July 01, 2008
Obama Seeks to Continue and Expand Bush's Efforts to Help Religious Charities
By Suzanne Perry
Sen. Barack Obama said today he would continue President Bush’s efforts to help religious charities get federal money for social-services projects if he is elected president, but would provide more training to groups that seek the grants and insist on evaluating their effectiveness.
Saying that President Bush’s program “never fulfilled its promise,” the presumptive Democratic nominee said he would create a President’s Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships to help religious charities navigate the federal grant-making system.
“As I’ve said many times, I believe that change comes not from the top down, but from the bottom up, and few are closer to the people than our churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques,” he said in remarks prepared for delivery at the East Side Community Ministry in Zanesville, Ohio. The country, he added, needs “all hands on deck” to address problems such as poverty, which cannot be solved by government alone.
The Illinois senator said his program—which would also maintain the “faith-based” offices that now exist in 11 federal agencies—would not violate the constitutional separation of church and state as the charities would be barred from using government money to proselytize, discriminate against people they hire on the basis of their religion, or pay for religious activities.
As spelled out in a fact sheet, the new council would create a “train the trainers” program under which larger groups—such as an Islamic umbrella organization, a Catholic Charities office, or a secular organization like Public/Private Ventures— would get training in Washington so they could offer advice to local religious and community groups in how to apply for grants, avoid proselytizing, understand hiring rules, and report outcomes.
The council would also work with intermediary organizations to “conduct unbiased evaluation of programs and report results.”
Senator Obama said he would also work with schools, religious organizations, and other nonprofit groups to expand summer learning programs to serve an additional 1 million children—at a cost of $500-million a year. He said he would find the money by streamlining the federal procurement process, better managing surplus federal property, and reducing growth in the federal travel budget.
In his speech, the senator praised several nonprofit groups, including Ready4Work, a program in Jacksonville, Fla., to help ex-prisoners find work that is operated by a religious organization; Catholic Charities, for its work in Chicago to help homeless veterans; the Children’s Defense Fund, for its nationwide after-school and summer “freedom schools,” some of which hold classes in churches; and Youth Education for Tomorrow, a program in Philadelphia that works with churches, religious schools, and others to provide after-school and summer learning programs.
President Bush created the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives by executive order shortly after becoming president in 2001. In a speech last week he called the effort to help religious charities one of the most important accomplishments of his administration.
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He may insist on evaluating their effectiveness, but this would require a completely new mechanism which does not exist. Currently, charities, religious and otherwise, are left largely to evaluate themselves.
— anonymous Jul 1, 02:26 PM #
This is a promising development, and is actually better than some earlier reports that indicated that Obama planned to limit faith-based initiatives to poverty issues.
It is significant that he does NOT plan to introduce legislation, but will instead continue or revamp the executive orders President Bush put in place.
He may have some difficulty from critics who will oppose Obama’s commitment to (and possible broadening of) faith-based charities’ ability to make employment decisions based in part on religion and maintain eligibility for Federal funds.
— Michael L. Wyland Jul 1, 02:26 PM #
Anonymous (comment #1) is correct, though Federal grantees are often required to report formative and/or summative outcomes of Federal grant-funded programs.
President Bush initiated a programmatic accountability process through the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) several years ago. For more on this initiative, see www.expectmore.gov.
— Michael L. Wyland Jul 1, 02:31 PM #
>This move strikes me as blatant pandering to the religious right. The central argument of this proposal as well as its Bush precedent has been that faith-based groups have been discriminated against in federal grant competition. That has never been documented & I don’t know a single npo professional, outside the right wing religious crowd, who believes it. Training & research resources have been plentiful for 50 years or more.
Maybe, in lieu of a cash donation to his campaign, I’ll send Sen. Obama a subscription to the Chronicle.
— Bob Campbell Jul 1, 02:40 PM #
I am glad to hear this renewed commitment to fund faith-based initiatives. In more than 40 years of organizing and community development I have often found the faith-based communities to be strong allies in local neighborhoods, offering space, volunteers, creative thinking about “social change”, a communication vehicle to residents of an area and an effective foundation to base negotiations with elected officials and business representatives for improved services or new programs. I would rather have those faith- based communities at the table immediately rather than trying to invite them into the arena later.
— Dave Gagne Jul 1, 02:41 PM #
It will now be interesting to watch the response of Democratic Party leaders. They were very vocal in decrying Bush’s plans directed at grassroots faith-based charities. Will they do the same here? Or will they be consisted with their previously stated views?
Senator Obama continues his run to the middle but will his party leadership follow?
— Dave Travis Jul 1, 04:24 PM #
Faith- and community- based organizations have always received the same scrutiny-monitoring, if you will-as other organizations;where did the notion that they were allowed to function differently come from? Those of us responsible for this “scrutiny” are proud of them and the work they’ve done.And those that couldn’t do it, good intentions nothwithstanding, are no longer in the arena
Funding for these kinds of organization did not originate with the Bush Administration. Almost all Federal funding entities have funded health and social services via faith based organizations for at least 20 years.
— Juliette Jul 1, 04:35 PM #
“This move strikes me as blatant pandering to the religious right.”
No, I don’t think so. Remember, Obama worked as a community organizer on the south side of Chicago, where many of the social services to the poor – food, clothing, and shelter – are provided by neighborhood churches and faith-based organizations.
His connection here probably comes from that experience, and I don’t think any of the organizations he worked with would be categorized as part of the “religious right.”
— Luke Jul 1, 05:14 PM #
In my experience, it isn’t the “religious right” folks providing the social services, as much as it is the “social justice” churches. And these churches are usually deemed ‘liberal’ by the right/ conservative folks.
Both sides of the church seem to provide most of the after-school tutoring and homeless services programs. But maybe that’s just my community.
Even our biggest charities have their roots in a spiritual tradition even if it’s long been sidelined (red cross, salvation army, ymca/ywca.)
— Miami Jul 2, 10:07 AM #
I told my son when he started working that the people who work from the bottom up can be the best leaders of future companies. Now he is in that position.
I feel Senator Obama started at the bottom and has learned the needs of the American people. I can’t think of a better person to lead our country.
— Melinda Jul 2, 11:47 AM #
This certainly is not “pandering to the religious right.”
I serve on the board of Ready4Work in Jacksonville, FL., and I know what can be done when citizens band together for a better society.
In the past three years Ready4Work has assisted hundreds and hindreds of former inmates, offering alcohol and substance abuse intervention, job placement, and mentoring. During these years the recidivism rate has stood at 5%!!!!
— Richard Jul 2, 01:24 PM #
I think effectiveness should be the most important measure. If a particular faith-based organization is more effective at achieving its social mission than a secular organization in the same community, then of course it should get funding. But if it isn’t, then it shouldn’t have an advantage in receiving funding “just because.”
— Katie Jul 2, 02:53 PM #
While calling this “blatant pandering to the religious right” might be overstating the case, I agree with Mr. Campbell’s point that Bush and his evangelical allies seem to think faith based organizations have been discriminated against. I certainly hope that, if President Obama continues the faith-based initiative, the bias toward directing assets only to those considered “religious right” is completely eliminated.
I also hope resources are directed toward giving those who provide social services the capacity to operate responsible and effective organizations.
— Fran Jul 2, 02:59 PM #
I will add my agreement with those who are disagreeing with the same old language of labeling any religious person or organization “the religious right” as though they are all part of a right-wing conspiracy to establish a theocracy! What so many on the left refuse to acknowledge is that the overwhelming majority of these organizations, motivated by their faith being put into action, perform critical and much needed human services which most of the time go unnoticed by society as a whole and relieve a big burden on the government. Although I do welcome Senator Obama’s commitment to continue faith-based support, I am skeptical of his intentions based on both his political idealogy (very left-wing) and his comments about the monitoring of proselytizing and hiring guidelines. This can be the proverbial “slippery slope” where the line between political correctness and respect for the tenets of one’s faith (those which are reasonable and not overtly discriminatory) are blurred.
— Jim Jul 3, 03:07 PM #