CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Trump administration and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have cut $400 million from the AmeriCorps agency.
The cut eliminates 1,000 programs and terminates 32,000 employees nationwide. The cuts will decimate programs in West Virginia run by AmeriCorps in Marion and Pocahontas counties.
U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito said this is developing news that is of great concern to her.
“There’s no doubt that the core functions that AmeriCorps is performing in a state like ours are pretty critical to fill gaps where we cannot fill them on our own,” Capito said Wednesday on MetroNews “Midday.” “So, I would say this is new news, and we’re going to help them work through this.”
Capito said what AmeriCorps did to help communities follow the 2016 flood is a good example of what AmeriCorps volunteers can do.
“AmeriCorps volunteers really helped get people back on their feet, helped in the shelters, and helped nonprofits be able to meet the demand,” Capito said.
The Marion County-based Flipside AmeriCorps operated by the Tygart Valley United Way will lose one full-time and 13 part-time AmeriCorps workers that provided after-mentorship and activities in four schools. The program is offered at East Fairmont Middle School, West Fairmont Middle School, Mannington Middle School, and Rivesville Middle School, according to program director Shannon Yost.
“Academic engagement is cognitive engagement; it’s social and emotional engagement,” Yost said. “We see they are more responsive to questions, and we see they are more willing to participate in activities.”
The programs have been very impactful for the children and have helped them advance in academics. But the programs have also provided social interaction skills the kids won’t have access to.
Yost said without the program, the kids will have few after-school options that offer the safety and structure Flipside AmeriCorps offers.
“How are we going to improve student lives and student achievement when we’re taking away the resources that were working in that direction?” Yost asked.
The directive from DOGE identified April 30 as the last day of employment for AmeriCorps workers. Yost said they were able to act quickly to identify the money needed to keep the program operational for the final four weeks of the school year.
“We were able to find some extra funding to run for the next four weeks,” Yost said. “But, next school year I don’t know what it’s going to look like—are we going to have fewer sites and be able to accept fewer students?”
All High Rocks educational program federal funding ended on Tuesday but local community partners and their emergency funds are keeping the programs financed through the time of crisis.