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- Trump admistration-led cuts have impacted Utah's AmeriCorps programs, halting services statewide.
- Utah's nine grant programs impacted by these cuts are valued at $2.2 million.
- Cuts affect 124 AmeriCorps members, nine VISTA members, and 10 staff positions in Utah.
SALT LAKE CITY — Recently announced funding cuts to AmeriCorps are making their way to the Beehive State, where they're being felt across a plethora of organizations.
UServeUtah, the state commission on service and volunteerism, was notified on April 25 that the AmeriCorps VISTA program — the agency's volunteer program — and several grant programs were being terminated immediately after a "determination that the award no longer effectuates agency priorities," a statement from the Utah Department of Cultural and Community Engagement says.
Utah's grant programs being eliminated by these cuts are valued at $2.2 million and include:
- Utah STEM Action Center
- Utah STEM Foundation
- Community Rebuilds
- Thriving Utah
- U Service Corps at the University of Utah
- Welcome Baby Project
- Four Corners School of Outdoor Education
- Utah State University Refugee and Immigrant Youth K-12 Tutoring Planning Grant
- Weber State University UServe AmeriCorps Planning Grant 2024
All nine organizations have been advised that all AmeriCorps members' service must be immediately halted.
"UServe Utah is working with all those impacted by this disruption," said Loggins Merrill, UServeUtah director, in a statement provided to KSL.com. "We know that service is vital to the well-being of Utah residents. We will continue to provide opportunities for our continuing service programs. We are committed to continue working with organizations across the state that need assistance."
AmeriCorps is the government agency for national service and volunteerism, its website says. It oversees volunteer programs and dispatches hundreds of millions of dollars and 200,000 volunteers across the nation to work with students, veterans and older adults, among other things.
In April, the 30-year-old agency became the latest target of the Trump administration and Elon Musk-spearheaded Department of Government Efficiency's quest to slash what they deem as excessive or unnecessary spending.
The agency, which sends young adults to work on various projects across the U.S., saw most of its staff members placed on administrative leave with pay, according to reporting from the Associated Press. AmeriCorps employs more than 500 full-time federal workers and has an operating budget of roughly $1 billion.
UServeUtah says the elimination of the programs will result in the termination of 10 staff positions across the commission and AmeriCorps programs, as well as the dismissal of 124 currently enrolled AmeriCorps members and nine VISTA members in the state.
Across the country, the cuts will permanently halt over 1,000 programs and prematurely end the service of over 32,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers.
"Terminating nearly $400 million in AmeriCorps grants with no advanced notice is already having a detrimental impact on the vast network that makes up the national service field in the United States," said Kaira Esgate, CEO of America's Service Commissions — a nonpartisan, nonprofit membership association that works with the 52 governor-appointed state and territorial service commissions across the country.
"Thousands of people who have steadfastly dedicated their lives to serving their country through AmeriCorps are finding their livelihoods suddenly thrown into jeopardy, and hundreds of communities are losing critical services they rely on," Esgate continued.
Last week, a 24-state coalition and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration in the hope of blocking its push to "dismantle" AmeriCorps.
The suit alleges that within the past two weeks, AmeriCorps officials, at the direction of DOGE, put 85% of its administrative staff on leave as well as all of the members of its National Civilian Conservation Corp., who were told their service would be terminated.
Additionally, the lawsuit says after the agency sent reduction-in-force notices to all the administrative staffers who were on leave, it began notifying states that nearly $400 million in programs across the country were being terminated.
