Following the scoring of proposals under § 2522.440 of this part, AmeriCorps will seek to ensure that its portfolio of approved programs includes a meaningful representation of proposals that address one or more of the following priorities:

(a) Program models: (1) Programs operated by community organizations, including faith-based organizations, or programs that support the efforts of community organizations, including faith-based organizations, to solve local problems;

(2) Lower-cost professional corps programs, as defined in paragraph (a)(3) of § 2522.110 of this chapter.

(b) Program activities: (1) Programs that serve or involve children and youth, including mentoring of disadvantaged youth and children of prisoners;

(2) Programs that address educational needs, including those that carry out literacy and tutoring activities generally, and those that focus on reading for children in the third grade or younger;

(3) Programs that focus on homeland security activities that support and promote public safety, public health, and preparedness for any emergency, natural or man-made (this includes programs that help to plan, equip, train, and practice the response capabilities of many different response units ready to mobilize without warning for any emergency);

(4) Programs that address issues relating to the environment;

(5) Programs that support independent living for seniors or individuals with disabilities;

(6) Programs that increase service and service-learning on higher education campuses in partnership with their surrounding communities;

(7) Programs that foster opportunities for Americans born in the post-World War II baby boom to serve and volunteer in their communities; and

(8) Programs that involve community-development by finding and using local resources, and the capacities, skills, and assets of lower-income people and their community, to rejuvenate their local economy, strengthen public and private investments in the community, and help rebuild civil society.

(c) Programs supporting distressed communities: Programs or projects that will be conducted in:

(1) A community designated as an empowerment zone or redevelopment area, targeted for special economic incentives, or otherwise identifiable as having high concentrations of low-income people;

(2) An area that is environmentally distressed, as demonstrated by Federal and State data;

(3) An area adversely affected by Federal actions related to managing Federal lands that result in significant regional job losses and economic dislocation;

(4) An area adversely affected by reductions in defense spending or the closure or realignment of military installation;

(5) An area that has an unemployment rate greater than the national average unemployment for the most recent 12 months for which State or Federal data are available;

(6) A rural community, as demonstrated by Federal and State data; or

(7) A severely economically distressed community, as demonstrated by Federal and State data.

(d) Other programs: Programs that meet any additional priorities as AmeriCorps determines and disseminates in advance of the selection process.