Title 42The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73

§12584a Prohibited activities and ineligible organizations

Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 129— - NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE STATE GRANT PROGRAM › Part Part II— - Application and Approval Process › § 12584a

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Approved national service positions must not be used for a long list of political, labor, religious, or other banned actions. You may not use the position to try to change laws, run or join protests, boycotts, or strikes, help or oppose organizing unions, break service contracts or collective-bargaining deals, take part in partisan politics or try to influence elections, or join events that push for or against parties, candidates, laws, or officeholders. Consistent with section 12584, you may not do religious instruction, worship, or proselytizing. You also may not provide abortion services or referrals, run voter registration drives with program money, or do other things the Corporation forbids. No help under this program can go to an organization that has broken a federal criminal law. Participants also cannot be told to do anything that would violate the nonduplication, nondisplacement, or nonsupplantation rules in section 12637.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §12584a

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)An approved national service position under this division may not be used for the following activities:
(1)Attempting to influence legislation.
(2)Organizing or engaging in protests, petitions, boycotts, or strikes.
(3)Assisting, promoting, or deterring union organizing.
(4)Impairing existing contracts for services or collective bargaining agreements.
(5)Engaging in partisan political activities, or other activities designed to influence the outcome of an election to Federal office or the outcome of an election to a State or local public office.
(6)Participating in, or endorsing, events or activities that are likely to include advocacy for or against political parties, political platforms, political candidates, proposed legislation, or elected officials.
(7)Engaging in religious instruction, conducting worship services, providing instruction as part of a program that includes mandatory religious instruction or worship, constructing or operating facilities devoted to religious instruction or worship, maintaining facilities primarily or inherently devoted to religious instruction or worship, or engaging in any form of proselytization, consistent with section 12584 of this title.
(8)Consistent with section 12584 of this title, providing a direct benefit to any—
(A)business organized for profit;
(B)labor union;
(C)partisan political organization;
(D)nonprofit organization that fails to comply with the restrictions contained in section 501(c) of title 26, except that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to prevent participants from engaging in advocacy activities undertaken at their own initiative; and
(E)organization engaged in the religious activities described in paragraph (7), unless the position is not used to support those religious activities.
(9)Providing abortion services or referrals for receipt of such services.
(10)Conducting a voter registration drive or using Corporation funds to conduct a voter registration drive.
(11)Carrying out such other activities as the Corporation may prohibit.
(b)No assistance provided under this division may be provided to any organization that has violated a Federal criminal statute.
(c)A participant in an approved national service position under this division may not be directed to perform any services or duties, or to engage in any activities, prohibited under the nonduplication, nondisplacement, or nonsupplantation requirements relating to employees and volunteers in section 12637 of this title.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section effective Oct. 1, 2009, see section 6101(a) of Pub. L. 111–13, set out as an

Effective Date

of 2009 Amendment note under section 4950 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 12584a

Title 42The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73