Posted 03/17/2009 - 05:10:42pm by John Gomperts
Experience Corps team leader Janet Gagnon tutors students in Tucson, Arizona.
They’re only a small part of much larger legislation, but encore careers may be one of the enduring legacies of the Serve America Act that is now before Congress and is expected to be sent soon to President Obama for his signature.
The bipartisan bill, which paves the way for a major expansion of national service opportunities for people of all ages, places public service at the center of the new stage of work that is emerging between the end of midlife careers and true old age. It calls on people who have finished their midlife work to put their experience to work transforming education, reducing poverty, improving health care and protecting the environment.
The bill creates “encore fellowships,” one-year positions specifically tailored to people at, or near, the end of their midlife careers and who want to move into long-term encore careers in the nonprofit or public sector. The creation of such fellowships to facilitate the transition from a midlife career to an encore career is a recognition of the importance of capturing the experience of people over 50 to meet national needs.
“The mobilization of adults in their 50s and beyond in service to their communities can be an antidote to the current economic downturn, the pessimistic long-term projections for the aging population, and the hidden costs of a deteriorating safety net,” Lester Strong, chief executive of Experience Corps, which engages thousands of people over 55, told a Senate committee this month. “For people who want to move to nonprofit or public sector service work, the national service training and experience can be a valuable stepping-stone to a job.”
In his speech to the joint session of Congress, President Obama called for the quick passage of Serve America as an homage to the ailing Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who is a coauthor along with Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. The details of the House and Senate versions differ somewhat, as do the names (the House bill is called the GIVE Act, for Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education). But the final bill is likely to include key provisions to establish public service as a prime destination for people who have finished their earlier careers.
Encore Fellowships. The legislation calls for 10 encore fellows in each state, or 500 people a year - a small investment with a large potential impact. The modest stipends for these one-year positions would be paid jointly by the federal government and the nonprofit with which the fellow works, and would supplemented by encore career services that help the fellow go on to a longer-term career in public service.
The Encore Fellows program is based on a pilot program in California’s Silicon Valley created by Civic Ventures, publisher of Encore.org, in which corporate veterans and others are working in high-performing nonprofits in education and the environment. Similar programs specific to teaching – the Pentagon’s Troops to Teachers, IBM’s Transition to Teaching and California’s EnCorps Teachers – also recognize that people who want to move from their midlife work need a chance to try out their encore careers before making a long-term commitment.
Silver Scholarships extend the historic tie between service and educational opportunity by providing a $1,000 education award or scholarship for people over 55 who volunteer for more than 250 hours in a year. Importantly, the legislation makes the scholarship, along with the existing AmeriCorps education award, transferable at least to family members and possibly to others as well. The addition of transferability is a real breakthrough in making the educational opportunity reward something that appeals to older Americans.
Expansion of AmeriCorps. Serve America would more than triple the number of AmeriCorps positions available to people of all ages, to 250,000 per year from 75,000 currently. As part of that increase, a Clean Energy Service Corps would work on conserving resources and an Education Corps would tutor, teach and mentor students at low-income schools. The “Volunteers for Prosperity” program would be strengthened to coordinate short-term international service opportunities for skilled professionals to serve in developing nations.
Earlier versions of Serve America included a provision to attract more baby boomers into high-impact service by setting specific funding targets for projects that engage people who have finished their midlife work. At this point, it’s not clear whether that provision will be included in the final bill.
As 78 million boomers move toward what used to be retirement age, this legislation will be a critical boost for their hopes of pursuing an encore career. National service has long been a pathway to “good work” for young people. With the encore fellows program and other provisions, Serve America helps make national service an on-ramp to public service for people eager to serve their country in a new stage of work.
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Senate likely to vote TONIGHT
From the Voices for National Services Action Alert:
The Senate resumed consideration of the Serve America Act at 10:30am this morning. On Wednesday evening, Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) filed a cloture petition to cut off debate, but Senator Reid expressed his hope that the Senate could finish consideration and hold a vote on final passage early Thursday evening.
How can you help?
* Please call your Senators NOW. The Senate operator - 202-224-3121- can connect you with your legislators.
* Urge them to vote against any hostile amendment that will undermine this important piece of legislation and ask them to vote in support of the Serve America Act.
David Bank
Editor, Encore.org
Service Act Speaks to the Heart of America
(subscription required)
By Harris Wofford and John Bridgeland
Special to Roll Call
March 26, 2009
At a time when our country faces great challenges, Americans are stepping forward in record numbers to serve. This week the Senate is considering the Serve America Act, legislation that would reauthorize the programs run by the Corporation for National and Community Service and create a new platform for focusing an expansion of service on the critical problems before us.
From education to clean energy, from health to poverty, the legislation creates opportunities for Americans of all backgrounds and all ages to roll up their sleeves and make a measurable difference. We hope that Congressional leaders from both parties will come together to pass this important legislation, authorizing an investment that will leverage the energy and ingenuity of our citizens and engage them in innovative community organizations across the country.
(snip)
Editor's note: Harris Wofford is a former Democratic Senator from Pennsylvania. John Bridgeland served as director of the White House Domestic Policy Council under President George W. Bush.
http://www.rollcall.com/issues/54_109/guest/33500-1.html
Denver Post: A Renewal of Kennedy's Call
A renewal of Kennedy's call for national service
We hope the Senate follows the House's lead and votes to expand AmeriCorps. It's an investment in human capital.
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_11995803
NCOA: Serve America will change how America views aging
James Firman, President and CEO of the National Council on Aging (NCOA), issued this statement, urging the Senate to pass the Serve America Act "to usher in a new era of citizen service."
The National Council on Aging (NCOA) strongly urges the U.S. Senate to take swift action and pass the Serve America Act (S.277), which would expand opportunities for people at every stage of life to serve in ways that meet national challenges.
Introduced by Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Orin Hatch (R-UT), the Serve America Act contains many features to advance existing service programs into the 21st century, including expanding opportunities for older Americans to give back through service to their community. The Act’s substantial innovations would usher in a new era of personal and civic renewal, which will challenge those over 55 to give their very best to fortify our country’s social fabric.
NCOA believes that it is time to change how America views aging and to acknowledge the vitality and experience of people 55 through opportunities to serve their communities. By tapping the power of older Americans, the Serve America Act would strengthen civic engagement opportunities at a time when nonprofits require additional people power more than ever to meet increasing needs of the poor, the near poor, and the newly disenfranchised, especially children and families at risk and vulnerable elders.
By passing the Serve America Act, NCOA believes the Senate has a historic opportunity to help renew America’s unique spirit of neighbor-helping-neighbor, which would reach out to the vast reservoir of talent, experience, and expertise residing in the country’s rapidly expanding population of people over 55.
NY Times shout out for encore fellowships
In their editorial today boosting Serve America.
David Bank
Editor, Encore.org
Senate debate on Serve America on Monday - 3 p.m EDT / noon PDT
The full Senate is scheduled to begin debate on Serve America at 3:00 p.m. EDT on MONDAY, 23 March 2009.
When the Senate passes its version, House and Senate will iron out differences and then send to the President for signature.
The Debate can be viewed live at:
http://www.cspan.org/Watch/C-SPAN2_rm.aspx
or
http://www.cspan.org/Watch/C-SPAN2_wm.aspx
David Bank
Editor, Encore.org
Service for All Ages: Gaining Ground
The version of the legislation passed yesterday includes significant portions of the "Service for All Ages" initiative, a group of four bills introduced by Senators Dodd, Cochran, and DeLauro last month. Yesterday Senator Dodd's office issued a press release that included this quote by one of Experience Corps's leaders:
“We are so grateful that Senator Dodd has taken the lead to create more great opportunities for older adults to serve their communities,” said Sheila Greenstein, the Program Manager of Experience Corps in Greater New Haven. “Toward this end, we hope that Congress will follow his lead in improving AmeriCorps for Baby Boomers and other older adults. Experience Corps – Greater New Haven is one example of the type of meaningful service programs that our communities and older adults need. I know our schools would like to have more Experience Corps members helping students learn to read through the AmeriCorps program.”
President Obama also continued to call all Americans to serve, in a message published in this week's TIME magazine: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1886213,00.html
House passes GIVE Act
News update: The House vote today was 321-105, and the Senate's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee approved the Serve America Act.
David Bank
Editor, Encore.org