Sponsor
Adam Smith
Representative · D-WA
Representative · D-WA
The bill aims to expand recruitment, training, and workforce pathways for underrepresented young people and boost volunteer capacity for community programs, but does so without new funding and may shift organizational resources and raise equity concerns in recruitment.
Young adults—particularly men underrepresented in service programs—will see increased recruitment and training opportunities for mentoring, conservation corps, and disaster response roles.
Young adults will have expanded workforce-linked service roles and apprenticeships that create clearer pathways into skilled trades and careers.
Community-based youth programs (mentoring, after-school, violence interruption) and local organizations could gain more volunteers to serve families, students, and local needs.
Schools, nonprofits, and other program providers may face new programmatic priorities without additional funding, effectively imposing unfunded requirements.
Organizations may have to reallocate staff time and other resources toward recruitment and training priorities, which could reduce capacity for direct services to the communities they serve.
Emphasizing recruitment of specific demographic groups (including men) could complicate outreach and raise perceptions or risks of inequitable selection among potential volunteers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Adds statutory priorities directing national service programs to recruit and train underrepresented participants (including men and young adults) for mentoring, conservation, disaster response, public-safety, and apprenticeship-linked service roles.
Official title: To amend the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to expand participation by underrepresented populations in service programs, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 16, 2026 by Adam Smith · Last progress July 16, 2026
Directs national service programs to prioritize recruiting and training people from populations that are underrepresented in service, explicitly naming men and young adults. It adds a cross-cutting statutory purpose and new program priorities across existing national service authorities to increase participation in mentoring, after-school support, conservation corps, disaster response, public-safety/violence-interruption/reentry work, and skilled-trades/apprenticeship-linked service roles. The changes amend existing program priority language and selection/assignment guidance for National Civilian Community Corps projects and volunteer assignment decisions, but do not change funding formulas or create new appropriations.