Civic Engagement in an Older America E-Newsletter

September, 2008

CONTENTS

The Call to Service

ServiceNation Presidential Candidates Forum

A Service Nation

Kennedy, Hatch Introduce the "Serve America Act"

More to Give

Encore Service Act of 2008

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The Call to Service

On Monday, September 8th, President Bush hosted a White House event highlighting the accomplishments of USA Freedom Corps, the volunteer initiative launched as part of a national Call to Service after the attacks of 9/11 to help more Americans connect with opportunities to serve their neighbors in need. In his speech to the audience gathered on the South Lawn, the President honored the work of America's volunteers and repeated his call for Americans to devote 4,000 hours - or two years, in service to our country over their lifetimes. Also on this day, USA Freedom Corps issued a report, "Answering the Call to Service," which details the response from the millions of individuals who have answered the President's Call to Service and used their power and energy to affect communities across America. To view the report, click here.

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ServiceNation Presidential Candidates Forum

On Thursday, September 11th, in New York City, presidential nominees Senators John McCain and Barack Obama shared their views on service and civic engagement in an interview conducted by TIME managing editor Richard Stengel and PBS correspondent Judy Woodruff that was organized by ServiceNation-a coalition of nonprofit, business, and government leaders to promote public service. The two presidential candidates shared a commitment to expanding national-service programs, but expressed differences over the role government should play: Obama proposed tuition tax credits for college students who perform community service, the expansion of the AmeriCorps and Peace Corps programs, and the creation of new opportunities for volunteers age 55 and above, including a new Energy Corps to help develop renewable-energy technologies. McCain's plan includes streamlining federal volunteer programs via a central office in the White House, and allocating federal matching funds to support job-retraining or vocational-training efforts in schools and communities where job loss persists. In a special issue of Time magazine released in connection with the event, both candidates outlined how they would renew the call to national service as President. Click here to read the statements by Barack Obama and John McCain.

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A Service Nation

On Friday, September 12th, the ServiceNation Summit gathered more than 700 leaders of all ages and from every sector-civic, corporate, and political-of American society to celebrate the power and potential of service, and lay out a bold policy blueprint for addressing challenges facing our society through expanded opportunities for community and national service. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg opened the meeting, followed by speeches from a bipartisan group of distinguished Americans including First Lady Laura Bush, Senator Orrin Hatch, Caroline Kennedy, Senator Christopher Dodd, and Senator Hillary Clinton. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger-the first governor to create a cabinet post to oversee service and volunteering-closed the meeting with a video address (for highlights of their presentations, see this excellent article from The Chronicle of Philanthropy). At the Summit, the ServiceNation coalition-more than 100 national organizations that reach 100 million Americans-introduced an ambitious and powerful policy agenda for creating meaningful opportunities for service at every key life stage, and for every socioeconomic group, from kindergarten through the post-retirement years. The coalition's ten-point policy agenda, "Strategies for Becoming a Nation of Service", is available here.

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Kennedy, Hatch Introduce the "Serve America Act"

On Friday September 12th, Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced a major piece of legislation in the Senate. Building on the success of existing national service programs like AmeriCorps, The Serve America Act (S. 3487) would recruit Americans of all ages to help tackle a wide range of national challenges, such as strengthening schools, improving health care for low-income communities, cleaning up parks, and aiding efforts to boost energy efficiency. The legislation would also expand the volunteer pool by establishing a "Volunteer Generation Fund" that would match, dollar for dollar, money provided by private sources to help nonprofit, faith-based, and civic groups recruit, train, and manage more volunteers as well as to develop innovative social programs. To attract highly qualified people over age 50 to make a large commitment to work in the nonprofit or public sector, the bill would establish an "Encore Fellows" program that would provide individuals with both a stipend and education award that they could transfer to their children or grandchildren. The new programs would cost $5 billion over five years-costs expected to be offset by cuts in other areas or new revenue from other sources. Senators Obama (D-IL), McCain (R-AZ), Dodd (D-CT), Cochran (R-MS), and Clinton (D-NY) have agreed to co-sponsor the bill. For a summary of the bill, click here.

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More to Give

While most older Americans (55%) believe they will leave the world in worse condition than they inherited it from their parents, tens of millions of these Americans want to increase their levels of civic engagement, according to a report released at the ServiceNation Summit by AARP and Civic Enterprises, a public policy firm that promotes innovative solutions to strengthen communities. "More to Give: Tapping the Talents of the Baby Boomer, Silent and Greatest Generations" outlines a 12-point plan to engage older Americans in tackling challenges across the nation, such as epidemic levels of high school dropout and the need to help millions of elderly continue to live independently in their homes. This breakthrough report was authored by three leading experts in American civic engagement: John Bridgeland, CEO of Civic Enterprises and former Director of the USA Freedom Corps; Robert D. Putnam, the author of Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community; and former U.S. Senator Harris Wofford, who served as Special Assistant to President Kennedy during the launch of the Peace Corps. Their report is available here.

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Encore Service Act of 2008

Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) has proposed legislation to mobilize the skills and expertise of Americans age 50 years and above to address the nation's most pressing needs in health, education, environmental protection, and poverty relief. The Encore Service Act would expand the capacity of current Senior Corps programs by increasing the authorization levels for the Foster Grandparent, Senior Companions, and RSVP programs, raising program eligibility levels from 125% to 200% above poverty and modifying the age of eligibility so all the programs are open to individuals age 50 and over. It would also create a Silver Scholars program that awards adults age 50 and older with a (transferable) education scholarship of up to $1,000 in exchange for volunteering with public or private nonprofits for 250-500 hours a year. A summary of the proposed bill is available here.

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The CE-Newsletter is the E-Newsletter of GSA’s Civic Engagement in an Older America Project. The "Civic Engagement in an Older America" project is supported by a grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies.