Civic Life in America: Key Findings on the Civic Health of the Nation

The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, signed by President Obama in April 2009, authorized the Corporation for National and Community Service and the National Conference on Citizenship to produce the Civic Health Assessment (known as Civic Life in America), an annual report detailing the many ways people get involved in communities across the country and work to make a difference. Data for the U.S., regions, state, and city (metropolitan area) level were collected mostly through the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau. With this rich set of data, leaders and residents are able to identify opportunities to increase and sustain diverse and new types of engagement and build tools and resources to meet community needs. Today our nation faces a number of daunting challenges, including economic recovery, under-performing schools, and unexpected needs arising out of disasters. It is precisely because of the magnitude and multitude of these and other complex challenges that we must reconfigure the way we think and talk about engaging Americans in addressing them. This fact sheet provides an overview of key national findings. Additional statistics and analysis, as well as tools and resources to help communities stimulate greater civic engagement, can be found online at http://civic.serve.gov/.