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ENCORE AGENDA: Kennedy, Hatch push for Encore Fellowships

Posted 09/12/2008 - 9:49am
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ENCORE AGENDA: Kennedy, Hatch push for Encore Fellowships

At the ServiceNation Summit in New York City, Senators Edward M. Kennedy and Orrin Hatch introduced “a sweeping new national service bill” to recruit 175,000 Americans for work in health, education, environmental protection and anti-poverty programs, the Boston Globe reports.

The legislation includes provisions for Encore Fellowships aimed at older adults making the transition from their primary careers to encore careers in areas of critical need, such as education, health care and nonprofit management.

“While many volunteer programs now attract young college graduates willing to work for low salaries before settling into better-paid jobs, the Kennedy-Hatch plan would give older Baby Boomers an opportunity to take time off for community service, perhaps transitioning into a second career,” the Boston Globe reported.

The Kennedy-Hatch plan would provide approximately $5 billion over five years. Corps members would be paid stipends or modest salaries for a year of work on specific national problems. Employers could get tax cuts for giving workers time off to do community service. A venture capital fund would invest in new service organizations.

Sen. John McCain, who discussed his own proposals for national service at the ServiceNation candidates’ forum September 11, is a cosponsor of the Kennedy-Hatch bill. His office said the bill includes:

  • Service Learning: Authorizes new grant program to make direct competitive grants to eligible partnerships to carry out service-learning programs with disengaged youth in secondary schools and authorizes the Corporation for National Service to designate up 20 institutions each year as “Campuses of Service.” While the grants authorized under this section come directly from the Corporation to the recipients, state service commissions and departments of education are listed as eligible applicants, allowing state agencies to compete alongside school district partnerships.

  • Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Establishes a “Commission on Cross-Sector Solutions to America’s Problems,” Community Solutions Funds and Innovation Fellowships.

  • Service Corps: Directs the Corporation to establish new accounts to fund grant programs including Education Corps, Community Health Access Corps, Clean Energy Corps, Opportunity Corps and Reserve Corps.

  • Civic Health Index: The Corporation will establish a “Civic Health Index” and will provide data on the progress and effectiveness of various civic programs and initiatives.

  • Serve America And Encore Fellowships: Serve America Fellowships are administered almost entirely at the state level, allowing the states to continue to be laboratories of innovation for volunteer service programs. Eligible organizations also include faith-based organizations. Encore Fellowships provide another incentive to Baby Boomers to utilize their experience in the volunteer sector. Reports indicate that the transferrable education award is a significant incentive for potential participants.

  • Volunteer Generation Fund(VGF): Directs the Corporation to award competitive three- to five-year grants to support the recruitment, management and training of volunteers to carry out activities benefiting low-income individuals. VGF will increase the capacity of smaller groups, including churches and faith-based organizations, to engage more Americans in helping their communities.

  • International Programs: The bill will improve upon and expand the existing Volunteers for Prosperity Program, providing opportunities for international volunteer service. The bill will expand the Peace Corps, allowing for the improvement of its long-standing mission to provide service in developing countries.

Roy Joslin

Why do many American's hate Gov't helping fellow Americans?

I read the Boston Globe article as well…including the comments.  Many of the comments were downright hateful.  It seems that any government money spent to help real people in real communities holds no value.  Older Americans are the most under-utilized and under-appreciated group in the nation.  Their productivity needs to be tapped and tapped soon if the country is to get back on the right path. 

Find Roy at: PS wisdom: http://www.pswisdom.com/ , LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/RoyJoslin , Twitter: http://twitter.com/royjoslin

John Keyon

Boston Globe Article

I read the article in the Boston Globe, and what was really striking were the comments. It seemed the majority were not in favor of the Serve America Act. I have to say that it is understandable. The lies and misinformation put out by this administration, and a complicit mainstream media is enough to doubt any good intent coming from government. But at least one of the commentators were also guilty of misinformation. A quote from comment #13 “Every totalitarian government promotes government service.” Free nations like Switzerland did it the right way and remained uninvaded and non-UN for over half a century..”. I wonder if the commentator knows that Switzerland has mandatory service in their country’s militia. BTW, I think Switzerland is a good model for democracy.

Ironically, the Serve America Act seems the one hopeful piece of legislation that has the potential to make real change possible. It is a way to make inroads into peoples everyday lives through shared activities, and conversation. Talk about a grassroots movement for change, this could be it. We as Americans have very little practice with democratic processes. We even have to put people in free speech zone cages, for fear they may say…what? Maybe by working together for a common good, we’ll learn to be more outspoken, and active about our concerns. I can only hope.

Joseph Concordia

Encore Fellowships/Employment

Voluntary service, without pay, is noble but such a law will also result in paid jobs for the administration and management of the programs that the bill will spawn. This can be an employment opprtunity for seniors as well as a place to volunteer their time.  With a bill primarilly formulated to address encore activity would it not be an excellent vehicle to give tangible financial assistance to seniors, a demographic that is losing more quality of life factors faster than any other segment of the population. 

Let’s ask the senators to be sure to have wording in this bill that gives preference to seniors for "all" jobs created by this law.  I suggest the bill, if it is intended to set out criteria for job applicant qualifications based on a point system like civil service job applications, then the point system should have points added in relation to age of applicant.  Older applicants get more points than younger applicants accross the board.  Older applicants get bonus points for years of relevant experience on a non-lineal scale, i.e. 5-yrs experience in the 15 to 20 year level is worth twice as many points as 5-years experience in 0 to 5 year level, and so on up the scale of total years experience. i.e. apply a multiplyer to each year of experience where the multiplyer factor increases with longevity.  At the 40 to 50 year level the point value should be 3 to 5 times for each year compared to the point value for the 0 to 5 year level.

A built in requirement such as this is the only way that we can avoid the clear and wide spread built in age bias in hiring under current practice where actually points are assigned negatively in relation to the long experience qualities that seniors possess.

Joseph Concordia