Policy Blueprint
More than 200 service organizations have joined together to achieve ServiceNation’s mission: to strengthen and increase opportunities for the public to serve.
The good news is, it's already working.
In March 2009, ServiceNation helped to pass a landmark bill: the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act (SAA). Authored by Senators Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), SAA authorizes the greatest expansion of national service in America since FDR created the Civilian Conservation Corps. The law grows the number of AmeriCorps positions from 75,000 to 250,000, increases financial incentives for students to serve, and provides countless other opportunities for Americans to share their skills and time with their fellow citizens. The bill passed with strong bipartisan support and was signed into law by President Barack Obama in April 2009.
So where does this movement go now that the SAA is passed? The sky is the limit.
Our goals are ambitious, but we're confident that together we can:
- Engage 100 million Americans per year in community volunteering by 2020.
- Engage 1 million Americans per year in full- and part-time stipended national service by 2020.
- Engage 20 million youth per year in school and community-based service learning.
- Launch a Veterans Service Fellowship.
- Attract more of America's top talent to the public sector.
- Forge alliances of peace and prosperity through overseas service.
- Foster new innovations and growth to scale in the nonprofit sector.
- Provide more opportunities to Americans age 50 and older to use their lifetime of learning and skills to serve their country help address America’s challenges.
- Find new ways to measure the outcomes of expanded service opportunities.
With your participation, we can build a thriving culture of service—an America where people ask not "What is service?" but rather "Where do you serve?"
For more, check out ServiceNation's full policy blueprint below.
Click here for a list of the policy's endorsers.
Full document downloads below
