U.S. Dept. of the Interior Americorps VISTA Team
This synopsis is not an announcement of a funding opportunity for the Dept. of the Interior. This serves as the posting of the required "Notice of Intent to Issue a Non-Competitive Financial Assistance Award" to the Southwest Conservation Corps. Please see below for more information regarding this forthcoming financial assistance award. The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), Office of the Secretary, intends to award a Cooperative Agreement to the Southwest Conservation Corps (SCC). Award of this agreement shall be made on a noncompetitive basis as a discretionary financial assistance award. The purpose of this agreement is to provide the SCC with the funding assistance to establish and maintain a Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) team for the Office of the Secretary. The total estimated 3-year value of this award is $2,634,000. $878,000 will be obligated at the time of award to fully fund Year 1 of the project. Funding for this program shall be made available through the DOI & Related Agencies Appropriations Act for FY 2008, Title I, P.L. 110-161: § 125. The authority for DOI’s Office of the Secretary to enter into this Cooperative Agreement is given under 16 U.S.C. 1723 (c) Public Land Corps. The DOI/VISTA Initiative is a new collaboration between the Department of the Interior (DOI) and AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), placing VISTA Volunteers in some of the poorest places in which the DOI has a presence. The DOI/VISTA Initiative offers full-time, college educated VISTA Volunteers an opportunity to engage in national service with non-profit organizations and bureaus within the Department of the Interior. The program aims to advance the Play, Learn, Serve and Work goals of the Secretary’s youth priority and increase greater community ownership and partnership. The primary objective of the DOI/VISTA Initiative is to address the root causes of poverty and protect America’s natural resources, heritage, and tribal cultures. This is accomplished through three-year DOI/VISTA Projects that partner DOI resources with community partners to address community and economic development, environmental stewardship, and healthy futures in underserved or impoverished communities. DOI/VISTAs serve projects focusing on one of the following antipoverty focus measures: Environmental Stewardship, Economic Opportunity, or Healthy and Sustainable Futures. VISTA Volunteers work on specific capacity building projects that benefit their site and community. A VISTA may complete the following capacity building activities: • Develop new programing that creates opportunities for underserved populations to learn about and pursue economic opportunities presented by public lands, science education, and resource management fields. • Create sustainable programs that strengthen volunteer engagement in DOI public lands and alleviates poverty in communities where the DOI has a presence. • Write grants, foster and nurture partnerships, recruit and train volunteers, interpret data, coordinate fundraisers, plan festivals, develop educational curricula, create outdoor classrooms, present at professional conferences and more. • Provide greater operational efficiency to their site, bringing additional support to partnership efforts at low cost. This Cooperative Agreement will be entered into on a noncompetitive basis in accordance with the criteria set forth in Chapter 2.14 (B) (4) & (5) of the Departmental of the Interior Departmental Manual; Federal Assistance Programs Series; Part 505, Chapter 2. This Departmental Manual sets forth various criteria in which a financial assistance agreement can be entered into on a noncompetitive basis. In this instance, the SCC meets the criteria in item (4) Unique Qualifications. The SCC is uniquely qualified to perform this project based upon having the technical expertise and resources to effectively administer the DOI/VISTA Team. In addition to having 13 years of experience in VISTA programs, the SCC has the staff, systems and support currently in place to effectively support nationwide VISTA placements in partnership with DOI and share the cost of operating these programs. SCC has two strong support offices, one in Beckley, WV and one in Durango, CO, already supporting existing VISTAs in the field. These support offices have the experience, systems, infrastructure and resources in place to manage the recruiting, placement, support and training of VISTAs while also having the knowledge and expertise to help VISTA supervisors and other partners. The anticipated award date of this agreement is August 8th, 2014. Please direct any questions or inquiries to Anthony Jasper of DOI’s Acquisition Services Directorate; Anthony_Jasper@ibc.doi.gov.
Contract Specialist
Phone 303-969-5750
