JUNE 1996 - (archived information - please note the date of publication)

From the inception of AmeriCorps, the Corporation for National Service has emphasized the importance of high quality programs and continuous improvement. The funding of national providers of training and technical assistance (T/TA) is one way in which the Corporation supports AmeriCorps programs in their pursuit of quality and improvement. Another source of T/TA is through Program Development and Training funds, better known as PDAT.

The Corporation awards PDAT funds directly to State Commissions based on the submission of an annual training plan. In the training plan, State Commissions outline how they will use PDAT funds to primarily meet the T/TA needs of AmeriCorps staff and members in their state. These funds are also used to foster collaboration with other Corporation-funded programs and the state's service sector in general.

While it seems that there is never enough money for T/TA, some State Commissions are developing T/TA systems that stretch the dollar and involve more citizens in the national service movement at the same time. Ohio and Maryland are two such states.

Ohio's Volunteer Consultants

In Ohio, the Governor's Community Service Commission has established a group of volunteer consultants to provide on-site T/TA to AmeriCorps programs. The Commission plans to recruit twenty consultants, each with expertise in a field such as budget and fiscal issues, program management, or member development. Presently, eight consultants are on board, three are awaiting training, and recruiting is continuing.

The response to the Commission's efforts has been excellent, reports Gayle Hilleke, Program Officer at the Governor's Community Service Commission. Consultants were asked to provide 24 hours of volunteer consulting per year, but several have offered to provide more than the Commission requested. While consultants receive no monetary compensation for their services, PDAT funds are used to reimburse their travel expenses.

To prepare them for working with AmeriCorps programs, the consultants attend a day long orientation and training in which the Commission outlines guidelines and expectations, and gives them background information about AmeriCorps and the national service movement. Gayle and the Commission staff are now in the process of using the renewal applications to match requests for T/TA with an appropriate consultant. The Commission is also planning a second orientation and training for additional consultants this summer.

The Maryland Service Exchange

In Maryland, the Governor's Commission on Service sought to maximize limited resources, involve the citizenry in improving communities, and build a long-term infrastructure of trainers. The solution is the Maryland Service Exchange (MSE). Designed as an independent "university without walls," the MSE currently consists of four "colleges": Service-Learning, Research and Evaluation, Participant Development, and Community Building.

The Commission began by recruiting a "dean" for each college. The deans, in turn, recruited five to ten "faculty" members of the college from within their field of expertise. A small stipend is paid to the college deans using PDAT funds. Faculty members provide their services free of charge, but may negotiate reimbursement of expenses incurred with the agency requesting assistance.

As in Ohio, recruiting consultants was not a problem. Ron Kealy, Dean of the Research and Evaluation College, relates, "Not one person I asked turned me down." He explains that most of the faculty have been involved in service in one way or another before, and the service exchange gives them an opportunity to contribute using their expertise.

The MSE is available not only to AmeriCorps programs, but to all non-profit organizations in the state. Programs requesting T/TA contact the dean of the appropriate college directly. The deans match the program with a faculty member and negotiate the format of the assistance to be provided. Deans are also responsible for monitoring the progress and effectiveness of T/TA. After a training, both the faculty member and the program submit separate evaluations to the dean of the college. Each dean makes quarterly reports to the Commission.

Although the MSE was launched less than a year ago, it has already begun to take off. Rebecca Sirody, Public Relations and Special Events Coordinator at the Maryland Commission, reports that in the first quarter of 1996 alone, faculty provided 37 trainings. The Commission also has plans to add four more colleges later this year.

The Ohio and Maryland State Commissions' strategy of using PDAT funds to develop and support a network of volunteer consultants holds multiple benefits. The most obvious is that it stretches the resources available for T/TA. It's also a system that, once established, can continue to operate on a long term basis with limited maintenance. And perhaps most significantly, a volunteer network broadens the circle of service, and provides opportunities for individuals to volunteer their skills and participate in the national and community service movement.