PRESENT: Ed Barrett, Rob Meinders, Jacinda Goodwin, Becky Hayes Boober, Nate Rudy (joined after discussion of continuations), Maryalice Crofton
The members convened at 12:00 pm using the virtual meeting technology.
AmeriCorps Competitive applications. Task force members reviewed the continuation applications from Maine Conservation Corps and KVCAP. They also did the tech review and final scoring for a new application from GPCOG. The recommendations to the Commission were presented for approval. The wording of motions for the 12/16 board meeting were accepted unanimously as presented below.
CONTINUATIONS. Draft motions presented by Rob Meinders, supported by Ed Barrett, and unanimously approved.
Motion For Commission: Reminder that this is a Fixed Amount grant so no match is required.
- MOVE that the Dept. of Agriculture, Conservation, Forestry/Maine Conservation Corps program be recommended for year 3 funding of the 3-year grant at the level of $707,020 Federal Share, supporting 30.74-member service years distributed over 60 slots. The proposed cost per member service year is $23,000.
Reason for recommendation: The program enrollment in the year completed was only 69% of positions and the program retained only 79% of those enrolled. Among the slots awarded, the 675hr slots were under-enrolled by 57%. The budget proposed for the new award requested increases the number of 675hr slots. Recommendation is that only 20 positions be authorized and the funding request reduced by 10.6 MSY (48 requested, 20 authorized; reduction of 28 X 0.381 MSY per slot = 10.6).
This recommendation follows the Commission policy on grant continuations that states, for part time positions less than 900 hours absent circumstances beyond grantees control, the Commission will reduce approved part time positions. The task force acknowledges that other part-time slot types were less than 85% enrolled (see below). The recommendation addresses the worst level of enrollment.
It is noted that the application did not provide any information on how recruitment/enrollment will change nor did it reconcile the listing of 79 positions in the Source of Funds screen with the 88 positions requested. It is unclear how much the living allowance will increase although an increase is given as the basis for requesting more funding.
Motion For Commission: Reminder that this is a Fixed Amount grant so no match is required.
- MOVE that the KVCAP-Educare/First4 AmeriCorps program be recommended for year 2 funding of the 3-year grant at the level of $265,896 Federal Share, supporting 12.31-member service years distributed over 25 slots. The proposed cost per member service year is $21,600.
Reason for recommendation: The program had strong performance in its prior 3-year grant and is now in the first year of a new 3-year cycle. It has operated for 3 months before needing to submit for the next year of funding. There is no performance data in this current year to use in assessment. The task force will review performance indicators from the March 30 report to determine if resources requested should continue to receive support. It may recommend modifications during the federal agency resolution phase of finalizing the next annual award.
Note: Proposal for year 2 includes expanding member placements to Androscoggin County Headstart sites. This would mean the program covers 4 counties (Kennebec, Somerset, York, Androscoggin).
NEW APPLICATIONS. Draft motion presented by Jacinda Goodwin, supported by Ed Barrett, and unanimously approved.
Motion for Commission: Reminder that this is a Fixed Amount proposal so no match is required.
- MOVE that the Greater Portland Council of Government’s AmeriCorps proposal for a 3-year fixed amount grant be forwarded to the national competition if corrections and modifications listed in the task force report can be negotiated before the federal submission deadline of January 4, 2023. The first-year funding request of $276,000 Federal Share supporting 12-member service years distributed over 12 slots. The proposed cost per member service year is $23,000.
PUBLIC HEALTH AMERICORPS APPLICATION.
There was one submission under the Public Health AmeriCorps competition. Peer Reviewers recommended it not be considered further due to the multiple weaknesses. The report of peer review will be posted for the board. It is a concept which could be supported and reviewers were actually disappointed it was not stronger. The applicant should be invited to apply for a planning grant and prepare to submit for a competition next year.
CLIMATE CORPS GRANTEE
Downeast Community Partners met the condition of the award. It was able to increase service time by a month within the constraints of the funding. They shared that the organization received funding for a workforce development project which overlaps considerably with the training for Climate Corps members. The agency did not want to create economic “classes” or convey any value of service vs work by offering Climate Corps members a living allowance substantially below that of the trainees.
There being no other business to discuss the members dispersed at 12:17 pm.