June 27, 2007 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Washington
At a wide-ranging conference on Tuesday, the federal Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives expressed relief over its recent victory in a Supreme Court case and offered charities advice on collecting data when trying to prove that their programs solve problems for the needy.
Applause broke out in a small conference room in the White House when Jay F. Hein, director of program, mentioned Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, in which the Supreme Court decided, 5 to 4, that taxpayers did not have the legal right to sue Mr. Hein’s office.
“Our mission was affirmed,” said Mr. Hein, whose department provides money for nonprofit groups. “It’s a good thing we came out on the right end of that deal.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation had argued that some federal money given to religious social-service charities was being used to promote religion, and thus was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court decision did not decide the merits of the case, but its outcome means that average citizens and watchdog groups do not have the legal right to challenge the federal program that awards grants to religious charities.
Jedd Medefind, deputy director of the White House grant office, added that the decision “gives a new confidence to state and local governments seeking to forge partnerships.” He said that the decision frees his office from the potentially distracting work of defending itself repeatedly in court.
The conference, part of a monthly series on various charitable issues, brought together local nonprofit and government officials.
For instance, Nancy Pope, a liaison in New Mexico’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, talked about her state’s ambitious project to end hunger by 2010.
Ms. Pope said New Mexico has the highest rate of hunger in the country. Her agency helped raised $8.42-million in 2006 by teaching charities, both religious and secular, to compete for federal grants.
To put the growth of such government-charity partnerships in context, Mr. Hein noted that 33 governors have opened offices modeled on the federal program. And though 13 of those governors have either lost election bids or retired since opening the office, all 13 offices remained open, indicating their permanence.
Mr. Hein also noted that 150 mayors have opened local grants offices for local charities and religious groups as well, the majority clustered in Florida and Georgia.
One session at the conference promoted the idea that charities need to keep better empirical records of their work. Doing so, said panelists, is easier than charities realize and would help them compete for federal grants, since they would have data to back up anecdotal claims.
The panelists, both academics, offered few specifics but said that they and other academics, always hungry for research data, are happy to offer help and advice. They recommended a simple search on Google Scholar, which focuses on academic topics, to track down experts who could help.
Mr. Hein said he hoped that such academic work would eventually “create a research environment that becomes a tool” for the promotion of faith-based initiatives.
