Overview
AmeriCorps State and National (AmeriCorps) is a national service program of CNCS, which engaged tens of thousands of men and women in intensive community service each year. AmeriCorps provides grants to a broad range of local and national organizations and agencies committed to using service to address compelling community issues. Participating organizations, including nonprofits, courts, public agencies, institutions of higher education, Indian Tribes, and faith-based organizations, enroll AmeriCorps members in an approved national service position and engage them in intensive service.
Match Requirements
AmeriCorps does not provide all the funds needed to operate the program. There are different requirements for cost sharing or matching depending on different factors. See the FY 2022 AmeriCorps State and National Grants Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for details.
Potential Uses
Although the NOFO does not expressly mention courts or legal services, AmeriCorps has a long history of court and legal aid grantees both at the national and state commission levels. Grantees can utilize AmeriCorps grants and members to expand their reach and provide more direct legal help to a greater segment of the community. Some grantees have used AmeriCorps members to provide direct services in a variety of different settings including courthouses, legal aid offices, and law
libraries. The 2022 AmeriCorps NOFO identifies the following priority areas:
- Efforts to help local communities respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Applicants may propose programming to aid communities in their efforts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, including outcomes of COVID-19 on student subgroups described in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
- Educational opportunity and economic mobility for communities experiencing persistent unemployment or underemployment, and students experiencing homelessness or those in foster care.
- Programs that prioritize civic engagement and social cohesion.
- Evidence-based interventions on the AmeriCorps Evidence Exchange that are assessed as having Moderate or Strong evidence. Please note that many of these interventions have demonstrated effectiveness in improving outcomes for individuals living in underserved communities and that the agency has committed resources to supporting grantees seeking to replicate and evaluate these interventions in similar communities.
- Veterans and Military Families, Caregivers, and Survivors – a program model that improves the quality of life of veterans and improves the well-being of military families, caregivers, and survivors.
- Rural intermediaries – organizations that demonstrate measurable impact and primarily serve rural communities with limited resources and organizational infrastructure.
- Environmental stewardship and climate change including renewable energy and energy efficiency, building community resilience, sustainable food systems and agriculture, and conservation and habitat preservation.
- Faith-based organizations.
- Economic Mobility Corps.
CFDA
94.006
Administering Federal Agency
Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) now operating as AmeriCorps
Find Your State/Local Administrator
AmeriCorps provides contact information for state commissions here.
Amount of Available Funding
Find budget information here.
More Information
To find examples of courts and/or their justice partners receiving these funds, click on the PDF.
Formula Grants
AmeriCorps State and National Grants
AmeriCorps provides grants to a broad range of local and national organizations and agencies committed to using service to address compelling community issues.
AmeriCorps VISTA
AmeriCorps VISTA program is guided by four core principles: anti-poverty, community engagement, capacity building, and sustainable solutions.
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
The CDBG program works to ensure decent affordable housing, to provide services to the most vulnerable in our communities, and to create jobs through the expansion and retention of businesses.
Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG)
JAG funds awarded to a state or local may be used to support a range of program areas, including law enforcement, prosecution, indigent defense, courts, crime prevention and education…
Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP)
The American Rescue Plan Act built upon the ERAP, is set to reduce evictions by providing an additional $21.6 B in emergency rental assistance for low-income renters who have lost income…
Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) Program
The Emergency Solutions Grants Program focuses on assisting people to quickly regain stability in permanent housing after experiencing a housing crisis and/or homelessness.
Family Violence Prevention and Services Formula Grants (FVPSA)
The Family Violence Prevention and Services formula grants to states and territories fund more than 1,600 local public, private, nonprofit and faith-based organizations and programs demonstrating…
Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF)
The HAF is for the purpose of preventing homeowner mortgage delinquencies, defaults, foreclosures, loss of utilities or home energy services, and displacements of homeowners experiencing financing hardship due to…
State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (FRF)
FRF is the largest and most flexible source of American Rescue Plan Act funds to help states, counties, cities and Tribal governments cover increased expenditures, replenish lost revenue…
STOP (Services, Training, Officers, and Prosecutors) Violence Against Women Formula Grant
STOP (Services, Training, Officers, and Prosecutors) Violence Against Women Formula Grants are awarded to states to develop and strengthen the criminal justice system’s response…
Title IV-B – State Court Improvement Program (CIP)
The State Court Improvement Program is for children and families who need assistance in order to keep their families together.
Title IV-D – Child Support and Establishment of Paternity
The child support program serves over 17 million children, and provides information to pro se parents helping ensure that parents understand the child support process, know what to expect…
Title IV-E – Federal Payments for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance
The Federal Foster Care Program helps to provide safe and stable out-of-home care for children until the children are safely returned home, placed permanently with adoptive families…
Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Victim Assistance Formula Grants
VOCA provides funding to groups and direct services for victims, such as domestic violence shelters, legal support, faith-based organizations, and child abuse organizations.
