AmeriCorps Application Requirements for Program Development Training

AmeriCorps Application Requirements Andrew MacDonald Mike Long November 15, 2018 Volunteer West Virginia Program Development Training Charleston, WV

Learning Objectives By the end of this presentation, you will understand: Changes and continuities in the 2019 AmeriCorps State and National Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) Key things to include in your 2019 AmeriCorps application 2

Overview of 2019 Application Executive Summary (0 points, but required) Program Design (50 points) Theory of change and logic model (28 points) Evidence Base (16 points) Notice Priority (0 points) Member experience (6 points) Organizational Capability (25 points) Organizational Background and Staffing (9 points) Compliance and Accountability (8 points) Culture That Values Learning (6 points) Member supervision (2 points) Cost Effectiveness and Budget Adequacy (25 points) Evaluation Plan (0 points, but required) 3

Overview of 2019 Application Executive Summary (0 points, but required) Program Design (50 points) Theory of change and logic model (28 points) Evidence Base (16 points) Notice Priority (0 points) Member experience (6 points) Organizational Capability (25 points) Organizational Background and Staffing (9 points) Compliance and Accountability (8 points) Culture That Values Learning (6 points) Member supervision (2 points) Cost Effectiveness and Budget Adequacy (25 points) Evaluation Plan (0 points, but required) 4

Executive Summary Your Executive Summary is a short description of your application. When writing your Executive Summary, you should: Use the template provided in NOFO. The template is unchanged from the 2018 NOFO Be sure to specify: The number of AmeriCorps members you are requesting The service activities AmeriCorps members will perform The number of locations AmeriCorps members will serve Your overall project goal aligned with your logic model Your Focus Area The amount of funding you are requesting from CNCS The amount of funding you will match Specify public and private match funding. 5

2019 AmeriCorps Application Executive Summary (0 points, but required) Program Design (50 points) Theory of change and logic model (28 points) Evidence Base (16 points) Notice Priority (0 points) Member experience (6 points) Organizational Capability (25 points) Organizational Background and Staffing (9 points) Compliance and Accountability (8 points) Culture That Values Learning (6 points) Member supervision (2 points) Cost Effectiveness and Budget Adequacy (25 points) Evaluation Plan (0 Points, but required) 6

Theory of Change and Logic Model Your theory of change articulates why you think your program will work. When writing your theory of change, be sure to: Identify the problem you are seeking to address, including your target population Articulate what your program does to address the problem, including the frequency and duration of your activities and the role of AmeriCorps members and any leveraged volunteers Describe the outcomes you expect to achieve, usually in terms of changes in knowledge, attitudes, behavior, and/or conditions Explain why your AmeriCorps program will be able to achieve these results, including your reason for using national service. 7

Theory of Change and Logic Model Your logic model is a visual representation of your theory of change. There are four standard components of your logic model: Inputs, which are the resources you need to implement your program Activities, which are the tasks or things that you actually do through your program Outputs, which are the immediate products of your activities Outcomes, which are the changes you intend to cause through your program 8

Overview of 2019 NOFO Program Design (50 points) Theory of change and logic model (28 points) Evidence Base (16 points) Notice Priority (0 points) Member experience (6 points) Organizational Capability (25 points) Organizational Background and Staffing (9 points) Compliance and Accountability (8 points) Culture That Values Learning (6 points) Member supervision (2 points) Cost Effectiveness and Budget Adequacy (25 points) Evaluation Plan No Points, but required 9

Evidence Base Evidence base refers to how much evidence you provide that your program will work that is, that your program will be effective at producing the intended outcomes in your logic model o Evidence could be from your own evaluation, from an external evaluation someone else did of your program, or from up to two other studies done of the same intervention you plan to implement. Key changes in the 2019 NOFO The available points for this section increased from 12 to 16 There is no longer a tier for no evidence You can achieve moderate or strong evidence by submitting studies of a different program, as long as you demonstrate how you will implement the same intervention as studied 10

Overview of 2019 NOFO Program Design (50 points) Theory of change and logic model (28 points) Evidence Base (16 points) Notice Priority (0 points) Member experience (6 points) Organizational Capability (25 points) Organizational Background and Staffing (9 points) Compliance and Accountability (8 points) Culture That Values Learning (6 points) Member supervision (2 points) Cost Effectiveness and Budget Adequacy (25 points) Evaluation Plan No Points, but required 11

Notice Priority There are no points awarded to Funding Priority, but CNCS identified the following priority areas: Economic Opportunity Opportunity Youth Healthy Futures Prescription drug and opioid abuse Veterans and Military Families Rural Intermediates Safer Communities Faith-based Organizations This is a new funding priority in 2019 Education Evidence-based interventions 12

Notice Priority There were major changes to the Education priority area in 2019. This year, CNCS is prioritizing Education programs proposing to implement one of 13 specific interventions in three areas: School Readiness Three interventions K-12 Success Nine interventions Post-secondary education support One intervention When assessing alignment, CNCS will look to see if the proposed program shares with the pre-defined intervention: Core components, which means activities and context Intended outcomes, such as improved skills or academic achievement 13

Overview of 2019 NOFO Program Design (50 points) Theory of change and logic model (28 points) Evidence Base (16 points) Notice Priority (0 points) Member experience (6 points) Organizational Capability (25 points) Organizational Background and Staffing (9 points) Compliance and Accountability (8 points) Culture That Values Learning (6 points) Member supervision (2 points) Cost Effectiveness and Budget Adequacy (25 points) Evaluation Plan No Points, but required 14

Member Experience In this section, be sure to describe: How members will gain employment skills through their service How you will recruit members from the communities where they serve How you will encourage an inclusive and diverse culture Changes from 2018 NOFO You no longer need to address how the program helps members learn about the community problem and the community where they serve You no longer need to show that members will have opportunities to reflect on their experience 15

Overview of 2019 NOFO Program Design (50 points) Theory of change and logic model (28 points) Evidence Base (16 points) Notice Priority (0 points) Member experience (6 points) Organizational Capability (25 points) Organizational Background and Staffing (9 points) Compliance and Accountability (8 points) Culture That Values Learning (6 points) Member supervision (2 points) Cost Effectiveness and Budget Adequacy (25 points) Evaluation Plan No Points, but required 16

Organizational Background and Staffing Describe your staffing structure, including roles and responsibilities. Include those responsible for implementing the AmeriCorps program, such as: AmeriCorps Director Volunteer Coordinators Site Supervisors Include anybody responsible for oversight and monitoring, such as: Executive Director Program Director Board of Directors No changes from 2018 in this section. 17

Overview of 2019 NOFO Program Design (50 points) Theory of change and logic model (28 points) Evidence Base (16 points) Notice Priority (0 points) Member experience (6 points) Organizational Capability (25 points) Organizational Background and Staffing (9 points) Compliance and Accountability (8 points) Culture That Values Learning (6 points) Member supervision (2 points) Cost Effectiveness and Budget Adequacy (25 points) Evaluation Plan No Points, but required 18

Compliance and Accountability To demonstrate your capacity for compliance and accountability, you need to address two items: Monitoring and Oversight Plan Focused on CNCS rules and regulations, e.g., prohibited activities, criminal background checks, etc. Evaluation report Only required if you are in applying for your third grant cycle There is no longer a requirement for a learning memo 19

Overview of 2019 NOFO Program Design (50 points) Theory of change and logic model (28 points) Evidence Base (16 points) Notice Priority (0 points) Member experience (6 points) Organizational Capability (25 points) Organizational Background and Staffing (9 points) Compliance and Accountability (8 points) Culture That Values Learning (6 points) Member supervision (2 points) Cost Effectiveness and Budget Adequacy (25 points) Evaluation Plan No Points, but required 20

Culture That Values Learning To demonstrate you have a culture that values learning, your application should show that your board, management, and staff collect and use information, including performance data, for learning and decision making. Identify who reviews data and how often Regular Board meetings, management committee, etc Specify what data indicators you have used Explain how these are aligned with your logic model Describe tangible changes you have made because of data Changes could be related to how you recruit beneficiaries, how you train members, what activities you use, what your intended outcomes are, etc. 21

Overview of 2019 NOFO Program Design (50 points) Theory of change and logic model (28 points) Evidence Base (16 points) Notice Priority (0 points) Member experience (6 points) Organizational Capability (25 points) Organizational Background and Staffing (9 points) Compliance and Accountability (8 points) Culture That Values Learning (6 points) Member supervision (2 points) Cost Effectiveness and Budget Adequacy (25 points) Evaluation Plan No Points, but required 22

Member Supervision To show how your organization will handle Member Supervision, your application should: Identify staff who will be AmeriCorps supervisor(s) responsible for providing guidance and support to AmeriCorps members Describe how you will train supervisors on AmeriCorps rules and regulations. No changes from 2018 in this section. 23

Overview of 2019 NOFO Program Design (50 points) Theory of change and logic model (28 points) Evidence Base (16 points) Notice Priority (0 points) Member experience (6 points) Organizational Capability (25 points) Organizational Background and Staffing (9 points) Compliance and Accountability (8 points) Culture That Values Learning (6 points) Member supervision (2 points) Cost Effectiveness and Budget Adequacy (25 points) Evaluation Plan No Points, but required 24

Cost Effectiveness and Budget Adequacy There is no narrative section associated with this component of your application. The key is to make sure your budget: Is accurate, with no mathematical errors or missing items Is compliant, meaning you follow CNCS guidance on what is allowable, eligible for match, etc. Is reviewable, meaning you provide sufficient information to understand what each line item means There are no changes from 2018 in this section. 25

Overview of 2019 NOFO Program Design (50 points) Theory of change and logic model (28 points) Evidence Base (16 points) Notice Priority (0 points) Member experience (6 points) Organizational Capability (25 points) Organizational Background and Staffing (9 points) Compliance and Accountability (8 points) Culture That Values Learning (6 points) Member supervision (2 points) Cost Effectiveness and Budget Adequacy (25 points) Evaluation Plan No Points, but required 26

Evaluation Plan Requirements Re-competing Grantees Large grantees (i.e., those that receive >$500K in funding) are required to conduct an external impact evaluation Smaller grantees are required to conduct some type of evaluation, but these: o Could be internal or external o Could be process or outcome First time applicants do not have to conduct an evaluation, but do need to submit a data collection plan. There are no changes from 2018 in this section. 27