Iowa Code § 15H.9 (2026)

1. The commission may establish an Iowa national service corps program to provide opportunities for state agencies, political subdivisions of the state, and private, nonprofit organizations to create national service programs outside of existing state and federal programs to meet state and local needs and to provide more opportunities for Iowans to serve their state and country and foster a cultural expectation of service in Iowa through a unified service corps.

2. The commission may adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A for approving Iowa national service corps programs and national service positions. Existing programs and service positions, including those established through the AmeriCorps programs in Iowa created pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §12501, Senior Corps and AmeriCorps vista in Iowa created pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §4950 et seq., the Iowa summer youth corps program created pursuant to section 15H.5, the Iowa green corps program created pursuant to section 15H.6, the Iowa reading corps program created pursuant to section 15H.7, and the RefugeeRISE AmeriCorps program created pursuant to section 15H.8, are part of the Iowa national service corps programs and national service positions.

3. State agencies or political subdivisions of the state may enter into an agreement with any approved Iowa national service corps program directly or through an agreement with the commission. State agencies or political subdivisions of the state may establish Iowa national service corps programs or contract with a third-party vendor to assist the agency or political subdivision in establishing such programs.

4. State agencies or political subdivisions of the state may give priority to grants or projects funded that utilize Iowa national service corps programs.

5. State agencies or political subdivisions of the state may establish hiring preferences for any Iowa national service corps or AmeriCorps participant who has successfully completed a year of full-time service or one thousand seven hundred hours over a period extending beyond a year.

6. A person participating in the Iowa national service corps program is not an employee of the organization in which the person is enrolled regardless of whether a stipend is provided, shall be exempt from the merit system requirements of chapter 8, subchapter IV, and is not eligible to receive unemployment compensation benefits under chapter 96 upon completion of service. 2018 Acts, ch 1086, §2; 2020 Acts, ch 1062, §12; 2025 Acts, ch 6, §1 Referred to in §15H.5, 92.17 Subsection 2 amended\n\n 15H.10 Volunteer mentor program.

1. Subject to an appropriation of funds by the general assembly for this purpose, the\n\nTue Dec 09 22:32:43 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 15H (43, 1) 7 IOWA COMMISSION ON VOLUNTEER SERVICE, §15H.10\n\ncommission shall establish a volunteer mentor program to support implementation of the future ready Iowa skilled workforce last-dollar scholarship and the future ready Iowa skilled workforce grant programs created in sections 256.228 and 256.229. The commission, in collaboration with the department of workforce development and the college student aid commission, shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to implement and administer the volunteer mentor program, and shall establish standards, guidelines, and expectations for a productive and appropriate relationship between mentors and mentees, including helping students meet the future ready Iowa skilled workforce last-dollar scholarship program or future ready Iowa skilled workforce grant requirements, as appropriate; identify work-based learning opportunities; and make career-related connections that are advantageous to persons participating in the volunteer mentor program.

2. The prospective volunteer mentor shall have successfully passed a background investigation conducted by the division of criminal investigation of the department of public safety and a check of the national sex offender registry.

3. The commission shall enter into written agreements with prospective mentors and mentees under the program. Under such an agreement, prospective mentors and mentees agree to abide by the standards, guidelines, and expectations established by the commission pursuant to subsection 1.

4. The commission, in collaboration with the department of workforce development and the college student aid commission, and in cooperation with an eligible institution as defined in section 256.228 or 256.229, as appropriate, shall assign a student, who is a recipient of a future ready Iowa skilled workforce last-dollar scholarship under section 256.228 or a future ready Iowa skilled workforce grant under section 256.229, who requests the assignment of a mentor, and who enters into an agreement under subsection 3, to a mentor appropriate to the prospective mentee’s field of study whenever possible.

5. The commission shall maintain, and regularly update, a list of the mentor and mentee pairings and the dates of inception of the mentor and mentee pairings.

6. Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys appropriated to the department for allocation to the commission for purposes of this section that remain unencumbered or unobligated at the close of a fiscal year shall not revert but shall remain available to be used for the purposes designated in this section until the close of the succeeding fiscal year. 2018 Acts, ch 1067, §6, 15; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §25 Referred to in §256.228, 256.229\n\nTue Dec 09 22:32:43 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 15H (43, 1) \n