NCCC stands for
National Civilian Community Corps, America's only national, public, full-time youth service program.
This is not a new item. The Washington Post reported this on February 28. It was a Kos Diary on that date but the Harvard Crimson had this today;
The Bush Administration plans to swiftly gut the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), claiming it is simply not cost effective. The program is slated for a $22 million cut, with just enough funds left to shut itself down over the next year. Community youth service is apparently a "luxury" America cannot afford at the moment.
The NCCC is the pièce de résistance of the entire Americorps Program, founded in 1993 by President Clinton as a way to promote a community service ethic among American youth. The program demands an intense commitment from its participants, embarks upon ambitious national projects, and engages deeply with the communities it serves.
Also today, the editorial staff of the New York Times offers Save the Civilian Community Corps;
The federal government did a lot wrong after Hurricane Katrina. But it did right by immediately dispatching well-trained teams from the National Civilian Community Corps, an elite arm of AmeriCorps, the nation's flagship domestic service program. President Bush posed for pictures with volunteers -- and then sent a budget to Capitol Hill that sets up the program to be eliminated.
The civilian corps includes some 1,100 highly motivated full-time volunteers, ages 18 to 24, who are based on five residential campuses for rapid deployment when emergencies arise, like wildfires and hurricanes. Apart from lodging, members receive transportation and a food allowance (typically just $25 a week), plus a daily stipend of $13.60. Upon completing 10 months' service, members receive AmeriCorps's standard educational award, $4,725.
Other volunteer outfits, including some within AmeriCorps, also provide help with disaster relief. But the Civilian Community Corps is unique because of its focus on disaster training and rapid response, and the overall intensity of its efforts. For more than six months, corps members have been a large presence in the Gulf Coast region, helping to organize volunteers, serving as caseworkers for displaced and separated families, and performing a lot of nasty clean-up work. If the administration were really serious about homeland security, it would be expanding the corps, not killing it.
After the total screw up over Katrina, quoting "tough budget times," the White House is cutting off a very effective program geared toward disaster relief while increasing military spending. The hypocrisy of the Bush administration is obvious. A man that preaches Homeland Security brings nothing to the table.
These are working volunteers so they don't cost a great deal to have incase a disaster occurs. Is Bush planning to replace these young workers with full time employees or will this just be another missing piece of the next federal disaster response SNAFU?
The New York Times editorial ended with;
The administration has it backward. Losing this model program is unaffordable.
Leave it to Bush to decide that a $27 million program that give American youth a head start and offers a beneficial service to communities across America is too expensive. Leave it to Bush to remove a tiny little program that offer some kind of social contract with Americans while running up the deficit to staggering levels anywhere that it doesn't help Americans.
The fact that the NCCC is entirely federally funded, and unlike the AmeriCorps State and National program does not have a cost-sharing component is most likely the reason this program is being dumped. The faith-based programs and the ones that states share the cost will continue.
It is easy to see how George W. Bush and the Republican Party judge the NCCC to be too expensive and wasteful. Getting young Americans off to a good start by performing community service isn't big with Republicans.
It is impossible to understand how the American people can see a residential community service program which brings more than 1,100 18- to 24-year-olds together on five residential campuses to spend 10 months working on service projects, with an emphasis on homeland security and disaster relief as unnecessary.
Paul G. Nauert ended his editorial in the Harvard Crimson with;
Natural disasters have exposed not only our logistical incompetence, but also the deeply fractured state of American society. NCCC is a platform of practical help and a bright beacon of hope. Its activities, rather than being harshly cut at the height of their success, should serve as an inspiration and provide a model for expanded programs.
Speaking days after Katrina hit, President Bush reminded Americans that "we're tied together in this life, in this nation--and that the despair of any touches us all." Remember your own words, Mr. President. Do not cut NCCC funding. Expand upon it and all those programs that unite the energy of America's youth with its greatest challenges.
For more information, go to the diary from two weeks ago, Bush to Kill Off Disaster Relief Public Service.
You can take action by visiting SaveNCCC.org. At the time of this diary there have only been 9171 visitors. Please send a notice to your representitives to save this youth program that should be growing instead of dissapearing.