STAC Emergency Request Memo

February x, 2013

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

Sharon Mar, Policy Analyst

OMB Desk Officer for the Corporation for National and Community Service

725 17^th Street, N.W. Room 10102

Washington, D.C. 20503

RE: Request for OMB Approval for Emergency Processing

Dear Ms. Mar:

Thank you for taking the time to review the AmeriCorps State and National Partnership Grant Application Instructions and this emergency request on such short notice.

We have been working closely with the Department of Education over the past several months to develop a strategic partnership that leverages the strengths of both agencies to address one of our nation’s most critical education needs-helping students in the lowest-achieving schools improve their academic outcomes. This proposed partnership will place AmeriCorps members in the nation’s lowest performing schools starting at the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year. It capitalizes on the strengths of the AmeriCorps model, placing members where they are most needed, while making additional human resources available to districts that are implementing the Department of Education’s School Improvement Grants.

We appreciate your time and attention to expediting the clearance of the application instructions no later than COB February x, 2013.

If normal clearance procedures are followed, CNCS and the Department of Education will lose the opportunity to collaborate on these partnerships, as funds must be obligated by September 30, 2013. In addition, we want to ensure that we allow enough time for applicants to submit quality applications and for the agencies to conduct a thorough review.

We are particularly interested in making grant awards in time for the programs to be operational at the start of the next school year (August/September 2013). If we begin the standard OMB clearance procedure now, we will not be able to meet this goal.

To that end, we are requesting an expedited clearance process to accommodate the time necessary for a fair and competitive grant process to be conducted for both of these competitions. We believe reasonable harm will occur without this emergency clearance because if the grants are not awarded by August 2013, we will not be able to create partnership opportunities for communities to benefit from the collaborative use of federal funds and the AmeriCorps resource.

Since the passage of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, many Americans have expressed a renewed desire to serve their country by volunteering in their community. These grant competitions will support that interest in service by putting more boots on the ground and concentrating resources on national priorities.

If you have any questions, please contact Amy Borgstrom at 202-606-6930 or aborgstrom@cns.gov. We thank you for your consideration of this request and your willingness to work with us to fully comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act.

Respectfully Submitted,

Rosa Moreno-Mahoney

Deputy Director

AmeriCorps State and National

Corporation for National and Community Service

Enclosures

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