AMERICORPS BOGS DOWN IN BUREAUCRACY

When the AmeriCorps program was created in 1994, the Clinton administration envisioned a twofold benefit: volunteers would provide needed manpower for not-for-profit agencies, and those volunteers would earn education grants to help pay for college costs.

The program was given a good deal of fanfare from the start. And an accounting of the 1996 program year touts such accomplishments as a half-million students tutored, more than 3,000 public safety patrols established, nearly 25 million trees planted and health screenings for more than 140,000 individuals.

The local program, which is operated by the Southeast Missouri Project Partnership for Community Service, is based at Southeast Missouri State University, where the student population is a natural recruiting ground for those most likely to be interested in earning assistance with college costs. The partnership provides volunteers for Cape Girardeau, Scott, Bollinger, Dunklin and Mississippi counties.

In its first year, the Southeast Missouri program attracted 42 volunteers, and half of them successfully completed the required volunteer hours to earn education grants. The second year had 25 volunteers, and fewer than half finished the program. In the most recent year, there were 23 volunteers, and fewer than a third met the requirements for education awards. While fulfilling their volunteers service requirements, participants received living allowances (currently $8,340 for a year of full-time service). Upon successful completion of the program, the volunteers were entitled to a $4,725 education award to be used for college tuition within seven years.

A couple of things stand out about the local program, however, and they aren't positive. One is the amount the program spends on administrative, operational and staff salary costs: 30 percent. In the most recent year, the local AmeriCorps program received total funding of $476,551 for its 23 participants and operational expenses.

The other thing that stands out is the number of participants who drop out of the program. Some leave because they find full-time employment elsewhere. But others leave because they are unhappy with how the program is administered and are further concerned about how their complaints have been handled. One participant who successfully completed the program said her complaints received attention only because she kept carefully documented records and submitted her concerns in a timely way.

Others, however, say they weren't so fortunate. And in talking to a Southeast Missourian reporter and in a subsequent letter to the editor, AmeriCorps officials maintained steadfastly that the complainers had no basis for their concerns. There was no concession that some of the complaints might be valid and in need of redress.

For all of its listed accomplishments, AmeriCorps continues to be a costly program that spends far too much on administration. Moreover, participants in this program -- as in any private or public enterprise -- are bound to have legitimate complaints from time to time, and they are entitled to prompt and serious consideration of those concerns.

It is unfortunate that the core of a program aimed at helping others has so quickly become simply another government bureaucracy.