Policy Landmarks

The effort to modify government policies and practices to ensure that faith-based organizations have the same partnership opportunities as secular organizations began before the George W. Bush administration and involves state and local officials and not only Washington DC. (Similar changes are being made in a number of foreign countries, as well.) The following list is highly selective, intended only to illustrate the broad scope of the faith-based initiative.

1981 - The Adolescent Family Life Act, enacted to provide federal support for abstinence education to adolescents, specifically authorized the participation of faith-based organizations. The US Supreme Court upheld such participation in a 1988 decision (Bowen v. Kendrick), although the decision relied on the dubious (and now abandoned) effort to distinguish between groups that are too religious to participate and those secular enough to be able to receive government money.

1990 - The Child Care and Development Block Grant is created to provide federal child care funding for low-income families. It authorizes states to contract with secular child care providers but encourages extensive use of 'indirect government funding: certificates are given to eligible parents, who can choose faith-based child care from a religious organization.

1995 - Sen. Dan Coats (R-Indiana) proposed the Project for American Renewal, a set of initiatives, including a charity tax credit, to expand the community service provided by faith-based and neighborhood organizations.

1996 - Charitable Choice is adopted as part of the federal welfare reform law, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. Charitable Choice requires state and local agencies spending money in the new Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) not to exclude faith-based organizations when selecting private social-service providers.

1996 - Texas Governor's Task Force on Faith-Based Community Service Groups issues its report, Faith in Action: A New Vision for Church-State Cooperation in Texas.

1997 - The Welfare-to-Work program of supplemental services for the hardest to place welfare recipients is created in such a way that it is subject to the Charitable Choice provision of the TANF program.
 
1997 - The Front Porch Alliance is created by Indianapolis Mayor Steve Goldsmith to build collaboration between city government and grassroots and faith-based groups.

1997 - Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Clinton administration, Andrew Cuomo, establishes the HUD Center for Community and Interfaith Partnerships.

1998 - Charitable Choice is made part of the reauthorized Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) program that providers core federal funding to community action agencies.

1999 - Establishment of the Virginia Lt. Governor's Special Task Force to Study Ways Faith-Based Community Service Groups May Provide Assistance to Meet Social Needs.

1999 - The State of Indiana establishes FaithWorks Indiana to build collaboration between its welfare programs and faith-based and community-based groups.

1999 - The Department of Health and Human Services in the Clinton administration holds a national conference, 'Welfare Reform: Building New Partnerships,â€Â that highlights Charitable Choice, among other partnership innovations and examples.

1999 - Both Democratic candidate for president, Vice President Al Gore, and the Republican candidate, Texas Governor George W. Bush, proclaim their support for faith-based organizations and for Charitable Choice.

2000 - An office of faith-based and community initiatives is established in Oklahoma.

2000 - Charitable Choice is added to federal substance abuse prevention and treatment funds administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in two separate enactments by Congress.

2001 - President Bush releases Rallying the Armies of Compassion, the blueprint for his faith-based and community initiatives program.

2001 - Establishment of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.

2001 - Establishment of Centers for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Labor, Department of Justice, and Department of Education.

2001 - The House adopts HR 7, a bill to expand Charitable Choice to a wide range of federal programs. (J.C. Watts-R, Tony Hall-D) The Senate declines to take up Charitable Choice expansion.

2001 - The White House issues Unlevel Playing Field: Barriers to Participation by Faith-Based and Community Organizations in Federal Social Service Programs.

2001 - Release of the Final Report of the Ohio Task Force on Nonprofit, Faith-based, and Other Nonprofit Organizations.

2002 - Executive Order 13279 (Dec. 12), Equal Protection of the Laws for Faith-Based and Community Organizations, sets out Charitable Choice-like principles to govern federal, state, and local administration of federal spending that is not covered by Charitable Choice.

2002 - Establishment of Centers for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in the Department of Agriculture and in the US Agency for International Development.

2003 - The White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives issues Protecting the Civil Rights and Religious Liberty of Faith-Based Organizations: Why Religious Hiring Rights Must Be Preserved.

2003 - Charitable Choice regulations are issued for the TANF, CSBG, and SAMHSA programs.

2004 - Creation of the faith-based task force for the Corporation for National and Community Service, which operates the AmeriCorps and other community service programs.

2004 - Creation of the Mayors Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at the US Conference of Mayors.

2004 - Establishment of Centers for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in the Department of Commerce, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Small Business Administration.

2004 - After public comment and in response to the 2002 Equal Protection executive order, Equal Treatment regulations are added to the general administrative regulations of these federal agencies:Â US AID, Agriculture, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Labor, Veterans Affairs.

2004 - The bipartisan Community Solutions and Initiatives Caucus is launched in the House of Representatives, co-chaired by Rep. Harold Ford (D-Tenn.) and Rep. Mark Green (R-Wis.).

2004 - The Access to Recovery program, which provides federally funded vouchers to enable drug addicts to seek services from faith-based drug treatment programs, awards grants to 14 states and one tribal organization.

2004 - Both the Democratic candidate for President, Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) and President George W. Bush affirm their support for faith-based organizations as partners with government.

2004 - Equal Treatment regulations adopted to give effect to the Bush Administration Executive Order on equal treatment.

2005 - Lown v. Salvation Army decision, New York City federal court affirms that a religious provider does not lose its staffing freedom by taking government funds.

2006 - Establishment of Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in the Department of Homeland Security.

2006 - House and Senate reauthorize the federal welfare program (TANF) with Charitable Choice intact and expanded to cover new marriage strengthening and fatherhood programs.

2006 - FEMA clarifies rules to ensure eligibility of churches and parachurch organizations for reimbursement when collaborating with FEMA programs.

2006 - Federal rules are clarified so faith-based drug treatment programs may redeem resident's food stamps and no longer be disqualified for assistance given to other facilities.

2006 - Pension act adopted with charitable giving incentives. Many Care Act (2002) proposals become law but not the charitable deduction for non-itemizers.

2007 - White House begins Compasssion in Action Roundtables showcasing the impact and results of the Faith-Based and Community Initaitive.

2007 - U.S. Supreme Court rules against challenge to the faith-based initiative (Freedom From Religion Foundation v. Hein) undermining extremist legal attacks by narrowing who has legal standing to sue the goverment in First Amendment cases.

2007 - Department of Labor begins beneficiary choice contracting experiment (providing sevrices to ex-offenders that may be faith-filled because  government payment follows the choice clients.  Choice contracting mechanism avoids some of the complexity of vouchers but retains legal and religious freedom advantages.