Final Report on Evaluation of the Volunteer Delivery System

The Volunteer delivery system is the continuous cycle that enables the Peace Corps to meet the requests of host countries and Peace Corps posts for suitable, trained Volunteers. It is the agency’s engine. Initially, the study’s focus was narrow: to assess progress in implementing recommendations from a 1999 management review of the recruitment, selection, and placement processes. It became broader for two reasons. First, the President’s call to double the number of Volunteers in five years had alerted delivery system managers and staff to the need to be more effective and efficient. In fact, many were already preparing for changes in order to meet this challenge and are eager to use our study to help implement changes. Second, we noted that the agency’s history of studies and incremental changes in the delivery system has resulted in almost no noticeable increase in output—producing approximately the same number of Volunteers for the last 30 years—and few changes in efficiency. We anticipate this report will have more utility and the agency will make significant improvements in the system so the doubling of members will occur with no drop in quality.