Make sure you continue to remind your members to register for the 2020-21 AmeriCorps Opening Day, Friday, September 25, 2020, 9am-5:15pm. The deadline to register is Monday, September 21, 2020, by 5pm. The VSC is excited about the line-up of industry experts we have for the members throughout the day. We are also excited to present the first-ever Virtual Swearing-In Ceremony at which your members will take the AmeriCorps Pledge along with their fellow members from across the state! Please also note that there is a special session just for Program Directors scheduled for 10:45 with VSC staff. An email invitation was sent for this session last week. Please let us know if you did not receive an invitation.

Listen Up! Listen Up! Approaching VSC RFA Season on the Rise - The FY 2021 AmeriCorps State and National Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), has been released by CNCS. Here is the link https://www.nationalservice.gov/grants-funding/funding-resources/cncs-funding-opportunities-resources to the NOFO and all its associated documents. Note: The Virginia Service Commission Competitive RFA release date is still in the works but stay tuned…More FY21 RFA information to come…

Deferring Payroll Tax Obligations - The following information was received by CNCS on September 14th in regards to the option to defer withholding, deposit and payment of Social Security taxes for AmeriCorps members: "As you know, the President issued an Executive Order on August 8, 2020 regarding deferring payroll tax obligations until the end of the year. This executive order is applicable to members’ living allowance even though members are not staff. Should grantees choose to apply it, the U.S. Treasury Department/IRS has issued the following guidance. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-20-65.pdf

The choice to defer withholding, deposit, and payment of the Social Security taxes is optional. Note that this is a deferral of the payroll tax and not an exemption from payroll tax. The due date for deferred employee Social Security taxes is postponed until the tax period beginning on January 1, 2021, and ending on April 30, 2021. Deferred payroll taxes not paid during this period ie by April 30, 2021, will be subject to interest and penalties." Please ensure your fiscal/ payroll counterparts are aware of this guidance as your organization determines if and how it will implement the deferral.

End of Year Closeouts - For programs operating in 2019-2020, the End of Year Program Year and Closeout Checklist must be completed by September 30th and submitted to the americorpsinfo@dss.virginia.gov email. Additional formal grant closeout documents outlined at the end of the Checklist apply only to those programs receiving a closeout notification email from OVCS. The three (3) required closeout documents: Closeout Equipment Inventory form, Closeout Inventory of Residual Supplies form and the Certification of Subaward Closeout can be found on the Help Center under Grants Administration/ Award Closeout.  

Submit Your Budget - If you have not already done so, please set-up and submit your 2020-2021 budget for approval in OnCorps Reports as soon as possible. The budget must be entered exactly as it is approved in eGrants. Budget modifications may be requested as needed with additional information provided.

Aggregate Financial Reports for July/August - The Aggregate Financial Report for July and August is now due in OnCorps. We understand there may be delays due to reconciliation of final periodic expense reports for the month of August.

Aggregate Financial Report for September - The Aggregate Financial Report for the month of September will be due on October 12th (next business day as the 10th falls on a Saturday). In order to submit the AFR, you must have an approved budget for 2020-2021 in OnCorps Reports and an approved periodic expense report for September. 

Make Sure Your Criminal Background Checks are COMPLETE AND COMPLIANT - A reminder that Truescreen and Fieldprint checks are not complete until they have been adjudicated. Any individual in a covered position cannot start service or work without an adjudicated Truescreen NSOPW check.

VSC Updated Data Collection Guidance - Please complete your data collection plan for 2020/2021! The template has been updated, please contact Analise if you have any questions. The due date for the data collection plan is October 15th, 2020.

Updated GPR Requirements - CNCS has updated the GPR requirements, creating some changes in reporting and impact requirements. CNCS now requires "Performance Data Elements" (such as the demographic info, volunteer numbers, etc) that are reported in the GPR to be reported on a different schedule than the Performance Measures. To minimize the burden of additional reporting, we are going to continue collecting the data in the normal GPR format, with detailed instructions to ensure that the correct data is being entered for the correct time period. More instructions to follow!

New AmeriCorps Branding/Logos - Here we go! The new AmeriCorps branding/logos will be officially kicked off September 29, 2020. We know that many of you have already ordered gear and materials with the old logos. Programs will NOT be required to utilize the new logo completely due to these previous orders. Please, however, attempt to update whatever you can after Sept. 29th (website, documents, social media platforms, staff/member lingo, etc.) A complete guide to updating your branding, including new boilerplates, partner branding formats, and more will be available on the 29th.

If you haven't already viewed it, please take a few moments to watch the video presentation below (which was delivered at the 2020-21 AmeriCorps Symposium) which outlines a general plan for the forthcoming branding launch. Please take note of how AmeriCorps expects programs to position the brand on their own gear, websites, etc. If you have any questions, please contact Gail Doyle, patricia.doyle@dss.virginia.gov.

9/11 Day of Service Reporting - We have seen some fantastic photos and social media posts showcasing your members serving on 9/11 Day of service! Please make sure you give us a report as to how you honored the National Day of Service so that we can, in turn, let CNCS know as well. If you have not already performed your service activity, please just remember to give us a short report once it is complete. Here's what we need to know:

Updated 2020-21 Training & Deadlines - VSC has updated the 2020-21 Training and Event Calendar to include reporting deadlines and Program Director bi-monthly call dates. As additional training opportunities are added, we will continue to update this calendar. This document is locate on the Resource Portal as well. These dates are posted on the AmeriCorps Calendar on the website and on OnCorps as well.