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

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.govhttps://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 Board On 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 Project Period Covered:Date Report is Due: ► July 1 - Sept. 30 — October 30 ► Oct. 1 - Dec. 31 — January 30 ► Jan. 1 - March 31 — April 30 ► April 1 - June 30 — July 30

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 Report Supplement (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 Report Supplement (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, 2009Jan. 7, 2010 Jan. 1, 2010 – Mar. 30, 2010Apr. 7, 2010 Apr. 1, 2010 – Jun. 30, 2010Jul. 7, 2010 Jul. 1, 2010 – Sep. 30, 2010Oct. 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. 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 Corporation State Office Visits

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.govwww.nationalservice.gov ● CNCS, www.cns.govwww.cns.gov ● Help Desk 888-677-7849 ● Resource Board, www.vistacampus.orgwww.vistacampus.org