Report Recommends 38 Ways to Expand the Role of Religious Charities

A bipartisan committee has released a report listing 38 recommendations that it says governments, foundations, individual donors, and others could follow to expand and strengthen the role of religious and local organizations in providing social services to needy Americans.

Among other things, the report analyzes controversial issues under debate in Congress, such as whether religious groups that receive government contracts can follow their religious views when hiring; assesses the responsibilities of government agencies and religious organizations that seek to work together; and urges increased “public and private funding of faith-based groups in ways that are both effective and constitutional.”

The 27-member committee, called the Working Group on Human Needs and Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, included leaders of civil-liberties and religious groups that have frequently argued with each other over church-state matters but have sought common ground on key issues.

The Working Group was formed in 2001 by former Senator Harris Wofford, Democrat of Pennsylvania, at the request of Senator Rick Santorum, a Pennsylvania Republican, and with the encouragement of Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut. Senators Santorum and Lieberman have sponsored legislation aimed at helping religious and local charities receive federal money to provide social-welfare services, but these efforts have so far been stalled in Congress.

Mr. Wofford said he hoped the recommendations contained in the report, “Harnessing Civic and Faith-Based Power to Fight Poverty,” would be useful to Congress, as well as federal agencies, the president, state and local governments, and charities and foundations.

“What drew me to this endeavor was not primarily how to help faith-based organizations get more, but how to help them give more — more leadership, more initiative, and more of their own resources,” he said.

The Working Group last year produced its first report, with 29 suggestions for helping religious and community organizations increase their efforts (The Chronicle, January 24, 2002).

Among the recommendations in the new report:

• Government agencies with money to distribute for social-service programs must clearly explain to religious groups, legislatures, and the public their “eligibility criteria for different varieties of faith-based organizations, the standards for faith-related program content, any required separation of privately funded religious activities, employment practices, and any requirements of institutional separation of funded programs and houses of worship.”
• Private grant makers and potential recipients of such money should consider adopting common standards and principles (samples of which are provided in the report) that describe the roles and responsibilities of each — a move aimed at easing some donors’ fears about assisting religious groups.
• Government agencies should be required to explicitly state their interpretation of applicable law regarding the effect, if any, of each social-service program on the employment policies of participating religious groups. Religious groups that seek or already receive government funds should be open about the way they apply and interpret existing laws that affect their rights and policies when they hire employees.

The Wofford committee was assisted by Search for Common Ground, a conflict-resolution organization in Washington.

A copy of the 66-page report issued by the Working Group on Human Needs and Faith-Based and Community Initiatives may be found on the organization’s Web site at http://www.working-group.org.

A copy of the report can also be obtained by sending a $12 check or money order to Working Group Report Orders, c/o Search for Common Ground, 1601 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 200, Washington, D.C. 20009.