Nine Ways for the Next President & Congress to Strengthen Youth Service in 2009
In addition to the minimum step of reversing the downward trend in the federal budget request for national service, there are a number of key initiatives the next President and Congress should implement to harness the energy, idealism, and unique perspective that young people have in addressing society’s most pressing needs. The following are brief descriptions of nine bold steps in this pursuit; more detailed information on any or all of these can be available upon request.
1) Grow AmeriCorps’ membership to 250,000 by 2013. Currently, just under 70,000 AmeriCorps members work to meet the nation’s most pressing needs, saving taxpayers millions every year. They work as tutors and mentors in schools and afterschool programs, care for the elderly, work to conserve the environment, providing disaster relief and reconstruction, as well as many other critically needed services. A striking illustration of AmeriCorps’s critical role for the country was its members’ response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. When other traditional government agencies failed, AmeriCorps members were on site leading disaster recovery efforts. An entire generation of young people is now poised to dedicate a year or more of their lives to service; the nation cannot afford to miss the economic and social returns of this important opportunity.
2) Expand Learn and Serve America to engage 4.5 million students by 2013. With a tiny appropriation yielding four dollars in service for each federal dollar invested, the program currently supports 1-1.5 million students in service-learning every year. Moreover, Learn and Serve America’s infrastructure extends beyond the students it directly engages: approximately 33% of K-12 schools incorporate service-learning into their curriculum. To capitalize on the significant advances both in prevalence and quality of this important teaching and learning strategy, we urge the next president to make service-learning opportunities available in every American school, from Kindergarten through Higher Education.
3) Send a youth delegate to the United Nations. The UN has invited its member nations six times to include youth in their delegations. In 2005, 30 countries (including Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom) sent 47 Youth Delegates to the October meeting of the General Assembly. Yet the U.S. is conspicuously absent among the nations including youth in their formal delegations. Such representation is critical to understanding and addressing the myriad development and other issues that directly affect young people in the United States and across the globe.
4) Make a Summer of Service a rite of passage. If passed, the Summer of Service Act (S.1128 / H.R. 1880) would create a grants program for non-profit organizations to engage students entering the 6th-9th grades in a summer of service-learning activities. In addition, each student would receive a $500 educational award upon completing their summer of service. This initiative would reduce the “summer slide” for young people who are generally too young to work, but yet old enough to make meaningful contributions to their communities. Research has shown that this is a critical age for many young people in both promoting pro-social behavior and avoiding risky choices.
5) Create a Global Service Fellowship Program. If passed, the Global Service Fellowship Program Act (S. 1464) would increase the number of Americans volunteering abroad every year to 10,000. Each U.S. Representative and Senator would nominate fellows in the form of a voucher for travel and international volunteering expenses to be redeemable through participating NGOs, faith-based organizations, and overseas service-learning programs at colleges and universities. This program would expand the important work of the Peace Corps by allowing Americans to serve shorter terms (from several weeks up to one year) that would appeal to a broader range of participants with varying obligations at home or work. It would constitute an important step in both enhancing U.S. public diplomacy abroad and meeting critical development needs that exist across the world.
6) Double the Peace Corps to its 1966 high of 16,000 members by its 50th anniversary in 2011. President Kennedy hoped the Peace Corps would one day grow to 100,000 members, yet the program peaked at 16,000 in 1966. President Bush called for the doubling of the Peace Corps membership (then about 7,000) in his 2002 State of the Union Address, but it remains at about 7,800. Doubling the Peace Corps to 16,000 members by its 50th anniversary in 2011 would send a message to both Americans and the rest of the world that we are serious about leading the effort to achieve the Millenium Development Goals.
7) Strengthen “Serve-Study” for college students. Institutions of higher education (IHEs) are currently required to dedicate at least 7% of Federal Work-Study funds to support students in community service activities. Unfortunately, many colleges and universities routinely fall short of this statutory requirement of the Higher Education Act. The historical intent of this program was more than to simply provide colleges with a low-wage labor force for cafeterias, libraries, and other campus jobs. Importantly, it also sought to connect students to the broader community through service. After 9/11, President Bush recognized this in proposing the increase of “serve-study” to account for 50% of federal work-study allocations, echoing calls from both President Clinton and General Colin Powell in 1998. Nonetheless, Congress has not raised this percentage and tapped into this enormous resource of collegiate community service.
At a minimum, current law should be more carefully enforced, and colleges should be required to be in compliance in order to be eligible to receive grants from the Corporation for National and Community Service. Further, we recommend 1) that the Corporation give priority to colleges that exceed these minimum requirements and 2) that the next President phase in an increased percentage commitment to community service in the Federal Work-Study provisions of the Higher Education Act.
8) Found the U.S. Public Service Academy. The U.S. Public Service Academy would be America’s first national civilian university, a flagship institution designed to build a “more perfect union” by developing leaders of character dedicated to service in the public sector. Modeled on the military service academies, the Public Service Academy will provide a rigorous undergraduate education followed by five years of civilian service to the country. The U.S. Public Service Academy Act (S. 960/H.R. 1671) would establish this institution to develop young leaders with the character, intellect, and experience necessary to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. For more information, see http://uspublicserviceacademy.org/.
9) Build on the Federal Youth Coordination Act with a White House Office of National Youth Policy. In October 2003, the White House Task Force on Disadvantaged Youth released its final report, finding that federal programs aimed at serving disadvantaged youth are spread across 12 federal departments with little communication or coordination among them. In response, Congress passed the Tom Osborne Federal Youth Coordination Act in 2006 to establish a council tasked with recommending ways to bring these efforts out of their programmatic silos. Importantly, not only would the heads of the relevant federal agencies serve as members on the council, but so would disadvantaged youth themselves. This council’s creation represents a landmark in giving youth a strong voice on policies that directly affect them, but Congress has yet to fund it. The next President could not only ensure that the Council is funded and fully implemented according to its statutory mandate, but expand on its work with a dedicated White House Office of National Youth Policy.
For more information, please contact Youth Service America’s Outreach Manager, Mike Minks, at 202-296-2992 ext. 125 or mminks@ysa.org