These following documents articulate the state of the service and volunteerism field in California, as well as the field’s collective thinking about the best ways to enhance and expand its efforts.

2003 Unified State Plan
The purpose of this plan is to create an improved and expanded system that engages all sectors in a joint vision and collective action for mobilizing more Californians to actively engage in service and volunteer roles that help meet the state’s pressing issues. It endeavors to strengthen the use and coordination of California’s federally funded national service resources — AmeriCorps, VISTA, Learn and Serve America, and Senior Corps — as well as those community service resources that are generated at the state, regional and local levels. The plan was developed to meet the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) requirement to develop a “comprehensive unified state plan that links all national and community service resources within the state.” As importantly, it reflects California’s longstanding tradition and commitment to broad planning and joint action to advance service and volunteerism in the state.

Download California’s Unified State Plan, a Blueprint for Unified Action for Service and Volunteering in California, 2003-06.

Other Key Historical Documents

December 1998 Report on a Statewide Dialogue on Service and Volunteerism produced by the James Irvine Foundation (9MB PDF file)

March 1998 California Unified State Plan for Community Service, Service-Learning, and Volunteerism – NOT YET AVAILABLE – coming soon