§ 12581 — Provision Of Assistance And Approved National Service Positions

(a) Of the funds allocated by the Corporation for provision of assistance under section 12571(a) of this title for a fiscal year, the Corporation shall reserve 1 percent for grants to the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands upon approval by the Corporation of an application submitted under section 12582 of this title. The Corporation shall allot for a grant to each such territory under this subsection for a fiscal year an amount that bears the same ratio to 1 percent of the allocated funds for that fiscal year as the population of the territory bears to the total population of all such territories. (b) Of the funds allocated by the Corporation for provision of assistance under section 12571(a) of this title for a fiscal year, the Corporation shall reserve at least 1 percent for grants to Indian tribes to be allotted by the Corporation on a competitive basis. (c) The Corporation shall ensure that each individual selected during a fiscal year for assignment as a VISTA volunteer under title I of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4951 et seq.) or as a participant in the National Civilian Community Corps Program under division E shall receive the national service educational award described in division D if the individual satisfies the eligibility requirements for the award. Funds for approved national service positions required by this paragraph for a fiscal year shall be deducted from the total funding for approved national service positions to be available for distribution under subsections (d) and (e) for that fiscal year. (1) Of the funds allocated by the Corporation for provision of assistance under section 12571(a) of this title for a fiscal year and subject to section 12585(d)(3) of this title, the Corporation shall reserve not more than 62.7 percent for grants awarded on a competitive basis to States specified in subsection (e)(1) for national service programs, to nonprofit organizations seeking to operate a national service program in 2 or more of those States, and to Indian tribes. (2) In the consideration of applications for such grants, the Corporation shall ensure the equitable treatment of applicants from urban areas, applicants from rural areas, applicants of diverse sizes (as measured by the number of participants served), applicants from States, and applicants from national nonprofit organizations. (3) In making grants under this subsection for a fiscal year, the Corporation shall make an effort to allocate not less than 10 percent of the financial assistance and approved national service positions provided through the grants for that fiscal year to eligible entities proposing to carry out encore service programs, unless the Corporation does not receive a sufficient number of applications of adequate quality to justify making that percentage available to those eligible entities. (4) In making grants under this subsection for a fiscal year, the Corporation— (A) shall select 2 or more of the national service corps described in section 12572(a) of this title to receive grants under this subsection; and (B) may select national service programs described in section 12572(b) of this title to receive such grants. (1) Of the funds allocated by the Corporation for provision of assistance under section 12571(a) of this title for a fiscal year, the Corporation shall make a grant to each of the several States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico that submits an application under section 12582 of this title that is approved by the Corporation. (2) The Corporation shall allot for a grant to each such State under this subsection for a fiscal year an amount that bears the same ratio to 35.3 percent of the allocated funds for that fiscal year as the population of the State bears to the total population of the several States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, in compliance with paragraph (3). (3) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), the minimum grant made available to each State approved by the Corporation under paragraph (1) for each fiscal year shall be at least $600,000, or 0.5 percent of the amount allocated for the State formula under this subsection for the fiscal year, whichever is greater. (f) If a State or territory fails to apply for, or fails to give notice to the Corporation of its intent to apply for, an allotment under this section, or the Corporation does not approve the application consistent with section 12585 of this title, the Corporation may use the amount that would have been allotted under this section to the State or territory to— (1) make grants (and provide approved national service positions in connection with such grants) to other community-based entities under section 12571 of this title that propose to carry out national service programs in such State or territory; and (2) make reallotments to other States or territories with approved applications submitted under section 12582 of this title, from the allotment funds not used to make grants as described in paragraph (1). (g) The Corporation shall make an allotment of assistance (including the provision of approved national service positions) to a recipient under this section only pursuant to an application submitted by a State or other applicant under section 12582 of this title. (h) The Corporation may not approve positions as approved national service positions under this division for a fiscal year in excess of the number of such positions for which the Corporation has sufficient available funds in the National Service Trust for that fiscal year, taking into consideration funding needs for national service educational awards under division D based on completed service. If appropriations are insufficient to provide the maximum allowable national service educational awards under division D for all eligible participants, the Corporation is authorized to make necessary and reasonable adjustments to program rules. (1) The Corporation may enter into agreements with persons or entities who offer to sponsor national service positions for which the person or entity will be responsible for supplying the funds necessary to provide a national service educational award. The distribution of those approved national service positions shall be made pursuant to the agreement, and the creation of those positions shall not be taken into consideration in determining the number of approved national service positions to be available for distribution under this section. (2) Funds provided pursuant to an agreement under paragraph (1) shall be deposited in the National Service Trust established in section 12601 of this title until such time as the funds are needed. (1) From amounts appropriated for a fiscal year pursuant to the authorization of appropriations in section 12681(a)(2) of this title and allocated to carry out this division and subject to the limitation in such section, the Corporation may reserve such amount as the Corporation considers to be appropriate for the purpose of making assistance available under subsections (b) and (c) of section 12576 of this title. (2) The amount reserved under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year may not exceed $10,000,000. (3) The Corporation shall reserve such amount, and any amount reserved under subsection (k) from funds appropriated and allocated to carry out this division, before allocating funds for the provision of assistance under any other provision of this division. (1) To make grants to public or private nonprofit organizations to increase the participation of individuals with disabilities in national service and for demonstration activities in furtherance of this purpose, and subject to the limitation in paragraph (2), the Chief Executive Officer shall reserve not less than 2 percent from the amounts, appropriated to carry out this division and divisions D, E, and H for each fiscal year. (2) The amount reserved under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year may not exceed $20,000,000. (3) The Chief Executive Officer may use the funds reserved under paragraph (1), and not distributed to make grants under this subsection for other activities described in section 12681(a)(2) of this title. (A) From amounts appropriated for a fiscal year to provide financial assistance under the national service laws, the Corporation may provide assistance in the form of fixed-amount grants in an amount determined by the Corporation under paragraph (2) rather than on the basis of actual costs incurred by a program. (B) Other than fixed-amount grants to support programs described in section 12581a of this title, for the 1-year period beginning on the effective date of the Serve America Act, the Corporation may provide assistance in the form of fixed-amount grants to programs that only offer full-time positions. (2) A fixed-amount grant authorized by this subsection shall be in an amount determined by the Corporation that is— (A) significantly less than the reasonable and necessary costs of administering the program supported by the grant; and (B) based on an amount per individual enrolled in the program receiving the grant, taking into account— (i) the capacity of the entity carrying out the program to manage funds and achieve programmatic results; (ii) the number of approved national service positions, approved silver scholar positions, or approved summer of service positions for the program, if applicable; (iii) the proposed design of the program; (iv) whether the program provides service to, or involves the participation of, disadvantaged youth or otherwise would reasonably incur a relatively higher level of costs; and (v) such other factors as the Corporation may consider under section 12585 of this title in considering applications for assistance. (3) In awarding a fixed-amount grant under this subsection, the Corporation— (A) shall require the grant recipient— (i) to return a pro rata amount of the grant funds based upon the difference between the number of hours served by a participant and the minimum number of hours for completion of a term of service (as established by the Corporation); (ii) to report on the program’s performance on standardized measures and performance levels established by the Corporation; (iii) to cooperate with any evaluation activities undertaken by the Corporation; and (iv) to provide assurances that additional funds will be raised in support of the program, in addition to those received under the national service laws; and (B) may adopt other terms and conditions that the Corporation considers necessary or appropriate based on the relative risks (as determined by the Corporation) associated with any application for a fixed-amount grant. (4) Limitations on administrative costs and matching fund documentation requirements shall not apply to fixed-amount grants provided in accordance with this subsection. (5) Nothing in this subsection shall relieve a grant recipient of the responsibility to comply with the requirements of chapter 75 of title 31 or other requirements of Office of Management and Budget Circular A–133.