§ 5001 — Grants And Contracts For Volunteer Service Projects

(a) In order to help retired individuals and working older individuals to share their experiences, abilities, and skills to improve their communities and themselves through service in their communities, the Director is authorized to make grants to State agencies (established or designated pursuant to section 3025(a)(1) of this title) or grants to or contracts with other public and nonprofit private agencies and organizations to pay part or all of the costs for the development or operation, or both, of volunteer service projects under this section, if the Director determines, in accordance with regulations the Director shall prescribe, that— (1) volunteers will not be reimbursed for other than transportation, meals, and other out-of-pocket expenses incident to the provision of services under this part; (2) only individuals 55 years of age or older will be enrolled as volunteers to provide services under this part (except for administrative purposes), and such services will be performed in the community where such individuals reside or in nearby communities either (A) on publicly owned and operated facilities or projects, or (B) on local projects sponsored by private nonprofit organizations (other than political parties), other than projects involving the construction, operation, or maintenance of so much of any facility used or to be used for sectarian instruction or as a place for religious worship; (3) the project includes such short-term training as may be necessary to make the most effective use of the skills and talents of participating volunteers and individuals, and provide for the payment of the reasonable expenses of such volunteers while undergoing such training; and (4) the project is being designed and implemented with the advice of persons competent in the field of service to be provided, as well as persons who have expertise in the management of volunteers and the needs of older individuals. (b) In no event shall the required proportion of the local contribution (including in-kind contributions) for a grant or contract made under this section be more than 10 per centum in the first year of assistance under this section, 20 per centum in the second such year, and 30 per centum in any subsequent such years: Provided, however, That the Director may make exceptions in cases of demonstrated need, determined (in accordance with regulations which the Director shall prescribe) on the basis of the financial capability of a particular recipient of assistance under this section, to permit a lesser local contribution proportion than any required contribution proportion established by the Director in generally applicable regulations. (c) The Director shall not award any grant or contract under this part for a project in any State to any agency or organization unless, if such State has a State agency established or designated pursuant to section 3025(a)(1) of this title, such agency itself is the recipient of the award or such agency has been afforded at least forty-five days in which to review the proj­ect application and make recommendations thereon. (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, volunteer service under this part shall not be deemed employment for any purpose which the Director finds is not fully consistent with the provisions and in furtherance of the purpose of this part. (1) Beginning with fiscal year 2013 and for each fiscal year thereafter, each grant or contract awarded under this section, for such a year, shall be— (A) measures established under subsection (g); and (B) awarded through a competitive process described in paragraph (2). (A) The Corporation shall promulgate regulations establishing the competitive process required under paragraph (1)(B), and make such regulations available to the public, not later than 18 months after April 21, 2009. The Corporation shall consult with the directors of programs receiving grants under this section during the development and implementation of the competitive process. (B) The competitive process required by subparagraph (A) shall— (i) include the use of a peer review panel, including members with expertise in senior service and aging, to review applications; (ii) include site inspections of programs assisted under this section, as appropriate; (iii) in the case of an applicant who has previously received a grant or contract for a program under this section, include an evaluation of the program conducted by a review team, as described in subsection (f); (iv) ensure that— (I) the grants or contracts awarded under this section through the competitive process for a grant or contract cycle support an aggregate number of volunteer service years for a given geographic service area that is not less than the aggregate number of volunteer service years supported under this section for such service area for the previous grant or contract cycle; (II) the grants or contracts awarded under this section through the competitive process for a grant or contract cycle maintain a similar program distribution, as compared to the program distribution for the previous grant or contract cycle; and (III) every effort is made to minimize the disruption to volunteers; and (v) include the use of performance measures, outcomes, and other criteria established under subsection (g). (1) Notwithstanding section 5052 of this title, and effective beginning 180 days after April 21, 2009, each grant or contract under this section that expires in fiscal year 2011, 2012, or 2013 shall be subject to an evaluation process conducted by a review team described in paragraph (4). The evaluation process shall be carried out, to the maximum extent practicable, in fiscal year 2010, 2011, and 2012, respectively. (2) The Corporation shall promulgate regulations establishing the evaluation process required under paragraph (1), and make such regulations available to the public, not later than 18 months after April 21, 2009. The Corporation shall consult with the directors of programs receiving grants under this section during the development and implementation of the evaluation process. (3) The evaluation process required under paragraph (1) shall— (A) include performance measures, outcomes, and other criteria established under subsection (g); and (B) evaluate the extent to which the recipient of the grant or contract meets or exceeds such performance measures, outcomes, and other criteria through a review of the recipient. (4) To the maximum extent practicable, the Corporation shall provide that each evaluation required by this subsection is conducted by a review team that— (A) includes individuals who are knowledgeable about programs assisted under this section; (B) includes current or former employees of the Corporation who are knowledgeable about programs assisted under this section; (C) includes representatives of communities served by volunteers of programs assisted under this section; and (D) shall receive periodic training to ensure quality and consistency across evaluations. (5) The findings of an evaluation described in this subsection of a program described in paragraph (1) shall— (A) be presented to the recipient of the grant or contract for such program in a timely, transparent, and uniform manner that conveys information of program strengths and weaknesses and assists with program improvement; and (B) be used as the basis for program improvement, and for the provision of training and technical assistance. (1) The Corporation shall, with particular attention to the different needs of rural and urban programs assisted under this section, develop performance measures, outcomes, and other criteria for programs assisted under this section that— (A) include an assessment of the strengths and areas in need of improvement of a program assisted under this section; (B) include an assessment of whether such program has adequately addressed population and community-wide needs; (C) include an assessment of the efforts of such program to collaborate with other community-based organizations, units of government, and entities providing services to seniors, taking into account barriers to such collaboration that such program may encounter; (D) include a protocol for fiscal management that shall be used to assess such program’s compliance with the program requirements for the appropriate use of Federal funds; (E) include an assessment of whether the program is in conformity with the eligibility, outreach, enrollment, and other requirements for programs assisted under this section; and (F) contain other measures of performance developed by the Corporation, in consultation with the review teams described in subsection (f)(4). (A) The performance measures, outcomes, and other criteria established under this subsection may be updated or modified as necessary, in consultation with directors of programs under this section, but not earlier than fiscal year 2014. (B) For each fiscal year preceding fiscal year 2014, the Corporation may, after consulting with directors of the programs under this section, determine that a performance measure, outcome, or criterion established under this subsection is operationally problematic, and may, in consultation with such directors and after notifying the authorizing committees— (i) eliminate the use of that performance measure, outcome or criterion; or (ii) modify that performance measure, outcome, or criterion as necessary to render it no longer operationally problematic. (3) In the event that a program does not meet one or more of the performance measures, outcome, or criteria established under this subsection, the Corporation shall initiate procedures to terminate the program in accordance with section 5052 of this title. (h) The Chief Executive Officer shall develop procedures by which programs assisted under this section may receive training and technical assistance, which may include regular monitoring visits to assist programs in meeting the performance measures, outcomes, and criteria. (1) Notwithstanding subsection (g)(3) or section 5052 of this title, the Corporation shall continue to fund a program assisted under this section that has failed to meet or exceed the performance measures, outcomes, and other criteria established under this subsection for not more than 12 months if the competitive process established under subsection (e) does not result in a successor grant or contract for such program, in order to minimize the disruption to volunteers and the disruption of services. (2) In the case where a program is continued under paragraph (1), the Corporation shall conduct outreach regarding the availability of a grant under this section for the area served by such program and establish a new competition for awarding the successor program to the continued program. The recipient operating the continued program shall remain eligible for the new competition. (3) The Corporation may monitor the recipient of a grant or contract supporting a program continued under paragraph (1) during this period and may provide training and technical assistance to assist such recipient in meeting the performance measures for such program. (j) The Corporation shall develop and disseminate an online resource guide for programs under this section not later than 180 days after April 21, 2009, which shall include— (1) examples of high-performing programs assisted under this section; (2) corrective actions for underperforming programs; and (3) examples of meaningful outcome-based performance measures, outcomes, and criteria that capture a program’s mission and priorities.