Economic Crisis Calls for New “Social Contract,” Charity Head Says

The severity of the nation’s economic crisis has created an opportunity for charities to transform the way they work with the government as a new administration and Congress take shape, Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA, said today.

Rising levels of poverty, unemployment, home foreclosures, and demand for food aid signal that “there needs to be a different social contract,” Father Snyder told Catholic Charities representatives from across the country participating in a teleconference about how to respond to the growing financial turmoil.

He said public officials should draw on the expertise of charities to design social programs, exploring “a new way to work together, a more mutual thing, rather than simply government throwing funding out and all of us scrambling for it.”

Father Snyder said Catholic Charities has been urging members of President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team to ensure that the economic-recovery plan that the new Congress is expected to adopt does not exclude society’s most vulnerable people. He said some observers believe the package will include new money in areas like food stamps, unemployment benefits, and the Women, Infants, and Children Program, as well as help for states and homeowners facing foreclosure.

He said the transition team has also signaled to Catholic Charities that the Obama administration aims to cut poverty in half within 10 years.

Catholic Charities is working to educate members of Congress about the growing strain that rising demand for social services — and cutbacks in donations and state payments — is placing on groups like his, Father Snyder added. It plans to participate in Congressional briefings next week — on the theme “Nonprofits on the Frontlines”—organized by Independent Sector, the coalition of charities and foundations.

Catholic Charities is also organizing a Congressional briefing in January, inviting national charities that have local affiliates working directly with the poor to discuss their experiences, he said.

A PowerPoint presentation summarizing some of the points made by Father Snyder is available on the Catholic Charities Web site.