Monday, March 15, 2010

Center for American Progress Promotes Accelerated Expansion of Service

New paper highlights capacity already in field and effective management by national service agency

In a new paper released this week, the Center for American Progress calls for an accelerated expansion of national service. The author, Shirley Sagawa, reports that "[i]ncreasing full-time service would create jobs, address pressing community problems, and reconnect youth who are neither employed nor in school with a pathway to opportunity. Existing federal programs and state and local networks have excess capacity and are well positioned to grow to serve this end if Congress makes the financial resources available."

Click here to read "How Quickly Can National Service Grow?" by Shirley Sagawa of the Center for American Progress.

In November 2009, the Center for American Progress released "National Service and Youth Unemployment" by Melissa Boteach, Joy Moses, and Shirley Sagawa, which details youth unemployment and explains the role for national service in creating jobs. "How Quickly Can National Service Grow?" follows this paper by describing the existing capacity for community-based organizations to absorb new positions efficiently and effectively.

Sagawa further notes the ability of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) to expand and administer additional grants and programs. In the past year, CNCS has "receiv[ed] an unqualified positive opinion on its financial statements" while managing significant growth that resulted from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, and record appropriations in fiscal years 2009 and 2010.

New Yorkers Volunteer
State Commission on National & Community Service
52 Washington Street
North Building - Suite 338
Rensselaer, NY 12144
Phone: 518-473-8882
Fax: 518-402-3817
www.newyorkersvolunteer.ny.gov

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