Abstract

Help members transition to life after AmeriCorps service. Mosaica's newsletter, Training Briefs, presents suggestions that program staff can use to develop reflection sessions and prepare members for future jobs, education, training, and service.

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Issue

Moving from a service term to a life outside of service can be daunting without some preparation and planning.

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Action

Preparing AmeriCorps members for life after service should be included as part of service training. Effective practices include:

• Encourage your members to use What's Next, a website designed to help members plan for transitions after their service terms.
• Use Next Steps: Life After AmeriCorps to design training sessions for close of service. Next Steps: Life After AmeriCorps, is a workbook designed to help members assess their skills and accomplishments, consider their "next steps," and reflect on and make important decisions about future employment, training, education, and service. The workbook's seven sections contain user-friendly, guided reflection activities focusing on managing the transition, continuing to serve, and pursuing options like finding a job or furthering their education.
• Survey members to find out what topics they would like to have covered, and plan a session if members have similar needs.
• If members have diverse needs, choose a general training session that allows flexibility through individual reflection.
• If most members will be entering the work force, plan job fairs and/or identify avenues for volunteering while pursuing employment, education, or other options.

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Context

Next Steps: Life After AmeriCorps will be useful for program staff in planning and designing training sessions for close of service. Simply looking through the workbook will provide many ideas for session topics to offer during and at the end of the program year. The worksheets and other information can be used for exercises and handouts at training sessions. The lists of resources suggested to members in Appendix C will also provide ideas of possible trainers to call on or books that can be used as reference materials.

Mosaica: The Center for Nonprofit Development and Pluralism, provides organizational assessments, strategic and resource development planning, fundraising capacity building, restructuring support, and assistance in financial management and oversight. Other services include board development, program design and delivery, personnel and systems management, volunteer activities, community involvement and community building, community organizing and advocacy, program evaluation, and coalition building.

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Citation

Mosaica's Training Briefs. Washington, D.C.: Corporation for National and Community Service, no. 1, (July 1997).

*Training Briefs were produced by Mosaica under Cooperative Agreement #98CADC009 with the Corporation for National and Community Service during July of 1997 through October of 1999.

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For More Information

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Resources

See the following:

• Closing Service and Opening New Doors for more information as well as an icebreaker for end-of-year service training.
• What's Next from EnCorps.

Source Documents

Related Practices

• Finding a job after AmeriCorps service

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