Volunteer Discrimination Complaint Process

The Peace Corps and CNCS finalize a proposed joint rule to amend the regulations that the Peace Corps and CNCS follow to process complaints of discrimination by volunteers and applicants for volunteer service. The current regulations were promulgated in January 1981 when the Peace Corps and domestic volunteer programs (such as VISTA, now subsumed by CNCS) were one entity under an organization called ACTION. At that time, Congress extended the statutory protections of the Civil Rights Act and other laws to such volunteers. Congress has since separated out the two agencies and has expressly removed the Peace Corps. As such, the regulations need to be updated.