Managing Your VISTA Project

1. Managing Your VISTA Project Roles, Responsibilities, and Support

2. Session Objectives By the end of this session, you will be able to: • Describe in broad terms how your VISTA project fits into the context of the National Service Network • Follow and support communication protocol with Corporation State Office • Recognize VISTA project responsibilities • Identify opportunities for member support • Know where to go, when, and for what!

3. www.nationalservice.gov

4. Review of How You Became a VISTA Sponsor or VISTA Site • Concept Paper –Submitted in eGrants which identified the unmet needs in a low-income community and described how the VISTA resources would be used to address those needs. • VISTA requires that the concept and the application be developed in collaboration with a community advisory group.

5. Review cont’d Project Plan includes: • VISTA Application –Submitted in eGrants which included: Executive Summary, Needs and Activities, Recruitment and Member Development, Program Management • Description of the community need that your project will address • Goal statement that describes the impact your project will have in addressing the community need. The goal statement should cover a three year period • Performance milestones - the result the agency hopes the VISTA will achieve over the course of one year

6. Review cont’d • Memorandum of Agreement/Notice of Grant Award • The MA is a legal agreement outlining the roles and responsibilities of CNCS and the sponsoring agency • May start before members are placed or may coincide with the placement of your first VISTA

7. What is the Corporation State Office? Corporation State Office staff develop, manage and oversee VISTA programs – both in their state and often in other states or on a national basis Staff are also responsible for understanding all of the Corporation’s programs, not just VISTA. We are a diversified agency—our job is to help you determine which program or resource is most appropriate to meet your needs

8. Support from Corporation State Office Project application process Conference calls, webinars and technical assistance Support the supervision of VISTAs

9. Recruiting and Welcoming VISTA Members to Your Organization • The VISTA Assignment Description (VAD) • Submit to state office for aproval • Use as a recruitment tool • Accompanies VISTAs to the PSO • On-Site Orientation and Training (OSOT) • Submit OSOT plan 30 days prior to the VISTAs arrival • Required when the VISTA arrives on-site

10. Relationships Member support, within chain of command: • VISTA member should go to immediate supervisor first • Then parent organization (if applicable) • Then CNCS State Office • Then CNCS Headquarters (if not resolved)

11. Handling VISTA Member Issues • Prohibited Actions (Policies related to employment, political activity, criminal history or activity) • Early terminations • Removal from project • Other

12. Service Restrictions:Nepotism A person cannot hold the position of VISTA member if a member of his/her family exercises supervisory authority over the person A person cannot hold the position of VISTA supervisor if he/she is related to the CNCS program official responsible for the VISTA project

13. VMSU and Sponsors A sponsor may intervene on behalf of a member and contact the VISTA Member Support Unit (VMSU) if there are support issues related to the member’s benefits of service. 866-473-5733 If a sponsor contacts the VMSU for any other reason, the VMSU will refer the sponsor to their State Office.

14. VMSU Support Areas • Service Letters - Currently Serving • - Verification of Service - Income Disregard • Benefits - Child Care - Health Benefits Plan • Forms • -W-4, W-5, Direct Deposit, Life Insurance • End of Service Benefits - Education Award - Interest Accrual - Forbearance Requests - Stipend • Travel • Reimbursements • Emergency

15. Living Allowance • Standard VISTAs (not operational grant VISTAs) are paid directly by VISTA through direct deposit • Direct deposit and all related forms are available via https://my.americorps.gov • Contact the VMSU about: - W-2 and 1099 forms - Deductions

16. Online Member Support • VISTA Campus—vistacampus.org • Member page— Starting VISTA? • TCB • Civil Rights • PSO info • Resource Board • Essentials page • Intro to mission of VISTA and capacity building

17. VISTA Resource BoardOn the Essentials page of the Campus

18. Helping your VISTA member • What can you do as a VISTA sponsor to support your VISTA member? • Housing • Food/gifts • Clothing (agency logo apparel) • Promotional items

19. VISTA Leaders VISTA Leaders have already served one year: Leaders help recruit, mentor and coordinate teams of VISTA members serving with larger projects or within a given region. A project needs at least 6 VISTAs to qualify for a leader VISTA Leaders can help to coordinate report writing: They can interpret data from VISTAS and guide them in their data collection

20. Sponsor Verification • Bi-weekly fax (retrieved from Portal) confirming the VISTAs’ service

21. REPORTING • Project Progress Report: The PPR reports the accomplishments of the overall project, not the individual VISTAs • Submitted via eGrants • Supervisor’s Narrative • Member(s)’ Narratives • Sampling of press coverage, newsletters, curriculum to state office via hardcopy or email • Links, attachments, and images are not allowed thru eGrants

22. VISTA Progress Report Supplement (VPRS)

23. Reporting Periods • First year projects report quarterly • Second and third year projects report semi-annually, at the discretion of the state office

24. VISTA Progress Report Supplement (VPRS) • The VPRS, submitted through eGrants, is an annual supplement to the PPR • The data is aggregated and reported externally- It is not used to assess individual progress performance • The VPRS asks for performance information that CNCS tracks from all Corporation programs.

25. VISTA Progress ReportSupplement (VPRS) cont. The data is based on VISTA service in the following areas: Mobilizing Community Volunteers, including Boomers and students Resource Development Disadvantaged Youth Independent Living Services

26. VISTA Progress ReportSupplement (VPRS) cont. Annual report, due October 31 for the previous fiscal year (Oct. 1 – Sep. 30) Talk with your state office to determine what data you need to report Establish tracking tools to collect the data

27. VISTA Recovery Progress Report Supplement In addition to PPR and VPRS • Projects receiving Recovery Act VISTAs will be required to report on a specific set of activities central to economic recovery • Reporting will be done in eGrants in a modified version of the VPRS called VISTA Recovery Progress Report Supplement (VRPRS) • Reports will be submitted quarterly

28. What goes in the VRPRS? Measures that pertain to a narrow set of program activities central to economic recovery that include: Volunteer Generation and Management Non-profit Capacity Building Employment and Skills Training Programs Home Foreclosures and Housing Assistance Financial Planning You are only responsible for reporting on those measures that are relevant to your project’s activities.

29. Reporting Schedule for VRPRS • Project Period Covered: Date Report Due: • Oct. 1, 2009 – Dec. 31, 2009 Jan. 7, 2010 • Jan. 1, 2010 – Mar. 30, 2010 Apr. 7, 2010 • Apr. 1, 2010 – Jun. 30, 2010 Jul. 7, 2010 • Jul. 1, 2010 – Sep. 30, 2010 Oct. 7, 2010

30. Reporting • PPR: Quarterly/semi annually-reports on the accomplishments of the overall project • VPRS: Annually-reports on CNCS metrics • VRPRS: Quarterly –report on program activities related to recovery

31. Informal Communications • In addition to quarterly reports, we encourage you to communicate with your state office: • Email (snippets of accomplishments, member activities are helpful) • Phone

32. Corporation State Office Visits Monitoring and Compliance Visits • Site visits • Conducted by state office staff and occasionally by Headquarters staff • May be informational, to provide technical assistance, or specifically for monitoring • Compliance Monitoring visits • Involve interviews with project staff, the VISTAs, advisory council members, and the local community • Are scheduled in advance; typically twice in first 3-year cycle • After the visit, a letter outlining the results is sent to both the project director and sponsoring agency executive

33. Contacts & Resources Project Support/Policy & Procedure • Your State Office (listed in Resources section of your binder) • VISTA Member Handbook vistacampus.org • Supervisor Terms, Conditions, and Benefits (TCB) Tutorial – vistacampus.org • Supervisor Handbook vistacampus.org Member Support • My AmeriCorps — my.americorps.gov — recruitment, in-processing documents, National Service Trust, allowance statements 1-800-942-2677 • VISTA Member Support Unit (VMSU) — 866-473-5733,vistamembersupportunit@cns.gov — travel, living allowances, benefits, emergencies Training & Development • VISTA Campus — vistacampus.org -learning center tailored to VISTA members, supervisors, and state offices with interactive tutorials and activities, forums, and rich materials to connect the VISTA community.

34. More Contacts Training & Development (continued) • The Resource Center--nationalserviceresources.org--general wide range of materials Benefits • Seven Corners & Member Health Care Guide (866-699-4186) americorps.sevencorners.com/ • NACCRRA: 800-570-4543 / http://www.naccrra.org/VISTA/ General Information • National Service Partners, www.nationalservice.gov • CNCS, www.cns.gov • Help Desk 888-677-7849 • Resource Board, www.vistacampus.org