“AmeriCorps service allowed me to see the benefits of volunteering and the difference I made to not only my community, but the organization where I was serving.  It truly opened my eyes and impacted what I do for work. “  

- Kirsys SotoYouthBuild GraduateYouthBuild Brockton, MA

 

Welcome to the 2015 YouthBuild AmeriCorps Management Conference! #YBAMC15

Welcome to the 2015 YouthBuild AmeriCorps Management Conference!

Culture of Service

Pyramid of Purpose

• Member Experience

• Impact

• Education Award

• Protecting the Investment

Pyramid of Purpose

• Protecting the Investment

Fiscal Member Paperwork

“I can be in compliance!”

Protect this Investment or not.

There is no try. - YODA

Pyramid of Purpose

What was the one thing that your program worked hard on to get 

right and/or do really well this past year?

Why was that? Was it because of…MOTIVATION – RESOURCES – SKILLS

Fiscal Member

Paperwork2013-2014• 25 site visits• 11 desktop monitoring reviews• NSCHC Assessment process • Over 960 Monthly Reimbursements

Reviewed

Common Fiscal Findings:• Late ARRS• Evidence of poor internal controls• No written cost allocation• Issues with receipts/vouchers for purchases• Lack or improper documentations to show

program is meeting match or failure to track match

• Liability coverage

Common Member Paperwork Findings:• Eligibility documentation • Criminal History Checks• Evaluations • AmeriCorps Hours Logs• Incomplete contracts

Member Paperwork

Criminal History Checks Members and Staff

AmeriCorps Hour Logs

Fiscal

Staff allocation   of time across funders

Tracking and documentation of match

Staff allocation   of time across funders

Tracking and documentation of match

Criminal History Checks Members and Staff

AmeriCorps Hour Logs

Criminal History Checks Members and Staff

National Service Criminal History Checks (NSCHC)

Not Afraid of better !

NSCHC Requirements Since 2009• Three part check – NSOPW, STATE, and FBI • Specific timing of when the check needs to be

administered• Specific documentation requirements• Required for all grant supported positions

1. YouthBuild AmeriCorps Members2. Grant Supported Staff – CNCS Share and/or Match ( Staff in the budget)

NSCHC Requirements

Number of ways to be out of compliance

14

NSCHC Assessment Process

NSCHC Assessment Process October 14th – November 30th 2014

Required the review of all active covered position NSCHC documentation

(members and staff)

NSOPW, State and FBI ChecksDocumentation of initiation, results

And review of the results

NSCHC Assessment Process October 14th – November 30th 2014

If any part of the check was not done the CHC assessment process allowed sites to run the

check with out penalty

NSCHC Assessment Process October 14th – November 30th 2014

If any part of the check was not properly documented in accordance to CNCS requirements

programs could fix without penalty

NSCHC Assessment Process October 14th – November 30th 2014

To document that files were reviewed programs needed to complete the NSCHC Component

Assessment Form – Place in file

NSCHC Assessment Process October 14th – November 30th 2014

Put a policy in place that prevents such

issues from happening again in the future

NSCHC Assessment Process October 14th – November 30th 2014

Lastly, we had to report our findings!

3,206Number of Active Members and Staff Files Reviewed 

1,630State and/or FBI check late or 

Not done at all

Close to 20% of NSOPWs and 51% of the State and FBI components were conducted late. 

A person is not eligible to serve or start working until the state and FBI 

check are at least initiated.  

If audited prior to this assessment this would have equated to millions of dollars in questioned staff salary costs and thousands of disallowed 

member hours 

Disallowed hours = Disallowed Education Awards

“I wanted to go to school for Carpentry and Construction Management at Atlantic Technical College. The AmeriCorps award gave me a full ride scholarship helping me graduate without debt and earning a degree. “

- Darien Henderson YouthBuild GraduatePrevention Plus YouthBuildAtlanta, GA

YouthBuild USA’s NSCHC Monitoring Policy

Review –All covered staff member’s CHC support

documentation–All full time member’s CHC support documentation – The program’s CHC tracking log on a bi-monthly

basis (includes staff and members)

Issues still persist

Complex CHC Process

Staff Turnover

Training and Monitoring

Member Paperwork

What else can we do?

• Documentation of Match• Staff Allocation of Time

Across Funders

• AmeriCorps Hour Logs• Source Documentation for

Reported Data

Fiscal

Member Paperwork

Tracking and Documentation of MatchGenerally an after thought in fiscal grant management and YouthBuild USA does not require the routine submission of match documentation • Lack of or inadequate systems to track match• Double counting of match • Source of match is unallowable

Tracking and Documentation of Match

$25,000 CNCS Funds = $25,000 in Match

Staff Allocation of Time Across Funders • Programs allocate according to budget and not to

actual work

Source Documentation for Reported Data A new area of focus by CNCS• Source data isn’t accurate and verifiable• Lack of systems - Systems in place do not lend

itself to being accurate and verifiable

AmeriCorps Hour Logs – Do not meet CNCS member time log requirements • Use of confusing time keeping systems• Hours not broken into training and service • Not being consistently signed and dated by

members and staff• Time logs contain extraneous information• Hours in time logs do not add up to Portal

AmeriCorps Hour Logs –

AmeriCorps Hour Log Assessment ProcessMid-September

Review how programs are capturing member service hours and if in compliance with CNCS

requirements

• Documentation of Match• Staff Allocation of Time

Across Funders

• AmeriCorps Hour Logs• Source Documentation for

Reported Data

Fiscal

Member Paperwork

Not afraid of Better!

• The Office of the Inspector General (OIG)has two arms:– Audits (routine) – Investigations – Looking for fraud, waste, and

abuse

“I can be in compliance!”

Protect this Investment or not.

There is no try. - YODA

Protecting the Investment

Pyramid of Purpose

• Protecting the Investment