Programs to launch in the Dominican Republic

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 24, 2013 - The Peace Corps is today announcing a strategic partnership with Mondelēz International, Inc., the world’s largest chocolate company, to strengthen sustainable agriculture and community development efforts in countries around the world. The first partnership initiative will launch in the Dominican Republic this year and will focus on the development of business and entrepreneurial skills in youth through the “Build Your Dreams” training program.

“As leaders in their communities, Peace Corps volunteers serve as role models for youth who are ready to seize exciting entrepreneurial opportunities,” said Peace Corps Deputy Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet. “With its commitment to encouraging vibrant, sustainable communities in the Dominican Republic, Mondelēz International is an ideal partner to ensure the Build Your Dreams initiative inspires a new generation of leaders.”

Through the partnership, the Peace Corps will work with Mondelēz International to build upon the successful activities of community development volunteers in the Dominican Republic. Through Build Your Dreams programs, Peace Corps volunteers help youth in host communities build entrepreneurial skills, such as financial literacy and market research. The Build Your Dreams curriculum comprises 14 business-oriented lessons followed by regional conferences, where participating youth get help writing a business plan. The best plans from across the country are then judged by a panel at a national conference, and winners receive loans to start up their ventures.

Mondelēz International will work with Peace Corps volunteers in the field to strengthen the Build Your Dreams initiative and has pledged more than $165,000 over three years to support the program. During that time, the Peace Corps plans to train 1,200 Dominican youth through the Build Your Dreams curriculum, expects 360 business plans to be submitted to the national competition, and is preparing Peace Corps volunteers to provide consultation to 120 youth-led start-up businesses.

This partnership initiative follows a Global Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that was signed between the Peace Corps and Mondelēz International in September 2012. The MOU outlines an agreement to develop and implement small-scale community activities and deepen the technical capacity of Peace Corps volunteers, staff and community members in countries around the world.

In the  section, III Mission, the MOU states “The purpose of Kraft Foods is to be a global snacks powerhouse with an unrivalled portfolio of brands people love.

In the same section, the MOU states “The purpose of the Peace Corps is to help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women; to help promote a a better understanding of  Americans on the part of the peoples served; and to help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.”

Here is the link:                                 mou_peace_corps_mondelez

Read and comment.

The Peace Corps Equity Act of 2013 was introduced by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D- NJ). His office issued a press release: here is the link: http://www.lautenberg.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=341534&

From that announcement:

The “Peace Corps Equity Act of 2013” would allow the Peace Corps to provide its volunteers with health insurance coverage for abortion in cases of rape or incest, or when the life of the woman is endangered.  Almost all other women covered under federal health plans receive this same coverage.  With more than 1,000 Peace Corps volunteers having experienced sexual assault over the past decade, this technical fix is needed to protect the reproductive rights of women in the Peace Corps.  The bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

“The Peace Corps Equity Act will rightfully fix an inequity for Peace Corps volunteers living abroad by giving them access to the same reproductive health care coverage as all other federal employees,” said Senator Shaheen, who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee and Appropriations Committee, which have jurisdiction over Peace Corps programs and funding.“This is about safety and equality. Every woman should have the reproductive health care coverage she needs, and this legislation is imperative toward that end.”

The gallant women of First Response Action, led by Casey Frazee,  have worked for this legislation, too. Read their stories and commentary, including a supportive statement from a Peace Corps spokesperson on their website: http://firstresponseaction.blogspot.com

Read the NPR report on this issue at: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/04/29/179267241/if-military-covers-abortion-after-rape-why-not-the-peace-corps

The issue is not abortion.The issue is equity. Discriminating against women Peace Corps Volunteers serves no purpose.

The Peace Corps budget was submitted by Acting Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet. Here is the link to read the entire budget: http://files.peacecorps.gov/manuals/cbj/peacecorps_cbj_2014.pdf

The budget would have been written at the direction of the White House and it calls for only a 1% increase from the current budget. It calls for 7310 Volunteers in service in 2014, down from 8460 in 2011. The National Peace Corps Association’s Advocacy Coordinator Jonathan Pearson reports that a “Dear Colleague”  letter to members of the House of Representatives had achieved 142 signatures by April 15th. The letter urges that Peace Corps funding be increased to $400,000,000. Here is the link to Pearson’s article with instructions on how to support the effort: http://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/2013/03/house-peace-corps-funding-action-alert/

Congress traditionally ignores a President’s budget. All funding measures must begin in the House of Representatives, so that is where the real fight for the Peace Corps budget will be.

The final bill is H. R. 1573 Respect Peace Corps Volunteer Act of 2013, introduced by Representative Albio Sires (D-NJ). The bill would allow the use of the Peace Corps name and Logo in death notices, obituaries, and grave stones of  deceased PVCs and deceased RPCVs. The impetus for this legislation evidently began with an inquiry from a Colombian RPCV who learned that technically the use of the name Peace Corps and the logo was restricted. This legislation makes sure that the families of deceased RPCVs as well as PCVs may use the name and logo.To read more about this legislation, again the National Peace Corps Association has an article, read it at: http://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/2013/04/legislation-to-preserve-peace-corps-service/

Although I am not a constituent of Representative Sires, I did call his office (1-202.225.7919) and asked the staff to thank him for this legislation. I also had a request to expand the legislation to include a provision that when a Peace Corps Volunteer dies in service, an American flag be presented to the family. Traditionally, anyone who has ever served in the military (however reluctantly!) is afforded the honor of an American flag for his or her casket. It can mean a lot to families. Peace Corps Volunteers who die during service should be given the same honor.

Two bills and a budget and we shall see what Peace Corps looks like after this legislative session.

In describing the program on npr’s Health notes, Director of Global Health Volunteers, Dr. Vanessa Kerry, said “Partnering with the Peace Corps is a strategic move — not only for name recognition — but to tap into its half-century of experience.“The Peace Corps doesn’t have the technical capacity to do clinical medicine and nursing,” Kerry says. “But they do well at deploying people in a sensitive, integrated way.” Here is the link to that interview:http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/09/18/161381770/a-peace-corps-for-doctors-built-by-a-senators-daughter

In addition to funding the administrative costs, which include clinical support, Peace Corps will subsidize the Peace Corps Response/Global Health Volunteers with the same living allowance, health and other benefits, that all Volunteers receive. Funding, independent of Peace Corps, has been secured to compensate these professionals up to $30,000 per year to help retire medical education loans and other expenses. The PCR/GH Volunteers do not have to be RPCVs, they do have to have appropriate medical credentials. The Global Health Organization will pre-qualifiy the medical credentials of applicants, Peace Corps will make the final choice  from a list of such applicants. The PCR/GHVs  will serve for a minimum of one year which includes three weeks of orientation to the country and culture of service. Language training will not be required.  English is considered the official language of the first three countries.

To read the contract agreement, this is the text to link to:pc_and_ghsc_cooperative_agreement_13-0079

To read the concept paper describing the program, this is the text to link to: concept_paper_for_peace_corps_global_health_service_partnership-1

To listen to Acting Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet and Dr. Vanessa Kerry discuss this new program on another npr program, here is the link to that interview: http://www.npr.org/2013/01/14/169334681/new-ground-for-peace-corps

The Peace Corps Response Global Health Volunteer partnership is new for Peace Corps, but the idea of providing medical educators to developing nations is not. The final npr interview with Dr. Kerry does describe other such programs.  Here is that link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/01/28/170491290/u-s-doctors-head-overseas-to-train-not-just-treat

None of these reports, interviews, or documents, addresses the reason that Peace Corps Volunteer doctors and nurses do not currently treat. The Peace Corps Technical Guideline 310, Office of Medical Services, May 2005, 2) ELEMENTS OF HEALTH TRAINING  states:

The PCMOs also need to remind the PC staff, Peace Corps Trainees, and Peace Corps Volunteers that V/Ts are not authorized to participate in direct health care activities. These activities include, but are not limited to, participating in immunization programs, attending or otherwise assisting with childbirths, performing phlebotomy, insertion of intravenous catheters, and other activities that may place them at risk for exposure to blood or body fluids.

If there is a evaluation that concludes that  as Dr. Kerry remarked: “The Peace Corps doesn’t have the technical capacity to do clinical medicine and nursing,” I have not been able to find it.It would appear to  me that this is a question of Volunteer safety, not technical capacity.  Peace Corps Volunteer Nurses and Doctors have served for over fifty years. It is hoped that their contribution will not be obscured in order to justify a “new direction.”  For all of us who have served, any program that improves medical education or serves in the developing world is to be welcomed and supported.

http://collection.peacecorps.gov/cdm/singleitem/collection/p9009coll13/id/24/rec/17

The letters are comprehensive and give detailed descriptions of where the nurses were working, the problems they encountered and how they were solving those problems.  Evidently, the booklet was used for recruiting purposes. One hopes that it also was used to evaluate and improve programs. The nurses write as individuals, but all refer to their groups. They also speak of the “girls”. Remember, back in the 60s, we were all girls! Here are some excerpts from those letters.

Gail Singer -  Niger, reported

” In my student days…we heard over and over again how a nurse must be practical, adaptable and creative; how she could carry the basic principles of cleanliness, sterility, and ingenuity to any corner of the the world and give good nursing care.  I only now am finding out what these words meant…In Niger’s only school of nursing, I am teaching 60 students - all male.”

Ruth Reese - Malaysia, “Birth in an Iban longhouse is a community affair.” Ruth goes on to describe her first experience attending a birth and how it helped shaped her plans for community health education.

Margaret V. Silkerberg  - Kabul, Afghanistan,

“My assignment is to get the Operating Room of a 65 bed mternity hospital in good running order…I began to work immediately, that means to clean systematically everything…If I remember correctly, it took us about two months to get the place in shape…while cleaning and repairing were going on, I arranged ‘classes’ for our little group, and they turned out to be the highlight of each day.”

Cindy Tice - Dacca, East Pakistan. “I have just finished a series of classes for the second year students on Pediatrics and Pediatric Nursing.”

A description of programs in Turkey:

“In Turkey, Volunteers work primarily with third and fourth years students…the Volunteer nurses lecture on basic nursing arts and conductfollow-up sessions on the wards where they give practical demonstrations of the subject matter and supervise the students’ practice. It is not easy to begin or change nursing education in Turkey.”

Vicki Johnson - Carpina, Pernambuco, Brazil

“I have submitted an outline of the classes I want to give to the personnel, to the hospital director. These included the following: (1) a course in aseptic techniques (2) a brief course on OB theory (3) totally nursing care (4) basic nursing skills - injections, cauterizations, dressing changes, etc. (5) I want to teach the cooks a little about diet preparation and nutrition. Finally, I have asked the director to give some classes on anesthesia.  This he has agreed to, but somehow I think I’ll end up doing it, as he rarely has time to give classes…”

Rita Heimkamp - Trinidad, Bolivia, wrote ”…eventually we hope to make up a procedure manual so that when in doubt the nurses and new practicants will have something to refer to”

Lucille Lombardi, Cuzco, Peru.

“Lucille, after gathering information on methods is helping the Chilean nurses of Cuzco accomplish what they feel is an important step.” (Please note:  I do not know if Chile had sent nurses to Cuzco in the 60s or whether some idiot at PC/W though that Cuzco was in Chile.)

Pat Vessel wrote from Sucre, Bolivia:

“Our first day at the hospital? Well, as that page in my diary began, ‘God help us’….Now as we go into our second year, each of us has a ward, one medical, the other surgical, of 16 bed capacity each…Each of us has two students from first or second year of nursing. We teach them, by example,nursing arts, as we know them. This phase of our work is going really well…”

Linda Salsman - India, wrote of how her attitude had changed during her service.

“Perhaps I learned by mistake and example, realizing after, instead of before, maybe I became accustomed to India, maybe I grew up a little, maybe I began to think more of others than myself; perhaps I began to realize India’s need more than my own.”

Margaret Michelle McEvoy -Sokode, Togo described  the public health work done by Peace Corps nurses and Peace Corps Doctors. Dr. Richard Koenegsberger and Jean Hewitt, R.N., started a Schistosomiasis clinic. Dr. Nick Cunningham and Margaret set up clinics in eight schools to vaccinate and treat. She, as did the others, described in technical detail the work they did, but concludes:

“Some frustrations arise because the notion of work and long hours is mostly regarded as the better part of lunacy…My complaints seem as nothing, however, as I consider the poignancy of having a little one come up in the morning, curtsy, salute, and say ‘bonsoir monsieur.’ It makes the banged-up knees, the school program, the never ending line of brown backs to ‘inject’…an alive and important experience. Our job is almost baffling in its simplicity. It has been profoundly gratifying.”

As Peace Corps embarks on a brand new program with the Global Health Volunteers, it is important to remember and honor the legacy of those who went first.

Vietnam. In a remarkable speech to the Albert Einstein School of Medicine on November 15, 1964, Sargent Shriver called for universal medical education, manned, in part by Peace Corps Volunteer doctors. Read the entire impassioned  speech at Peace Corps’ greatly expanded digital library:

http://collection.peacecorps.gov/cdm/singleitem/collection/p9009coll13/id/12/rec/3

Shriver said:

“We need a new idea and a new program…The answer lies in universal health education, with effective medical programs, medical centers and medical personnel serving as the central source for this public education.  Just as the Peace Corps has sent thousands of teachers overseas to help developing nations achieve universal school education, so now we must help them make universal health education a reality.”

If this program sounds familiar, it is exactly what is now being developed, fifty years later. by a contract between Global Health Volunteers and Peace Corps Response. There are striking similarities between the proposals, separated by fifty years.

Shriver explained to his audience that he understood that physicians have special considerations when it came to volunteering. He noted the high cost of a medical education resulting in debt that needed to be retired; the many years medical training required during which time, medical students might marry and begin a family; and the fact that physicians selective service obligation extended beyond the age of 26, in those days. Shriver looked at what might be done to allow more doctors to volunteer and presented this plan:

1) Volunteer doctors needed to have help in paying off their medical training debt.  Shriver said that the Peace Corps National Advisory Council would meet in January of 1965 and take up a plan to establish a private Foundation to help Volunteer doctors with debt incurred during their long medical training. Today, raising private funds to help PC Response doctors with medical school debt is at the heart of the proposal by Global Health Volunteers.

The PCResponse/Global Health proposal is different in one respect. PCR/GHV are to be placed directly in medical schools to instruct medical and nursing students. Shriver proposed expanding the kind of programs that were then in effect in Thailand, Ethiopia and Malawi.There, Peace Corps doctors were supervising teams of PCVs, many of whom were liberal arts graduates, in health programs. Shriver anticipated a “multiplier effect.” One Peace Corps Volunteer doctor could supervise teams of PCVS and HCN to enhance efforts in  health education and disease prevention.

2) Shriver looked at the resources he already had and saw a way to get this “multiplier effect.” The original Peace Corps Act of 1961 had established a provision for Peace Corps Volunteer Leaders, or PCVLs.Peace Corps was authorized to provide funding to allow such PCVLs to bring their families with them. Shriver proposed that doctors could serve as PCVLs in the field and Peace Corps would provide living allowances, transportation costs and health care for their wives and children.

3) Finally, Shriver proposed that doctors who were Public Health Service Commissioned officers could fulfill their two-year military service obligation by serving as Peace Corps Volunteer Leaders.  Such a provision would require approval of the Selective Service Commission and perhaps Congress.

In 1963, Peace Corps had 100 physicians serving as either Volunteers or staff.  Shriver wanted to double that number immediately, with an ultimate goal of 500 physicians serving two years. Peace Corps Response/Global Health goal is for 36 medical education instructors serving for one year.

So what happened to Shriver’s plan? I don’t know. I don’t even know what happened to the Peace Corps National Advisory Council. The digital library does not have records of what happened nor have I ever seen any follow up in the public records I have been able to see. I will speculate, however, that  what happened was Vietnam.

Shriver gave his speech a few months after the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. At the time, he was already serving part-time as Director of the “War on Poverty” and part-time as Director of the Peace Corps. He may have learned that winter that President Johnson might be preparing for war. In June of 1965, major legislation was passed establishing the unique Peace Corps personnel system with its “In, Up, and Out” principle. But, there was no mention of special provisions for Peace Corps Volunteer Doctors. Later that summer, President Johnson issued an order to call up 500,000 men to serve in Vietnam. Doctors were needed for war, not peace.

Finding the report on the official Peace Corps website is instead  a “scavenger hunt”. Go to peace corps.gov and scroll to the bottom of the page. There you will find a wealth of links to important agency documents, including the Peace Corps Manual and Evaluation reports from the Inspector General’s office. But you won’t find a report entitled “Peace Corps Volunteer Sexual Assault Advisory Council Annual Report”. You have to know to scroll down, on that main website, to the heading labeled “Media”, click on ” News Releases”. The disclaimer on this webs page is that only press releases for the last 90 days are posted, but right now the list is almost a year old. If the page were to be updated, the link to this report would disappear. But if you hurry, you can  scroll down to look in the press releases for December 4, 2012, titled: “Statement from Acting Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet on the Sexual Assault Advisory Council’Annual Report.” Clinking on that press release will bring you to the statement that does include, finally, a link to the actual report.

You can also use this directly: http://www.peacecorps.gov/resources/media/press/2150/

This link was provided by Emily Dulcan, Director, Press Relations Peace Corps. I appreciated her prompt response when I asked for help in finding the report. When I asked why the report was so difficult to find and added that prospective Volunteers should be able to easily access the report, Ms. Dulcan replied:

“The home page of the website caters to a wide audience, and there is not enough room on the home page to feature all the information that is relevant to prospective volunteers. A variety of information on Volunteer safety and security is featured prominently in the Friends & Family section of the website.”

I think that the “wide audience” may have also been the audience that viewed the ABC 20/20 report on violence in the Peace Corps and may not know what has happened to deal with the problems described in that report. I think Peace Corps should be proud of how the RPCV women of First Response Action were able to influence  legislation that dealt with those problems. I think the report should be highlighted on the Home page of the Peace Corps.

In 2008, Obama’s transition team wrote a paper for the President outlining a road map for the Peace Corps. The report made recommendations for the first 90 days of the Obama’s administration, including this: “Peace Corps reform needs to start on January 20lh. Under ideal circumstances a new director will have been named by that time.”  and this: “Critical vacancies should be filled for both field and headquarters staff to ensure program continuity and adequate Volunteer support.”

Hugh Pickens published the report on his valuable website, Peace Corps Online, on May 29, 2009. The report was prefaced by John Coyne. At that time, there still was no permanent Peace Corps Director appointed. The date suggests how low on the priority scale Peace Corps was.

John Coyne writes: President Obama has in his hands the Peace Corps Transition Team document “Peace Corps Roadmap” telling the president what should be done to increase and improve the agency. The twenty-page transition document was written by his own team, sent to the Peace Corps after the election and before the president was sworn in. This impressive piece of work manages to be both positive about the Peace Corps and its role in the world, and yet outlines the problems of the agency and makes suggestions on how the president can improve the Peace Corps so that more Americans are able to serve our country. The Transition Team document is sitting on President Obama’s White House desk. It has been (so far) unread by the president. Would you like to read it? Peace Corps Online has the document below. Read it now.

http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/2629/3215185.html

Today, February 20, 2013, it has been almost six months since Aaron Williams resigned as Peace Corps Director.  His Deputy, Carrie Hessler-Radelet has been the Acting Director. It is more than time for Peace Corps to have a permanent Director.  I think for continuity  and because of the real difficulties that Peace Corps may face with sequestration, Hessler-Radelet should be made permanent Director, as soon as possible. She enjoys support in the Peace Community, and by all accounts, has demonstrated the ability to handle the job well. I urge those in the Peace Corps community who agree, to email the White House and urge her immediate appointment. That email address is: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Serving Volunteers have been victims of crimes in times past during transition from one administration to another. Coincidence or pattern? Again, one can only speculate. The provisions in the Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act of 2011 strengthen the security protection for serving Volunteers. But, it is not clear how in-country vacancies could impact the implementation of those protections. The Inspector General report of the Impact of the Five Year Rule found, in June of 2012, that the Five Year Rule:

Exacerbated the already difficult challenge of managing the frequent transitions of  overseas USDH personnel. Despite the agency’s efforts to minimize vacancies in key direct hire positions overseas, over the past 10 years there have been more  than 180 vacancies lasting at least 30 days. Staff reported that direct hire vacancies overseas had negative impacts on staff workload and morale, Volunteer  support, programming and training, and other areas.

The then Director of the Peace Corps, Aaron Williams, accepted the OIG’s recommendations, but he left before implementing them. To read the OIG report on the Impact of the Five Year Rule, use  this the  link: pc_final_evaluation_report_on_impacts_of_the_five_year_rule_ig1205e

All of these circumstances are complicated by the increasing possibility of more than $30 million in budget cuts to Peace Corps that could happen in less than two weeks. Congress and the President have “called wolf” over fiscal crises that were then adverted at the last moment. But, some are speculating that the chances are 50-50 that sequestration will happen on March 1st.  It has been argued that federal employees are just pawns in this fight between the Congress and the President.  But if employees are pawns, what are Volunteers?

In December, Acting Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet wrote a memo on how sequestration would impact the Peace Corps. Sequestration was part of the “fiscal cliff” that was to occur on January 2^nd, 2013 and now looms as a possibility on March 1^st.  Sequestration is the procedure in which automatic spending cuts are triggered to budgets of federal agencies if Congress and the President cannot reach agreement on spending measures. Here is the Director’s memo:

December 20, 2012

TO: Peace Corps Global

FROM: Carrie Hessler-Radelet, Acting Director

SUBJECT: Implications of Ongoing Fiscal Cliff Negotiations for the Peace Corps

As you are all likely aware, the Administration and Congress are continuing to work to resolve a series of economic or fiscal events, collectively referred to as the “fiscal cliff,” that are scheduled to occur around the end of the year. One of the key issues involves potential across-the-board reductions in federal spending— alsoknown as “sequestration”—which were put in place by the Budget Control Act of 2011. Under current law, these reductions are scheduled to take effect on January 2, 2013. Many of you have raised questions regarding the impact of a potential sequestration for the Peace Corps, and I would like to take a moment to clarify a few things.

First and foremost, it is important to keep in mind that the Administration remains focused on working with Congress to reach agreement on a balanced deficit reduction plan that avoids such cuts. Sequestration was never intended to be implemented, and there is no reason why both sides should not be able to come together and prevent this scenario.

Nevertheless, with only a couple of weeks left before sequestration could occur should a deal not be reached, it is important to clarify the potential implications. Let me start by explaining what sequestration is and what it is not. Sequestration is an across-the-board reduction in budgetary resources for all accounts within the Peace Corps that have not been exempted by Congress. If it occurs, sequestration will reduce our budgetary resources for the remainder of the fiscal year (which runs through September 30). These cuts, while significant and harmful to our collective mission as an agency, would not necessarily require immediate reductions in spending. Under sequestration, we would still have funds available after January 2, but our overall funding for the remainder of the year would be reduced. Accordingly, this situation is different from other scenarios wehave encountered in recent years, such as threats of government shutdown due to a lapse in appropriations.

For these reasons, I do not expect our day-to-day operations to change dramatically on or immediately after January 2, should sequestration occur. This means that we will not be executing any immediate personnel actions, such as furloughs, on that date. Should we have to operate under reduced funding levels for an extended period of time, we may have to consider furloughs or other actions in the future. But let me assure you that we will carefully examine other options to reduce costs within the agency before taking such action, taking into consideration our obligation to execute our core mission. Moreover, if such action proves to be necessary, we would provide affected employees the requisite advance notice before a furlough or other personnel action would occur. We would also immediately cancel any scheduled personnel actions should a deficit reduction agreement be reached that restores our agency funding.

If you have unanswered questions or wish to discuss issues surrounding the potential sequestration, I encourage you to reach out to the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. And I will do my very best to provide clear information about the status of events as they unfold.

Finally, let me express my gratitude during this holiday season for your continued hard work and dedication to the vital mission of the Peace Corps. Your contributions touch people’s lives in many significant ways, and I want you to know how deeply appreciative the President and myself are for all that you do.

The Congressional Research Service reported on October 2^nd, 2012, that “Under Sequestration, the Peace Corps budget would possibly be cut by 8.2% or about $31 million dollars.”

Here is the link to the Office of Budget and Management on the automatic cuts:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/legislative_reports/stareport.pdf

Key “peace corps” in the search box to read the line items for the Peace Corps.

Current update: On February 7, 2013, in a response to FOIA 13-0080, the FOIA office stated: “Specific directives have not been issued by the Peace Corps.”

From the report:

Also, pending sequestration would likely severely cut the current Peace Corps funding level. On September 14, 2012, the Office of Management and Budget issued its report on possible sequestration actions that might be taken on January 2, 2013,if  requirements of the Budget Control Act of 2011 (P.L. 112-25) are not met. Under sequestration,the Peace Corps budget would possibly be cut by 8.2%, or about $31 million.

This statement may be altered by directives from the Office of Budget and Management or other policy mandates, if sequestration actually goes into effect.  It is hoped that in that unfortunate event, Peace Corps will post on its official website the actual changes that will happen. A FOIA request is pending asking for those potential changes, but it is not expected that the request will be filled until the end of January.

To download the PDF of this complete report, the text to link to is:Congressional Research Service Report.