Section 610.50  Program Application Procedures

 

a)         Non-profit organizations, consortia of non-profit organizations, state agencies, higher education institutions, units of local government, and AmeriCorps programs are eligible to apply to the Advisory Council for national service funds under the Act.

 

b)         Eligible applicants may apply for one or more of the following grants:

 

1)         Planning grant – The purpose of a planning grant is to bring a program to the verge of implementation so that it may compete successfully for operating assistance in the following grant cycle.

 

2)         Operating grant – The purpose of an operating grant is to support an organization that is ready to implement a fully developed plan for a new or expanded national service program.

 

3)         Educational award only – The purpose of this award is to provide national service educational awards to programs that do not apply for operating grants but meet the AmeriCorps program requirements and are judged to be high quality according to the criteria in this Part.

 

c)         All applicants shall use application forms prepared and approved by the Advisory Council. The Lieutenant Governor's Office of Voluntary Action shall provide any interested parties upon request with application forms and descriptive information regarding the AmeriCorps program. Application requests shall be directed to the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, James R. Thompson Center, Suite 15-200, Chicago, Illinois 60601.

 

d)         In addition to the use of approved forms, each application shall be submitted according to the following format. Applications shall be typed or printed in a font type not smaller than twelve (12) points. Except for the approved forms, all other documents included in the application shall be double-sided (each side counting as one page) and double-spaced.  Applicants seeking support for an operating grant or an educational award only shall submit a single-program application package, and an applicant seeking support for a planning grant shall submit a planning grant application package. Each application package shall be organized and completed according to the applicable outline in either subsection (e) or (f) of this Section. Applicants seeking renewal of funding for an existing AmeriCorps program shall provide information in the application package that relates to the program's experience while receiving funding under the Act in addition to the information required of all applicants for the upcoming funding cycle.

 

e)         A single-program application package shall consist of the following and shall be organized in the following order:

 

1)         Completed title page form.

 

2)         Table of contents page, not to exceed one (1) page in length, and providing the page numbers of each item requested in the application package.

 

3)         Application summary page, not to exceed one (1) page in length, and providing an overview of the following:

 

A)        Specific needs to be met, particularly as they relate to the national priorities of educational, public safety, human, and environmental needs as established by the Act.

 

B)        Key elements of the program design.

 

C)        Recruitment goals, including the percentage of members to be drawn from the national recruitment system, if any.

 

D)        A description of the administering organization and identification of the primary program partners, if any.

 

4)         Completed program mission and objectives form.

 

5)         Program narrative, not to exceed twenty (20) pages in length, and organized and labeled in the stipulated categories and providing the following information in a narrative form with as much specificity as possible:

 

A)        Need(s) To Be Met and Appropriateness For National Service.

 

i)          Needs. Identification of specific needs that the program will address and how these needs relate to the national priorities and how and why these needs are appropriately or uniquely addressed by a national service program. If the needs do not relate to a State or national priority area, an explanation why these needs were selected shall be provided.

 

ii)         Process. Description of the process by which the needs were identified, including specifying who was involved   in identifying the needs and the extent of involvement of the residents of the community in which the service will be provided in the needs assessment activities.

 

B)        Program Design.

 

i)          Program Concept. Description of the basic concept for the design of the program, including the nature of the specific service activities to be performed by the members; the structure of the program; and its location. Description of any institutional or programmatic collaborations or partnerships that will be involved in operating the program, including the extent to which the program builds on existing infrastructure.

 

ii)         Service Activities. Description of the activities in which members will engage and how these projects or activities will result in direct, measurable service that addresses the identified needs. Description of a typical week in the life of program members with concrete examples of the types of activities or duties members will perform.

 

iii)         Relation To Need. Description of how the service activities respond to the identified needs and meet the program objectives.

 

iv)        Member Training and Support. Description of how the members will be trained, supported, or otherwise prepared for their assignments or placements. Description of the key elements of the member training, in-service education, or service-learning curriculum employed to improve member's skills, prepare them for placement, and foster positive civic values.

 

v)         Member Placement and Supervision. Description of how members will be placed (i.e., in teams or individually) and matched with an assignment.  Description of how service sponsors or host-sites will be oriented and prepared for placement and how members will be supervised within the program.

 

C)        Member Profile, Recruitment Strategy, and Benefits.

 

i)          Number and Characteristics of Members. Identification of the expected number of members, including the total number and type (full-time or part-time), and characteristics, attributes or skills of members, including racial or ethnic background, socioeconomic status, gender, and educational attainment, to be recruited in the program. For programs recruiting fewer than twenty (20) members, an explanation why this smaller number is appropriate to the purpose and design of the program.

 

ii)         Member Recruitment. Description of the methods that will be used or strategies undertaken to recruit members and the methods and strategies to achieve the program's recruitment goals.

 

iii)         Member Selection. Description of the strategies to be used to select members. Description of selection criteria, including minimum qualifications for members or requirements to possess any specialized skills to carry out service assignments. Determination as to whether any members will be drawn from the national recruitment system.

 

iv)        Member Benefits. Description of the benefits members will receive, including the amount of the living allowance provided to each member. Explanation of how national service educational awards will be apportioned among program members, and if not provided to all members or to all members equally, an explanation of the program's rationale. Description of any alternative post-service benefits that might be used.

 

D)        Internal Evaluation and Monitoring Activities.

 

i)          Internal Evaluation and Monitoring. Explanation of how the program will monitor its progress toward the program objectives and how it will assess, on an ongoing basis, the quality of services and the satisfaction of both the members and the individuals or institutions served.  Description of how the program will collect the required descriptive and demographic data.

 

ii)         Previous Evaluation. If an applicant is proposing to replicate an existing program in other areas or is requesting a renewal for funding of an existing program, a statement as to whether the program proposed for replication, expansion, or renewal has been evaluated. If so, identification of who performed the evaluation and description of the results of the evaluation regarding community and participant impact. If the program has not been evaluated, a description of any evidence of successful performance or of a track record that will demonstrate its appropriateness for replication, expansion, or renewal.

 

E)         Institutional and Personnel Information.

 

i)          Principal Staff. Description of the background, experience, and major accomplishments of the program director and principal staff and how their qualifications relate to their duties and responsibilities for the proposed programs. If individuals have not yet been hired for these positions, a description of the qualifications candidates must fulfill.

 

ii)         Training. Description of the kind of orientation and training, if any, the program will provide for staff.

 

iii)         Institutional Strengths. Description of the administering organization's past experience and institutional capacity to operate or coordinate a program comparable to the program(s) proposed, including a description of the institutional resources or expertise the administering organization(s) will provide that will contribute to the overall success of the program.

 

6)         Completed budget form page and a budget narrative.

 

7)         Completed assurances signature form.

 

8)         Completed certification signature form.

 

f)          A planning grant application package shall consist of the following and shall be organized in the following order:

 

1)         Completed title page form.

 

2)         Table of contents page, not to exceed one (1) page in length and providing the page numbers of each item requested in the application package.

 

3)         Application summary page, not to exceed one (1) page in length, and providing an overview of the following:

 

A)        Specific needs to be met, particularly as they relate to the national priorities of educational, public safety, human, and environmental needs as established by the Act.

 

B)        The mission and objectives for the planning process.

 

C)        An overview of how the program will address the identified needs.

 

D)        A description of the administering organization and identification of its leadership and primary program partners, if any.

 

4)         Program narrative, not to exceed twenty (20) pages in length, and organized and labeled in the stipulated categories and providing the following information in a narrative form with as much specificity as possible:

 

A)        Needs To Be Targeted.

 

i)          Need(s). Identification and specific description of the need(s) from the national priorities which the program seeks to address.

 

ii)         Process. Description of the process by which the needs were identified, including specifying who was involved in identifying the needs.

 

iii)         Community Resources. Description of how the proposed program will build on or collaborate with other programs in the community, including federal programs that address these needs.

 

B)        Planning Activities.

 

i)          Program Concept. Description of the basic concept that has been developed for meeting the identified need(s), and identification of the specific objectives for the planning phase.

 

ii)         Planning Process. Description of the anticipated planning process, the tasks to be carried out, and the timeline of the process.

 

iii)         Community Involvement. Description of persons or entities, such as prospective members, representatives of the community served, community-based agencies with a demonstrated record of experience in providing services, businesses, and labor organizations, to be involved in the planning process and how they as a group reflect the community to be served. Identification of the individuals or organizations, if any, responsible for particular tasks.

 

C)        Institutional and Personnel Information.

 

i)          Institutional Strengths. Description of the qualifications of the administering organization and its past experience and track record in designing new programs.

 

ii)         Principal Staff. Description of the background, experience, and major accomplishments of the program director in designing new programs. If a program director has not yet been hired, a description of the qualifications a candidate must fulfill.

 

5)         Completed budget form page and a budget narrative.

 

6)         Completed assurances signature form.

 

7)         Completed certification signature form.