The Federal government has administered a number of programs for volunteer activity
under the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (Public Law 93-113) (DVSA) and the
Small Business Act (SBA) 15 U.S.C. section 631 et. seq. Volunteers in such programs
may have received payments in the form of a minimal stipend, payment for supportive
services (such as housing, supplies, equipment), an expense allowance, and/or reimbursement
of out-of-pocket expenses.
Such payments cannot be counted as earnings, income or resources to reduce or eliminate
payments made under other government programs. Therefore, neither payments made to
volunteers nor the services performed by them under the DVSA or SBA, are to be evaluated
for the purpose of determining SGA (or TWP) under Title II or Title XVI of the Social
Security Act. This means that none of the SGA tests—earnings, comparability of work
activity, or worth of work activity—is to be applied to volunteer activity under the
DVSA or SBA.
This exclusion from the SGA (and TWP) provisions applies only to volunteers participating
in programs explicitly mentioned in the DVSA and the SBA:
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AmeriCorps VISTA (formerly Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA);
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University Year for Action; Special Volunteer Programs;
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Retired Senior Volunteer Program;
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Foster Grandparent Program;
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Older American Community Services Programs;
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Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE); and,
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Active Corps of Executives (ACE).
The protection of the exclusion explained here does not cover:
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volunteers under DVSA or SBA programs for any work they may undertake in activities
outside these specified programs;
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non-volunteers associated with DVSA or SBA programs, i.e., program operating personnel and those
persons served by the programs; and
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volunteers who work for an AmeriCorps organization other than AmeriCorps VISTA.
NOTE: Unless a volunteer is protected under the DVSA or SBA law, count only the stipends
volunteers receive as earnings when evaluating for the trial work period, or SGA months.
Do not count any remuneration for expenses (i.e., housing, meals, uniforms, etc…). These
expenses are provided for the convenience of the employer, and should not be counted
as wages or earnings (for more information on meals and lodging, see RS 01402.240). To evaluate child care assistance, see RS 01402.220.
Example: A title II beneficiary performs volunteer work for AmeriCorps NCCC, and receives
a $4000 stipend, and is provided with housing, uniforms, and meals. Since he or she
is not working for AmeriCorps VISTA, we will count the stipend towards the trial work period service months, or SGA months, but
will not develop for the value of the items or expenses AmeriCorps NCCC provides.