ACTION was a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

agency Agency may refer to: Organizations * Institution, governmental or others ** Advertising agency or marketing agency, a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients ** Employment agency, a business that ...

described as "the federal domestic volunteer agency". It was formed July 1, 1971, during President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

's first term under the provisions of Reorganization Plan Number One, and Executive Order 11603, June 30, 1971, to provide centralized coordination and administration of Government-sponsored domestic and international volunteer agencies. Among the programs transferred to the new agency were: * domestic volunteer programs established in the

Office of Economic Opportunity The Office of Economic Opportunity was the agency responsible for administering most of the War on Poverty programs created as part of United States President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society legislative agenda. It was established in 1964 as an i ...

(OEO) pursuant to the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 (78 Stat. 508), August 20, 1964: **

Volunteers in Service to America AmeriCorps VISTA is a national service program designed to alleviate poverty. President John F. Kennedy originated the idea for VISTA, which was founded as Volunteers in Service to America in 1965, and incorporated into the AmeriCorps network of ...

(VISTA) and ** the National Student Volunteer Program (NSVP); * domestic volunteer programs established in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare pursuant to the Older Americans Act of 1965 (79 Stat. 218), July 14, 1965, and the Older Americans Act Amendments of 1969 (83 Stat. 111), September 17, 1969: ** the

Foster Grandparents AmeriCorps Seniors is a United States government program run by the agency Corporation for National and Community Service. The program engages volunteers aged 55 and older to serve their communities. There are over 200,000 volunteers nationwide. ...

program and ** the

Retired Senior Volunteer Program AmeriCorps Seniors is a United States government program run by the agency Corporation for National and Community Service. The program engages volunteers aged 55 and older to serve their communities. There are over 200,000 volunteers nationwide. ...

(RSVP); * the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...

, the international volunteer programs represented established in the

Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

pursuant to EO 10924, March 1, 1961; * the volunteer action clearinghouse functions vested in the Office of Voluntary Action at the

Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Urb ...

, pursuant to EO 11470, May 26, 1969. ACTION also assumed from OEO responsibility for providing logistical support to the volunteer programs of the

Small Business Administration The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and stren ...

(SBA): *

Service Corps of Retired Executives Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a pu ...

(SCORE), established April 1964; * Active Corps of Executives (ACE), established August 1969. ACTION's responsibility for SCORE and ACE terminated in 1976. In addition, the

Senior Companions AmeriCorps Seniors is a United States government program run by the agency Corporation for National and Community Service. The program engages volunteers aged 55 and older to serve their communities. There are over 200,000 volunteers nationwide. ...

program was established in ACTION in 1973. Foster Grandparents, RSVP, and Senior Companions were later merged into the

Senior Corps AmeriCorps Seniors is a United States government program run by the agency Corporation for National and Community Service. The program engages volunteers aged 55 and older to serve their communities. There are over 200,000 volunteers nationwide. ...

. The Peace Corps was separated from ACTION in 1982. The NSVP was redesignated National Center for Service Learning in 1980, and terminated and superseded by Student Community Service Projects in 1987. ACTION's functions, and the Commission on National and Community Service, were ordered transferred to the newly established

Corporation for National and Community Service AmeriCorps (officially the Corporation for National and Community Service or CNCS) is an independent agency of the United States government that engages more than five million Americans in service through a variety of stipended volunteer work prog ...

(CNCS) no later than March 22, 1995, by Section 203 of the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 (107 Stat. 892), September 21, 1993.

AmeriCorps AmeriCorps (officially the Corporation for National and Community Service or CNCS) is an independent agency of the United States government that engages more than five million Americans in service through a variety of stipended volunteer work prog ...

, which includes VISTA, and

are programs of the CNCS. ACTION was abolished by Presidential Proclamation 6662, April 4, 1994 (3 CFR, 1994 ed., 22). See 362.1.

References

External links

Scope and Content Note, File FG-325, Nixon Presidential Library and Museum

Corporation for National and Community Service website

AmeriCorps website

Foster Grandparent website

Retired Senior Volunteer Program website

Senior Corps website

Peace Corps website

SCORE website

Senior Companion Program website
{{authority control Defunct agencies of the United States government Government agencies established in 1971