Service Year Alliance today released the following statement from CEO Kristen Bennett on the government shutdown and its impact on the agencies, people, and volunteers in national service.
Service Year Alliance is monitoring the fallout of the government shutdown, including the impacts on AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps, the federal agencies most responsible for the implementation of service years.
Each federal agency is required to develop a contingency plan in the case of a government shutdown. AmeriCorps released their plan late yesterday. While AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers remain in service, more than 70% of agency staff will go on furlough. This temporary cut to agency staff follows a loss of roughly 85% of AmeriCorps’ workforce earlier this year, some of whom just recently returned to duty in recent weeks. More than 50% of Peace Corps staff will be furloughed as well, while remaining staff support the continuity of operations to ensure the health, safety, and security of currently-serving volunteers around the world.
Additional impacts could follow, if the impasse continues, that further destabilize the national service community. Service Year Alliance will share additional updates as we learn more about the impact of the shutdown on service years.
National service remains one of the government’s best investments. For every $1 in federal taxes invested in AmeriCorps and Senior Corps returns $17.30 to society, program members, and the federal government. Research from Service Year Alliance released in August further identified service years as a high‑impact, scalable strategy for workforce development, education access, and civic renewal. We call on Congress to work toward a resolution that ensures service year corps members and volunteers can continue their critical efforts in communities with the full support of the federal government.
