volunteer programs

volunteer programs Sec. 110. Title VIII of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 is amended to read as follows: “TITLE VIII— DOMESTIC VOLUNTEER SERVICE PROGRAMS “Volunteers in Service to America “statement of purpose “Sec. 801. This title provides for a program of full-time volunteer service, for programs of part-time or short-term community volunteer service, and for special volunteer programs, together with other powers and responsibilities designed to assist in the development and coordination of volunteer programs. Its purpose is to strengthen and supplement efforts to eliminate poverty by encouraging and enabling persons from all walks of life and all age groups, including elderly and retired Americans, to perform meaningful and constructive service as volunteers in part-time or short-term programs in their home or nearby communities, and as full-time volunteers serving in rural areas and urban communities, on Indian reservations, among migrant workers, in Job Corps centers, and in other agencies, institutions, and situations where the application of human talent and dedication may help the poor to overcome the handicaps of poverty and to secure and exploit opportunities for self-advancement. “Part A— Full-Time Volunteer Programs “authority to establish full-time programs “Sec. 810. (a) The Director may recruit, select, and train persons to serve in full-time volunteer programs, and upon request of Federal, State, or local agencies, or private nonprofit organizations, may assign such volunteers to work— “(1) in meeting the health, education, welfare, or related needs of Indians living on reservations, of migratory workers and their families, or of residents of the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, or the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands; “(2) in the care and rehabilitation of the mentally ill or mentally retarded under treatment at nonprofit mental health or mental retardation facilities; and “(3) in connection with programs or activities authorized, supported, or of a character eligible for assistance under this Act. “(b) The assignment of volunteers under this section shall be on such terms and conditions (including restrictions on political activities 81 Stat. 723that appropriately recognize the special status of volunteers living among the persons or groups served by programs to which they have been assigned) as the Director may determine, including work assignments in their own or nearby communities; but volunteers under this part shall not be assigned to duties or work in any State without the consent of the Governor. The assignment of such a volunteer in any State shall be terminated by the Director when so requested by the Governor of such State not later than thirty days or at a time thereafter agreed upon by the Governor and Director after such request has been made by the Governor to the Director. “terms of service “Sec. 811. (a) Volunteers under this part shall be required to make a full-time personal commitment to combating poverty. To the extent practicable, this shall include a commitment to live among and at the economic level of the people served, and to remain available for service without regard to regular working hours, at all times during their term of service, except for authorized periods of leave. “(b) Volunteers under this part shall be enrolled for one-year periods of service, excluding time devoted to training. The Director may, however, allow persons who are unable to make a full one-year commitment to enroll as volunteer associates for periods of service of not less than two months where he determines that this more limited service will effectively promote the purposes of this title. “(c) All volunteers under this part shall take and subscribe to an oath or affirmation in the form prescribed by section 106 of this Act, and the provisions of section 1001 of title 18, United States Code, shall be applicable with respect to that oath or affirmation. “support of full-time volunteers “Sec. 812. (a) The Director may provide a stipend to volunteers under this part while they are in training and on assignment, but the stipend shall not exceed $50 per month during the volunteer’s first year of service. He may provide a stipend not to exceed $75 per month in the case of persons who have served for at least one year and who, in accordance with standards prescribed by him, have been designated volunteer leaders on the basis of experience and special skills. The Director may also provide volunteers such living, travel (including travel to and from the place of training), and leave allowances, and such housing, supplies, equipment, subsistence, clothing, health and dental care, or such other support, as he may deem necessary or appropriate for their needs. “(b) Stipends shall be payable only upon completion of a term of service; except that in extraordinary circumstances the Director may from time to time advance accrued stipend, or any portion thereof, to or on behalf of a volunteer. In the event of the death of a volunteer during service, the amount of any unpaid stipend shall be paid in accordance with the provisions of section 5582 of title 5, United States Code. “(c) The Director may provide or arrange for educational and vocational counseling of volunteers and recent volunteers to encourage them to use the skills and experience which they have derived from their training and service in the national interest, and particularly in combating poverty as members of the helping professions. 81 Stat. 724 “Part B— Auxiliary and Special Volunteer Programs “community service programs “Sec. 820. (a) The Director shall develop programs designed to expand opportunities for persons to participate in a direct and personal way, on a part-time basis or for shorter periods of service than are required for enrollment under section 810, and in their home or nearby communities, in volunteer activities contributing to the elimination of poverty. Pursuant to appropriate plans, agreements, or arrangements the Director may provide financial, technical, or other assistance needed to carry on projects that are undertaken in connection with these programs. These projects may include, without limitation, activities designed (1) to encourage greater numbers of persons to participate, as volunteers, in local programs and projects assisted under this Act, with particular emphasis upon programs designed to aid youth or promote child development; (2) to encourage persons with needed managerial, professional, or technical skills to contribute those skills to programs for the development or betterment of urban and rural neighborhoods or areas having especially large concentrations or proportions of the poor, with particular emphasis upon helping residents of those neighborhoods or areas to develop the competence necessary to take advantage of public and private resources which would not otherwise be available or used for those programs; and (3) to assist existing national and local agencies relying upon or in need of volunteers to obtain volunteer services more readily, or to provide specialized short-term training, with particular emphasis on agencies serving the most seriously disadvantaged, operating in areas of the most concentrated poverty, or having similar critical needs. “(b) Persons serving as volunteers under this section shall receive no living allowance or stipend and only such other support or allowances as the Director determines, pursuant to regulations, are required because of unusual or special circumstances affecting the project. “(c) The services of any person, if otherwise allowable as a non-Federal contribution toward the cost of any program or project assisted under this or any other Federal Act, shall not be disallowed merely by reason of actions of the Director under this section in providing for or assisting in the recruitment, referral, or preservice training of such person. “special volunteer programs “Sec. 821. The Director is authorized to conduct, or provide by grant or contract for, special volunteer programs designed to stimulate and initiate improved methods of providing volunteer services and to encourage wider volunteer participation, in furtherance of the purposes of this title. Not to exceed 10 per centum of the sums appropriated or allocated from any appropriation to carry out this title for any fiscal year may be used for programs under this section. “demonstration projects to help young adult criminal offenders “Sec. 822. (a) The Director is authorized to conduct, or to make grants, contracts, or other arrangements for the conduct of demonstration projects in not more than four areas during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1968, and in not more than six areas during each of the two succeeding fiscal years, under which— 81 Stat. 725 “(1) volunteers under part A, and members of the Teacher Corps furnished pursuant to this section, provide criminal offenders aged sixteen through twenty-five with intensive education, training, and counseling for at least a six-month period prior to their release from confinement and for at least a six-month period thereafter; “(2) not more than one hundred such volunteers are employed pursuant to this section during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1968, and not more than one hundred and fifty such volunteers are so employed during each of the two succeeding fiscal years; “(3) the Commissioner of Education furnishes, on a reimbursable basis, for the purpose of this section, members of the Teacher Corps who have been recruited and trained by one or more institutions of higher education; and “(4) not more than forty such members are furnished pursuant to this section during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1968, and not more than sixty such members are so furnished during each of the two succeeding fiscal years. “(b) Members of the Teacher Corps enrolled for purposes of this section, who are not experienced teachers, shall be compensated at the rate of $75 per week plus $15 per week for each dependent. Such members who are experienced teachers shall be compensated at a rate to be fixed by the Commissioner of Education. Assignment of members of the Teacher Corps pursuant to this section shall be without regard to the provisions of section 513(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965. “Part C— General Provisions “coordination with other programs “Sec. 831. The Director shall take necessary steps to coordinate volunteer programs authorized under this title with one another, with community action programs, and with other related Federal, State, local, and national programs. These steps shall include, to the extent feasible, actions to promote service by volunteers or former volunteers in the full-time programs authorized under part A in providing necessary support to programs under part B, and actions to encourage persons serving as part-time or short-term volunteers to make commitments under part A as regular or associate full-time volunteers. The Director shall also consult with the heads of other Federal, State, local, and national agencies responsible for programs related to the purpose of this Act with a view to encouraging greater use of volunteer services in those programs and establishing in connection with them systematic procedures for the recruitment, referral, or necessary preservice orientation or training of part-time volunteers serving pursuant to this part. “participation of older persons “Sec. 832. In carrying out this title, the Director shall take necessary steps, including the development of special projects where appropriate, to encourage the fullest participation of older persons and older persons membership groups as volunteers and participant agencies in the various programs and activities authorized under this title and, because of the high proportion of older persons within the poverty group, shall encourage the development of a variety of volunteer services to older persons, including special projects, to assure that they are served in proportion to their need. 81 Stat. 726 “application of federal law “Sec. 833. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), volunteers under this title shall not be deemed Federal employees and shall not be subject to the provisions of laws relating to Federal employment. “(b) Individuals who receive either a living allowance or a stipend under part A shall, with respect to such services or training, (1) be deemed, for the purposes of subchapter III of chapter 73 of title 5 of the United States Code, persons employed in the executive branch of the Federal Government, and (2) be deemed Federal employees to the same extent as enrollees of the Job Corps under section 116(a) (1), (2), and (3) of this Act, except that for purposes of the computation described in 116(a) (2) (B) the monthly pay of a volunteer shall be deemed to be that received under the entrance salary for GS–7 under section 5332 of title 5, United States Code. “special limitations “Sec. 834. (a) The Director shall prescribe regulations to assure that service under this title is limited to activities which would not otherwise be performed and which will not result in the displacement of employed workers or impair existing contracts for service. “(b) All support, including transportation provided to volunteers under this title, shall be furnished at the lowest possible cost consistent with the effective operations of volunteer programs. “(c) No agency or organization to which volunteers are assigned hereunder, or which operates or supervises any volunteer program hereunder shall request or receive any compensation for services of volunteers supervised by such agency or organization. “(d) No funds authorized to be appropriated herein shall be directly or indirectly utilized to finance labor or antilabor organization or related activity. “(e) Persons serving as volunteers under this title shall provide such information concerning their qualifications, including their ability to perform their assigned tasks and their integrity, as the Director shall prescribe and shall be subject to such procedures, for selection and approval as the Director may require. The Director may fix such special procedures for the selection and approval of low-income residents of the area to be served by a program who wish to become volunteers as he determines will contribute to carrying out the purposes of this title. “duration of program “Sec. 835. The Director shall carry out the programs provided for in this title during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967, and the three succeeding fiscal years. For each such fiscal year only such sums may be appropriated as the Congress may authorize by law.”