written amendments and recipients should not assume approvals have been granted

unless documentation from AmeriCorps’ Office of Grant Administration (OGA) has

been received. Programmatic changes also require final approval of OGA after written

recommendation for approval is received from the Portfolio Manager.

E. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

a. Each awardee will deliver to the AmeriCorps Portfolio Manager a final research

workplan for Year 1 by November 15, 2022. The workplan will set forth the

process including activities and timeline, to be used to fulfill the grant

requirements.

b. In Year 1, each awardee shall participate in phone and/or virtual meetings with

other awardees as requested and with staff from the Office of Research and

Evaluation (ORE) on a regular schedule to be determined to discuss topics on

civic engagement and volunteering, their workplan, research projects, paper

presentations, and publications.

c. In Year 1, each awardee shall work with ORE to prepare documents which can

lead to papers and other materials to be used publicly regarding the research

completed during Year 1.

d. In Year 1, a progress report shall constitute findings from Year 1. The first draft of

this progress report (labeled as a semiannual report in eGrants) will be due for

the period ending June 30, 2023 by July 30, 2023, and will be reviewed by

AmeriCorps within 45 days. A revised draft of this progress report incorporating

information subsequently gathered will serve as a year-end progress report

(labeled as a semiannual report in eGrants). This progress report will be due for

the period ending September 30, 2023 by October 30, 2023 and will address

any comments offered by AmeriCorps in the review of the first draft.

e. If available and applicable, the Awardee understands and agrees that in

subsequent continuation years of the grant, there will be reporting requirements

that will be similar to, but may not match exactly, the reporting requirements set

forth in paragraphs D. An Awardee receiving a continuation grant in Year 2 or 3

agrees to comply with the current reporting requirements.

f. By the end of project period, each awardee shall submit a comprehensive

technical report, summarizing their annual progress reports. Organization of this

final technical report will be provided by AmeriCorps 90 days in advance of the

due date and will include relevant datasets, instruments, interview questions, etc.

g. By the end of the project period, each awardee is expected to submit a scholarly

manuscript for publication as “open access” to be reviewed and approved by the

Program Officer prior to submission. Please see “Section B.3.” in this document

that specifies how grantees should share grant products and acknowledge

AmeriCorps support in publications and other material.

h. Progress Reports. The Awardee shall complete and submit progress reports in

eGrants to report on progress toward achievement of its approved performance

targets according to the following schedule:

Due Date Reporting Period Covered

July 30 Start of award through June 30

October 30 July 1 – September 30

i. Federal Financial Reports (AmeriCorps. The Awardee shall complete and

submit financial reports in eGrants (Financial Status Reports on the menu tree) to

report the status of all funds. For year 1, the Awardee must submit timely

cumulative financial reports in accordance with AmeriCorps guidelines

according to the following schedule:

Due Date Reporting Period Covered

April 30 Start of award through March 31

October 30 April 1 – September 30

All Awardees must also submit an FFR - Cash Transactions Report on a quarterly

basis to the Department of Health and Human Services Payment Management

System per the Electronic Funds Transfer Agreement.

j. Final Financial Reports. Awardees completing the final year of their award must

submit, in lieu of the last semi-annual financial report, a final financial report in

eGrants. This final financial report is due no later than 120 days after the end of

the project period. Additionally, grantees must submit a quarterly FFR/Federal

Cash Transaction Report to PMS no later than 120 days after the end of the

period of performance.

k. Final Progress Reports. Awardees must submit, in addition to the last annual

progress report, a final progress report. This final report is due no later than 120

days after the end of the period of performance.

F. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT PERIOD AND INCREMENTAL FUNDING

For the purpose of National Service and Civic Engagement Cooperative Agreements, a

project period is the complete length of time an Awardee is funded to complete

approved activities under the agreement. A project period may contain one or more

budget periods. A budget period is a specific interval of time for which Federal funds

are being provided to fund an Awardee's approved activities and budget.

Unless otherwise specified, the Awardee’s Cooperative Agreement covers a three-year

project period. In approving a multiyear project period, AmeriCorps generally makes

an initial award for the first year of operation. Additional funding is contingent upon

satisfactory performance, a recipient’s demonstrated capacity to manage the

Cooperative Agreement and comply with the requirements, and the availability of

funds. AmeriCorps reserves the right to adjust the amount of a Cooperative Agreement

or elect not to continue funding for subsequent years. The project period and the

budget period are noted on the award document.

G. BREACHES OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION (PII)

All recipients need to be prepared for potential breaches of Personally Identified

Information, PII. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines PII as any

information about an individual, including, but not limited to, education, financial

transactions, medical history, and criminal or employment history and information

which can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, such as their name,

social security number, date and place of birth, mother’s maiden name, biometric

records, etc., including any other personal information which is linked or linkable to an

individual. All recipients must ensure they have procedures in place to prepare for and

respond to breaches of PII, and notify the federal awarding agency in the event of a

breach.

If your AmeriCorps grant-funded program or project creates, collects, uses, processes,

stores, maintains, disseminates, discloses or disposes of PII within the scope of that

Federal grant award, or uses or operates a Federal information system, you must

establish procedures to prepare for and respond to a potential breach of PII, including

notice of a breach of PII to AmeriCorps. Grantees experiencing a breach should notify

AmeriCorps’ Office of Information Technology, your AmeriCorps Program Officer, and

AmeriCorps’ Office of Inspector General.