AmeriCorps’ Pandemic Funding
The American Rescue Plan (ARP), enacted on March 11, 2021, brought AmeriCorps additional resources of $1 billion dollars, with funding to expire on September 30, 2024. The table below shows the allocation of funds and their objectives, alongside the FY 2021 appropriations, for purposes of comparison.
In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has dedicated $400 million of its ARP funds to a partnership with AmeriCorps for the creation of Public Health AmeriCorps, to support the recruitment, training, and development of a new generation of public health leaders. That program, which will begin in 2021, is funded through 2026.
To support oversight of AmeriCorps’ ARP spending, Congress appropriated an additional $9 million to the OIG. The funds are available until September 30, 2026, because Congress recognized that audit, investigation, enforcement and recovery activities often extend long after funds are wrongfully spent. David Karakashian serves as the OIG’s Director of Pandemic Oversight.