The AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (AmeriCorps OIG) conducted a proactive review of AmeriCorps employees who may have improperly applied for and received unemployment insurance (UI) payments while actively employed. AmeriCorps OIG developed a list of potential matches of AmeriCorps employees and individuals who had applied for UI benefits. AmeriCorps OIG identified ten potential matches for further investigation.

The AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (AmeriCorps OIG) investigated allegations that The New Teacher Project (TNTP), New York, NY, improperly exited five AmeriCorps members (members) with 1700 hours and thus certified full time education awards for the members, despite previous denials from AmeriCorps State and National to TNTP’s request to retroactively backdate the members’ enrollment in the MyAmeriCorps Portal.

Following the receipt of a complaint that an AmeriCorps member was simultaneously enrolled in two AmeriCorps programs at different grantees without the grantees’ knowledge, AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (AmeriCorps OIG) initiated a proactive review of members with multiple service terms during the same timeframe.

The AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (AmeriCorps OIG) investigated allegations that AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) members at Heal the City Free Clinic (HTC), located in Amarillo, TX, were engaging in prohibited activities. HTC was a VISTA service site for the Lone Star Association of Charitable Clinics, also known as the Texas Association of Charitable Clinics (TXACC).

The AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (AmeriCorps OIG) conducted an investigation that found evidence that the Axiom Education and Training Center (AETC) in Machias, ME, included false information in its AmeriCorps grant application to Serve Maine, and that AETC mismanaged its AmeriCorps Digital Inclusion Initiative program.

This report provides an overview of the work of the Office of Inspector General during the period of April 1, 2024 through September 30, 2024.

The AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (AmeriCorps OIG) investigated allegations that the City of Oakland, Office on Aging (City of Oakland) paid Senior Companion Program (SCP) and Foster Grandparent Program (FGP) volunteers full stipends when volunteers either did not serve or document the hours claimed following the end of AmeriCorps’ authorization for grantees to pay volunteers a temporary allowance due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In early 2021, AmeriCorps received $1 billion in supplemental funding under the American Rescue Plan (ARP) primarily to award grants in support of its programs. These funds were to remain available until September 30, 2024. On June 3, 2023, however, Congress rescinded all unobligated AmeriCorps ARP program funds. As part of our oversight of ARP funds, the AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (AmeriCorps OIG) identified more than 100 Notices of Grant Award involving ARP funds issued after June 3, 2023.