With 30 years in the corps industry, we’ve developed a keen understanding of the national corps landscape.
Page Summary
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- 110 local, independent Corps organizations exist today; barrier of entry is high
- Current field of corps is demonstrating success but greater impact potential remains
- CCCUSA shouldn’t be viewed as a competitor, but rather a value-add for the industry
- Several current Corps standouts infield, would make for ideal partners
When the federal Youth Conservation Corps ended in 1979, leaders of that era created from scratch, the 110 corps organizations that exist in the nation today. These are primarily local operations, each with their own local flavor, and they have shown that the corps model is a proven approach to accomplish great things. For example, the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps leveraged one dollar into more than 50 million over thirty years, and today has an annual budget of three million dollars. This is only one example of many corps organizations that have shown beyond a doubt, that the corps model works and that the impact can be extraordinary.
Starting any new organization, regardless of industry, is difficult. For the corps field, it’s no different. On average, less than one new corps is formed every few years — illustrating a challenging barrier to entry. Considering the tremendous outcomes corps are able to create, THIS is a problem.
Established corps today only enroll roughly 100,000 out of a potential 25 million young men and women that fit the ideal enrollee profile. * While we applaud the success and efforts being achieved today, we believe, the field is barely scratching the surface.
The CCCUSA accelerator model is designed to knock down the barriers that keep new corps from developing by providing the training, support, and experienced guidance to CCC Enterprise Executive Directors and their communities; making the startup process affordable and simple, giving new corps the best chance of success.
In terms of the corps industry and that of existing corps, CCCUSA does not see itself as a competitor, but rather an enabler for the industry. Crew Leader credentialed training through the National Leadership Academy will be accessible to all existing corps – providing dependable, cost-efficient, and highly-renowned training for the field. Additionally, CCCUSA’s country-wide scale will spark a national conversation and a revived sense of support for conservation corps. It will be up to existing corps on how they benefit from such renewed public press, but we have no doubt that new opportunities will present themselves to all corps, current, and future.
In the end, our country has an enormous array of serious issues and needs that require sizeable action. We believe corps, in general, are an impactful solution. By the hand of CCCUSA, the number of local corps will be radically accelerated across the nation. As a result, we will together as an industry, unite the diversity in our communities, instill critical values needed for a highly functioning democracy, and literally rebuild our communities and natural areas.
There are several local and national programs:
The Corps Network
The Corps Network (“CN”) is a national association of roughly 110 separate organizations that are primarily nonprofit organizations. Corps are of all sizes and have all evolved in unique ways over time. The CN has worked to develop a national brand and coordinate nationally, though it has shown to be challenging with such range and diversity of independent corps. CCCUSA will dramatically expand the number of Corps in this network.
21st Century Conservation Service Corps (21CSC)
The 21CSC is an initiative coordinated by The Corps Network, made up of a collection of established corps around the country. The 21CSC is the most recent national effort to spread the word about modern-day Corps, with a goal of annually engaging 100,000 young adults and veterans in AmeriCorps and national service projects. In many ways, the 21CSC represents much of CCCUSAs aspirations – strengthening rural and urban communities, restoring public lands, empowering young people and veterans – but on a smaller national scale and only focused on established corps today. Regardless, we see great potential to collaborate in the future.
Multi-State and Regional “Corps” Programs
There are three strong regional programs: Northwest Youth Conservation Corps, a model program; Conservation Legacy, which is a conglomerate of different conservation initiatives, primarily in the Southwest; and American Conservation Experience (“ACE”), which runs youth conservation crews as part of their overall national program. These are logical potential partners who could build their own organizations more rapidly with CCCUSA.
The Student Conservation Association
The Student Conservation Association (“SCA”) is the oldest and by far the largest conservation organization in the country. Historically, it has had a robust summer volunteer crew program, creating a set of local “corps” programs. This is the exact kind of partner we envision working with. They know the corps program inside and out and have a robust national reach.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency Corps
The Federal Emergency Management Agency Corps (“FEMA Corps”) is an administrative program aimed at reducing the cost of using higher-paid professional staff at FEMA, and is technically a “Corps”. They provide work for young adults, but primarily administrative work.
AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Crews
The AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Crews (“AmeriCorps NCCC”) are the closest thing to the traditional national CCC model. Our goal is to explore a national AmeriCorps partnership.
AmeriCorps
The future of AmeriCorps seems far from certain, for political reasons. It runs some incredible programs such as VISTA, a domestic Peace Corps program for example. For the most part, it is simply a funding source for various local corps and other non-profits. Congress has zeroed out funding for last several years and did so again this year, though at the moment it is back in as fully funded.
Our new sites will want to explore building partnerships with their state commissions as most corps do currently. However, to ensure long-term financial resiliency these funds would only be one of many money funding streams for local CCC Enterprises.
Overall
It is our belief that the corps “movement,” as it has been referred to at times, is ready to step up to meet the many challenges our nation faces, and in a unique, high-impactful way that only corps are able to accomplish. CCCUSA’s goal will be to simplify and accelerate the startup process for new corps, while also improving opportunities for existing corps organizations to strengthen programmatically and financially. With CCCUSA’s presence in the field, every young American who has a desire for purpose and is ready to work will gain an experience that has been proven to benefit them, as well as our great nation, on an unprecedented scale.
Remember when…more than 700 new state parks were established through the CCC program.
* The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, “Population Distribution by Age”
https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/distribution-by-age/