Chapter 13: Other Terms & Conditions of Service
EVACUATION POLICY FOR AmeriCorps VISTA MEMBERS
If an emergency situation arises in your area of service that poses a potential or actual threat to life or property, such as a natural disaster, you are expected to abide by the evacuation policy for AmeriCorps VISTA members:
- Follow the orders or recommendations of the state and local governments regarding the need to evacuate an area.
- Seek safe haven (evacuation shelters, etc.) and contact the Corporation State Office and your project supervisor to notify them of your whereabouts within 48 hours. If the Corporation State Office cannot be reached, contact the Corporation at 1-800-942-2677; identify yourself, your project, your current location, and how best to contact you.
- If after five days you cannot return to your project site:
- Contact the Corporation State Office to confirm the state of emergency. If the state office cannot be contacted, return to your home of record, and call the Corporation's emergency number, 1-800-942-2677, to inform the Corporation of your return home. If your home of record is in the effected community, remain in the safe haven. If the state office foresees the possibility of you returning to your site within a work week, it may request you to remain in safe haven, provided you are secure.
- Unless otherwise directed by the Corporation State Office, you are placed in administrative hold and you continue to receive a living allowance for 30 days. You may seek an assignment at another project in another area through a request to the Corporation State Office or to the Corporation's emergency number. If after 30 days, your original project site remains closed, and no other assignment has been identified, then your service is terminated for compelling reasons. An advance for emergency expenses, including return to home of record, up to $500, is available from your sponsoring organization. If funds are not available, contact the Corporation State Office. If the state office cannot be reached and you need an advance for travel, call the Corporation emergency number, 1-800-942-2677, for assistance. Remember to keep the receipts to verify your emergency travel expenditures.
LIMITED ACTIVITIES AND ARRANGEMENTS WHILE IN SERVICE
TELESERVICE
A fundamental assumption of the AmeriCorps VISTA service is that members serve in a low-income community at the sponsor’s location and project site. Under limited circumstances, the Corporation State Office may approve VISTA members to perform service at a project under a teleservice agreement where they can perform project-related duties from home. VISTA members may request to perform project-related tasks from home. Members who request to serve under a teleservice arrangement under the auspices of a reasonable accommodation request are excluded from this policy, as those requests are covered under other laws and policies.
Requests for episodic teleservice, not to exceed two days per pay period (a pay period is 14 continuous days), may be considered after a member has been serving satisfactorily at the project site at least three months. Both the supervisor and the Corporation State Office must agree that the following VISTA service requisites are fully satisfied:
- The member knows the organization and the people within it well enough to effectively build capacity within the organization
- The member lives and serves the people in the community, and knows the community and people sufficiently to serve them well;
- The member has proven to the sponsor/supervisor to be a reliable team member (punctual, motivated, professional, thorough, etc.)
- The member understands that VISTA service is not a 9-5 assignment; that it demands flexibility and availability in one’s schedule
- The supervisor acts as coach and mentor and goes beyond the responsibilities of a supervisor to an employee
In addition to the prerequisites above, the member’s VISTA Assignment Description (VAD) must lend itself to teleservice in that the tasks can be completed from home. Under no circumstances can teleservice be approved as a regular part of a member’s assignment schedule.
To apply for an episodic teleservice arrangement, a member must (1)
request a Teleservice Checklist form from the State Office; (2) complete the
form and obtain the VISTA supervisor’s approval and signature; and (3)
submit the form to the State Office. The State Office must also approve the
requested teleservice. A member cannot engage in teleservice unless the
member gets the written approval of both the VISTA supervisor and the
Corporation State Office. If the State office approves teleservice, the
Teleservice Checklist must be maintained in the VISTA member‘s service file.
At the discretion of the Corporation State Office, a teleservice arrangement
for a member can be revoked at any time, without prior notice.
EDUCATIONAL COURSES
The AmeriCorps VISTA program is a full immersion experience that requires its members to be able to attend community meetings and dedicate themselves to understanding and serving the community to which they are assigned; therefore, full or part-time enrollment in an educational institution is prohibited except in the following circumstances:
- You may take educational courses that are related to your project assignment or your career development plan. Advance permission of the project supervisor and the Corporation State Director is required to take such courses. The hours in which courses are taken should in no way interfere with your assigned project duties and work performance.
- You may be enrolled in an institution of higher education for the minimum number of hours required to maintain eligibility for a partial federal Pell grant. To qualify for a partial federal Pell grant, you must be enrolled at least quartertime during the academic year. At schools measuring progress by credit hours and academic terms (e.g., semesters, trimesters, or quarters), quarter-time means at least six semester hours or nine quarter hours per year.
Enrollment in courses without prior authorization from the supervisor and Corporation State Director is cause for termination.
MEMBER HOUSING
One of the three fundamental assumptions of AmeriCorps VISTA is that the skills and energies of AmeriCorps VISTA members are used most effectively when they live and work with the low-income people they are serving. In keeping with this philosophy, you are expected to secure housing using your living allowance, which is provided to cover the basic costs of food, housing, and utilities. You should look for housing within the community to which you are assigned. Because members' living allowances are limited, you are allowed to accept offers of free or low-cost housing made by community members, local organizations, educational institutions, or sponsoring organizations.
Some examples of housing that you may accept include:
- A community resident offers unused free housing space to you because he or she is proud to have an AmeriCorps VISTA member in the community.
- A local business wants to offer a vacant apartment over the shop area.
- A national housing company offers reduced-rate housing for volunteers who are serving in a given community and you meet the eligibility requirements.
- A local, state, or federal government agency provides free or low-cost housing in areas with limited housing opportunities.
- A sponsoring organization rents housing space on your behalf.
- A sponsoring organization allows you to occupy a portion of existing space the sponsor already owns or rents.
Under no circumstances may you accept money directly from a sponsoring organization or others to supplement your living allowance or pay for rent.
Accepting free or reduced-cost housing may increase the amount of your reportable income for tax purposes.
You are also fully responsible for any legal or financial issues with your landlord (e.g., the project closes and you owe money on your lease).
EXPRESSING YOUR VIEWS AND CONCERNS REGARDING SERVICE
There are procedures that allow for systematic and open communication of your views, and for effective resolution of your concerns regarding the terms and conditions of your AmeriCorps VISTA service.
INFORMAL PROCEDURE
The Corporation provides for:
- A free and open opportunity for you to communicate your views to appropriate
- Corporation officials
- An opportunity for you to be heard in connection with the terms and conditions of your service
- Response to and possible resolution of your problems or concerns by appropriate
- Corporation officials
If you believe your concerns regarding the terms and conditions of service have not been properly addressed, you may communicate those concerns directly to the AmeriCorps VISTA Headquarters program staff.
AmeriCorps VISTA GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE
During your service, a circumstance may arise that directly affects your service situation or that you believe violates regulations governing the terms and conditions of service, resulting in a denial or infringement of a right or benefit to you. In such a circumstance, you may file a grievance.
The member grievance procedure is contained in 45 CFR Part 1211, which is reprinted in full in Appendix C. You should read the procedure in its entirety before initiating any grievance. Under this procedure, you are not permitted to grieve matters for which a separate administrative procedure (e.g., discrimination complaints as discussed in Chapter 14) is provided. Consequently, you may not grieve matters that are processed through the Volunteer Discrimination Complaint Procedure, which is contained in 45 CFR Part 1225, and is set forth in Appendix C.
PROPERTY LOSS
The Corporation does not insure personal property; it can reimburse AmeriCorps VISTA members for lost, damaged, or stolen property only under certain circumstances and for limited amounts. You are strongly urged not to take expensive property to assignments and to maintain your own insurance against property loss or damage during your service.
If essential belongings are lost, you will be reimbursed only with sufficient funds to obtain replacement items adequate to function on your assignment. For example, if you lost some expensive items in your wardrobe, reimbursement is based on the cost of replacing the items with clothing suitable for the project assignment. No reimbursement is made for luxury items, such as photographic or electronic equipment, unless theyare essential to your assignment and had been authorized for that purpose by the sponsoring organization prior to the loss.
If you suffer a loss, the Corporation State Office requires a written statement, signed and dated by you, that:
- Describes in detail the circumstances surrounding the loss
- Itemizes the property or allowance lost
- Explains why the property or allowance is essential to your ability to serve effectively, or is incident to service
- Indicates whether or not the property or allowance was covered by insurance
- If the property or allowance was covered by insurance, includes the policy number (if
- known), whether and when a claim has been presented to the insurer, and the action, if any, the insurer has taken with respect to the claim.
- You must agree to reimburse the Corporation from any such recovery for the cost of replaced property or payments in reimbursement.
- In the case of theft, evidence that such theft has been reported to the appropriate law enforcement authorities. Such evidence should include a copy of the police report. Lost or stolen allowance checks are not covered by these procedures. Please refer to Appendix A for the specific policy dealing with lost checks.
OTHER MATTERS WHILE IN SERVICE
RESPONSIBILITY FOR FINANCIAL DEBTS
The Corporation is not responsible for debts incurred by you to commercial creditors, regardless of when you incur a debt. The Corporation has no authority to act as an intermediary to collect private debts on behalf of a creditor or claimant, nor does the Corporation have the authority to direct you to take specific action concerning your financial affairs.
You are encouraged to pay all legal debts promptly to avoid a situation that would impair your ability to effectively complete your term of service. In cases of continued financial irresponsibility to the extent of embarrassment or adverse reflection upon the sponsoring organization's project or the AmeriCorps VISTA program, the Corporation may take administrative or disciplinary action up to and including termination.
Neither you nor the sponsoring organization is authorized to obtain extension of credit by representing yourself as an employee of the federal government. The Corporation also assumes no financial responsibility for a nonmember spouse or for dependents.
KEEEPING IN TOUCH
Change of Address Notification
If you change your mailing address, you must notify the Corporation State Office immediately in writing or by e-mail to ensure timely delivery of correspondence and tax documents.
Change of Name Notification
The Corporation State Office should be notified in writing of a change in your name and/or marital status for record keeping.
Disclosure and Use of Member Addresses
The Corporation will use members' private addresses for internal administrative purposes only. Your private address (home of record or residence during service) may be disclosed by the Corporation with your prior written permission, ort o duly authorized representatives of federal investigative agencies, including the Corporation's Office of Inspector General, and pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.
The mailing address of AmeriCorps VISTA projects are public knowledge and may be disclosed when requested.
SUPPLIES AND EQUIPEMENT
Because it is the policy of the Corporation to encourage self-help and mobilization of resources, the Corporation does not provide equipment or supplies required by members in their project assignment. If special equipment or supplies are necessary to successfully implement a project, they must be provided by the sponsoring organization.
DONATED AND OTHER GIFTS TO BENEFIT THE PROJECT
The Corporation does not pay shipping costs for gifts or materials that have been donated or obtained by you to benefit the project to which you are assigned. Such costs should be borne by the sponsoring organization.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CREATED DURING SERVICE
You have the right to copyright work that is subject to copyright, including software designs, training manuals, curricula, videotapes, and other products created by you while serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA member. You may not sell any work, however, that includes an AmeriCorps logo without prior written approval of the Corporation. By enrolling in AmeriCorps VISTA, with regard to products created by you while serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA member, you agree to give the Corporation and the sponsoring organization an unlimited, royalty-free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable license to obtain, use, reproduce, publish, or disseminate products, including data produced for the sponsoring organization, and you agree to authorize others to do so. The Corporation may distribute such products through a designated clearinghouse.
