USGS Experienced Services Program

To implement legislation that authorizes cooperative agreements with eligible nonprofit organizations that will recruit and provide the services of professionals, age 55 and older, who have the experience and expertise to support the USGS mission acr

Within the annual appropriations act, a program has been established within the Department of the Interior (DOI) that allows bureaus to issue grants or cooperative agreements for the purpose of utilizing the experience and skills of older Americans. This is referred to as the DOI Experienced Services program and it is authorized under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 Division G, Title I, Sec. 111 (P.L. 117-328), which states: "(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law relating to Federal grants and cooperative agreements, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to make grants to, or enter into cooperative agreements with, private nonprofit organizations designated by the Secretary of Labor under title V of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (OAA) to utilize the talents of older Americans in programs authorized by other provisions of law administered by the Secretary and consistent with such provisions of law. (b) Prior to awarding any grant or agreement under subsection (a), the Secretary shall ensure that the agreement would not- (1) result in the displacement of individuals currently employed by the Department, including partial displacement through reduction of non-overtime hours, wages, or employment benefits; (2) result in the use of an individual under the Department of the Interior Experienced Services Program for a job or function in a case in which a federal employee is in a layoff status from the same or substantially equivalent job within the Department; or (3) affect existing contracts for services." The ESP provides a cost-effective means of obtaining the services of nonfederal, experienced workers who are age 55 or older. Through the Master Cooperative Agreement and subsequent task agreements, agencies may recruit and use the services of these workers on a project-specific basis. The ESP may be used to support federal employees engaged in priority projects throughout an agency by accessing the expertise needed of qualified individuals.

This program is limited to qualified non-profit organizations subject to 26 USC 501 c(3) of the tax code, and must be designated by the Secretary of Labor under Title V of the Older Americans Act of 1965. Proof of establishment must be submitted with the application.

Individuals (Americans, age 55 years and older) who qualify for temporary positions, as described in approved position descriptions provided by the contracting, Federal agency. These individuals may include Federal pension recipients.

Recipients will use funding to cover overhead or administrative costs to fulfill its obligations under the cooperative agreement, as well as salary and benefits for enrollees. Overhead or administrative costs may include payroll and benefits management, required reporting, and providing interactive portal for enrollee supervisors, among others.Authorizing legislation (P.L. 116-94, Sec. 111) specifies that Program activities may not: (1) result in the displacement of individuals currently employed by the Department of the Interior, including partial displacement through reduction of non-overtime hours, wages, or employment benefits; (2) result in the use of an individual under the Department of the Interior Experienced Services Program for a job or function in a case in which a Federal employee is in a layoff status from the same or substantially equivalent job within the Department; or (3) affect existing contracts for services.

The Experienced Services Program is authorized by Congress annually in the Consolidated Appropriations Act. The program is not funded; each project is funded through existing program budgets as needs are identified. Funding may be provided to individual projects until those projects expire, including over multiple years, unless statutory authority is not provided in a given year.

2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program.

1. First Level Screening - Basic Eligibility: Ensures that applicants meet basic eligibility requirements, such as meeting program and/or legislative authority requirements, timing of submission, and complete and properly executed SF-424 application package documents are included. 2. Second Level Evaluation - Merit Review Evaluation: Uses merit review criteria with numerical scoring based on a 100-point maximum score, as follows: Mission and Objective (10/100 points); Knowledge, experience and resources for recruiting qualified enrollees (30/100 points); Applicant's Program Administration approach (20/100 points), including how the proposed objectives will be achieved within the proposed period of performance; significant goals or milestones; tasks and relationships of partners, if applicable; Relevant Experience and Past Performance of Applicant (40/100); 3. Third Level Review Pre-Award Clearance and Approvals: a business evaluation and determination of responsibility including: risk management, financial stability, history of performance managing Federal awards, and budget review, etc. 4. Application Selection Process: Applications eligible for merit review will be evaluated by an ad hoc evaluation team assembled to review, rate, rank, and recommend applications for award using the above evaluation criteria. 5. Criteria are not based on cost of the project, but on responsible, effective use of funds. 6. Criteria are based on qualifications of the principal investigator and institution, relevance to program's objectives, merit, and other qualities.

After there is a master cooperative agreement in place, further information for each specific project will be available at the time the funding opportunity announcement is posted on www.grants.gov and may be obtained by contacting the Program Manager listed as the point of contact.

This program will fund any approved renewal application as new award, not as an amendment to an existing award. Recipients may request approval for budget and project plan revisions of funded projects, including period of performance and reporting due date extensions, in accordance with 2 CFR 200.