(a) AmeriCorps will seek to ensure that our portfolio of AmeriCorps programs is programmatically, demographically, and geographically diverse and includes innovative programs, and projects in rural, high poverty, and economically distressed areas.

(b) In applying the selection criteria under §§ 2522.420 through 2522.435, AmeriCorps may, with respect to a particular proposal, also consider one or more of the following for purposes of clarifying or verifying information in a proposal, including conducting due diligence to ensure an applicant's ability to manage Federal funds:

(1) For an applicant that has previously received an AmeriCorps grant, any information or records the applicant submitted to AmeriCorps, or that AmeriCorps has in its system of records, in connection with its previous grant (e.g. progress reports, site visit reports, financial status reports, audits, HHS Account Payment Data Reports, Federal Cash Transaction Reports, timeliness of past reporting, etc.);

(2) Program evaluations;

(3) Member-related information from AmeriCorps' systems;

(4) Other AmeriCorps internal information, including information from the Office of Inspector General, administrative standards for State commissions, and reports on program training and technical assistance;

(5) IRS Tax Form 990;

(6) An applicant organization's annual report;

(7) Information relating to the applicant's financial management from AmeriCorps records;

(8) Member satisfaction indicators;

(9) Publicly available information including:

(i) Socio-economic and demographic data, such as poverty rate, unemployment rate, labor force participation, and median household income;

(ii) Information on where an applicant and its activities fall on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's urban-rural continuum (Beale codes);

(iii) Information on the nonprofit and philanthropic community, such as charitable giving per capita;

(iv) Information from an applicant organization's website; and

(v) U.S. Department of Education data on Federal Work Study and Community Service; and

(10) Other information, following notice in the relevant Notice of Funding Availability, of the specific information and AmeriCorps' intention to be able to consider that information in the review process.

(c) Before approving a program grant to a State commission, AmeriCorps will consider a State commission's capacity to manage and monitor grants.