Serve Guam Commission updates mayors on AmeriCorps satellite sites, volunteer liability and veterans data limits

Doris (identified in the meeting as the executive director of the Serve Guam Commission) told the Mayor’s Council of Guam that the commission oversees AmeriCorps programs on Guam and is 100% federally funded. She said there are two active AmeriCorps programs on island—AmeriCorps University of Guam and the Guahan Academy Charter School program—and that the commission maintains a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Mayor’s Council.

Doris said the commission can establish satellite sites at village offices at no cost, provided the mayoral office supplies workspace and a site supervisor. "There is absolutely no cost to you to have, you be a satellite," she said, "The only thing that we ask is that we need your office space and the site supervisors."

The commission provided sample liability waivers (including a parental signature line for volunteers under 18) and requested that mayors review federal prohibitions on AmeriCorps activities. Doris emphasized that AmeriCorps cannot duplicate, displace or supplant existing work—for example, AmeriCorps is not authorized to perform door-to-door canvassing for veterans benefits or to directly conduct veteran registration for agencies that already perform that function. "We cannot do door to door. We're not authorized to do that," she said, referring to veterans outreach canvassing.

Mayor and mayoral representatives asked questions about satellite site commitment length (response: one-year MOA) and whether there is a veterans component; the commission said AmeriCorps can assist with data collection and outreach coordination through mayoral offices but cannot carry out door-to-door canvassing or supplant existing veterans services. The commission suggested using email blasts, registration forms, and coordination with the mayor’s office to collect veteran contact information that can be passed to veterans agencies.

The commission invited mayors to use AmeriCorps members for tutoring, disaster response training, packing/distribution of commodities, and computer literacy at libraries and senior centers. Former Mayor Melissa Tavares and program staff from the University of Guam and Guahan Academy Charter School were introduced as program contacts. Mayors were given application packets and were told the MOA is one year; satellite sites would need to complete an MOA or MOU with the programs if they participate.

No formal vote was taken; the briefing was informational and included offers of technical assistance and volunteer placement that would require later coordination and MOAs.