Too often, say its critics, U.S. domestic policy is founded on ideology rather than evidence. Take "Charitable Choice": legislation enacted with the assumption that faith-based organizations can offer the best assistance to the needy at the lowest cost. The Charitable Choice provision of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act—buttressed by President Bush's Faith-Based Initiative of 2000—encouraged religious organizations, including congregations, to bid on government contracts to provide social services. But in neither year was data available to prove or disprove the effectiveness of such an approach. Charitable Choice at Work fills this gap with a comprehensive look at the evidence for and against faith-based initiatives. Sheila Suess Kennedy and Wolfgang Bielefeld review the movement's historical context along with legal analysis of constitutional concerns including privatization, federalism, and separation of church and state. Using both qualitative and, where possible, statistical data, the authors analyze the performance of job placement programs in three states with a representative range of religious, political, and demographic traits—Massachusetts, Indiana, and North Carolina. Throughout, they focus on measurable outcomes as they compare non-faith-based with faith-based organizations, nonprofits with for-profits, and the logistics of contracting before and after Charitable Choice. Among their findings: in states where such information is available, the composition of social service contractor pools has changed very little. Reflecting their varied political cultures, states have funded programs differently. Faith-based organizations have not been eager to seek government contracts, perhaps wary of additional legal restraints and reporting burdens. The authors conclude that faith-based organizations appear no more effective than secular organizations at government-funded social service provision, that there has been no dramatic change in the social welfare landscape since Charitable Choice, and that the constitutional concerns of its detractors may be valid. This empirical study penetrates the fog of the culture wars, moving past controversy over the role of religion in public life to offer pragmatic suggestions for policymakers and organizations who must decide how best to assist the needy.

An ethnographic study of faith-based poverty relief programs in 30 congregations in the rural south.

Charitable Choice contains overviews of the Charitable Choice legislation itself and raises significant issues and questions regarding its implementation. It documents initial efforts by states to implement the law provides examples of church involvement in community social ministry looks at characteristics and attitudes of staff at faith-based programs explores the experiences of volunteer mentors in social welfare programs and it gives a rich qualitative look at how some rural churches respond to poverty and policy. Professional social workers are in a unique position to help bring people of faith and people in need together especially if these social workers are persons of faith themselves. This book is a resource for social work practitioners, educators, and students for leaders in churches and faith-based programs, and for advocates for the poor. In short it is intended to equip us to help others in a way that really helps.

A landmark three-volume reference work documenting philanthropy and the nonprofit sector throughout American history, edited by the field's most widely recognized authority. Developed under the guidance of Dr. Dwight Burlingame of the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy, one of the nation's premier institutes for the study of philanthropy, the three-volume Philanthropy in America: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia is the definitive work on philanthropic, charitable, and nonprofit endeavors in the United States. The first section of the encyclopedia contains over 200 A–Z entries covering the lives of important philanthropists, the missions and practices of key institutions and organizations, and the impact of seminal events throughout the history of the nonprofit sector in America, from precolonial times to the present. Discussions of philanthropic traditions in ancient civilizations, in Europe during colonial times, and in countries around the world today provide fascinating contexts for understanding how the American philanthropic experience has developed. The encyclopedia also includes a collection of primary source documents (legislation, foundation reports, mission statements, etc.) for convenient review and further research.

Debates on public policy in the United States are shaped, in part, by moral and religious commitments of individuals and communities. Heclo (2003) writes in Religion Returns to the Public Square, “Government policy and religious matters . . . both claim to give authoritative answers to important questions about how people should live.” Heclo’s words apply especially to the issue of poverty and welfare reform, a matter on which the great religious traditions have played an integral part. Apart from its profound political significance, there is every indication that the welfare reform legislation of 1996 (Personal Work Opportunity and Reconciliation Act, PWORA) has altered the landscape of American religion. Through Section 104 of PWORA, also known as Charitable Choice, religious congregations, interfaith ministries and denominational work relief agencies have been thrust into the center of America’s welfare to work transition and community revitalization efforts. Charitable Choice makes it illegal for state governments to discriminate against social service providers who organization has a religious mandate. This book examines Charitable Choice – and more broadly, the changing relationship between religion and social welfare – as its primary point of departure for investigating faith-based poverty relief in the post-welfare era. This research employs a mixed methods approach to understanding the role of Protestant evangelicals in addressing the needs of the poor and specifically their role in the implementation of Charitable Choice. To accomplish this task, two national surveys, one individual and one congregational, are used to explore the role of religiosity and the creation of Protestant evangelical sub-cultures and their effects on civic engagement, volunteerism and support for Charitable Choice. It then triangulates this data with qualitative research to develop a clearer understanding of the issues that affect participation rates and public welfare delivery systems. In-depth interviews of thirty-six Protestant evangelical ministers from central Appalachia are conducted and analyzed. This text will advance both practice and theory by providing an understanding about the complex world of Protestant evangelicalism. This volume has the potential to increase our understanding about the role intra-textual and inter-textual theological beliefs and convictions play in the public policy process and whether faith-based organizations can help to address the issues surrounding poverty and social welfare. To the policy maker, the authors hope to provide practical information that affects policy delivery and policy evaluation. To the religious scholar and social science researcher, they hope this study serves as one brick in a larger foundation known as Protestant evangelicalism. It will provide a different strategy for identifying key variables associated with public policy analysis. And in the end, it will require us all to answer if charity is truly a choice.

Long before there was a welfare state, there were efforts by religious congregations to alleviate poverty. Those efforts have continued since the establishment of government programs to help the poor, and congregations have often worked with government agencies to provide food, clothing and care, to set up after-school activities, provide teen pregnancy counseling, and develop programs to prevent crime. Until now, much of this church-state cooperation has gone on with limited opposition or notice. But the Bush Administration's new proposal to broaden support for "faith-based" social programs has heated up an already simmering debate. What are congregations' proper roles in lifting up the poor? What should their relationship with government be? Sacred Places, Civic Purposes explores the question with a lively discussion that crisscrosses every line of partisanship and ideology. The result of a series of conferences funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts and sponsored by the Brookings Institution, this book focuses not simply on abstract questions of the promise and potential dangers of church-state cooperation, but also on concrete issues where religious organizations are leading problem solvers. The authors – experts in their respective fields and from various walks of life - examine the promises and perils of faith-based organizations in preventing teen pregnancy, reducing crime and substance abuse, fostering community development, bolstering child care, and assisting parents and children on education issues. They offer conclusions about what congregations are currently doing, how government could help, and how government could usefully get out of the way. Contributors include William T. Dickens (National Community Development Policy Analysis Network and the Brookings Institution), John DiIulio (White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and University of Pennsylvania), Floyd Flake (Allen AME Church and Manhattan Institute), Bill Ga

This Encyclopedia on American history and law is the first devoted to examining the issues of civil liberties and their relevance to major current events while providing a historical context and a philosophical discussion of the evolution of civil liberties. Coverage includes the traditional civil liberties: freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly, and petition. In addition, it also covers concerns such as privacy, the rights of the accused, and national security. Alphabetically organized for ease of access, the articles range in length from 250 words for a brief biography to 5,000 words for in-depth analyses. Entries are organized around the following themes: organizations and government bodies legislation and legislative action, statutes, and acts historical overviews biographies cases themes, issues, concepts, and events. The Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties is an essential reference for students and researchers as well as for the general reader to help better understand the world we live in today.

Comprehensive Handbook of Social Work and Social Welfare, Volume 4: The Profession of Social Work features contributions from leading international researchers and practitioners and presents the most comprehensive, in-depth source of information on the field of social work and social welfare.