E-Newsletter for December 19, 2006

In this issue:

• Feds Hope to Inspire States to Advance Faith-Based Efforts
• States Peer Over Borders for Best Practices
• An Interview with Jannah Scott, Policy Advisor on Faith and Community Initiatives, Arizona
• Religious College Sues Government for Exclusion from Job Listing Service
• Digest of Federal Grants with Faith-Based and Community Organization Eligibility
• Special Holiday Note - Newsletter Publication Resumes January 2nd
• Digest of Current Faith-Based News Stories

An update from the Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy, an independent research project
of the Rockefeller Institute of Government. The public policy research arm of the State University of New York.

New! Feds Hope to Inspire States to Advance Faith-Based Efforts

When your job is to engage small grassroots organizations in helping the needy, the best approach might
not be from a large, centralized location – at least not without help at the local level. That’s why Jay Hein
says he wants some devolution. That’s a government official’s way of saying he wants to transfer what has
been a federal program – with some notable involvement in some states and cities – to smaller
governments. The program is the Faith-Based and Community Initiative, a federal effort to encourage
religious charities and other nonprofits to increase their social service work. Since August, Hein has
directed the White House Office assigned to leading that project.

The time is ripe, said Hein, for the states to pick up the charge. His reasons include the fact that many states
have already launched their own version of the federal initiative, with 33 governors devising formal
strategies for increasing the involvement of faith-based and community organizations in providing social
services. And, perhaps more important, local people know best what needs to be done in their communities,
and which organizations are up for the task, Hein said.

Click here to read more by Roundtable Correspondents Claire Hughes and Anne Farris.

New! States Peer Over Borders for Best Practices

As leaders of the federal Faith-Based and Community Initiative work to replicate their partnership between
religious charities and government at the local level, state officials are looking to each other to find out
what works best. Ohio, Texas, Florida, Arkansas and Virginia stand out as model states to emulate, say
state liaisons to the faith community. Those states have implemented innovations, creative administrative
and funding tools, and take an aggressive approach to promote their faith-based and community initiatives.

Click here to read more by Roundtable Correspondents Anne Farris and Claire Hughes.

The Roundtable’s research includes significant examination of state and local faith-based initiatives. While
some states have instituted sweeping changes in response to the federal push to encourage government
partnerships with religious charities, most have not, the Roundtable has found. Officials in some states see
no need for such change, as they have longstanding relationships with faith-based organizations that
provide social services with government support. Others have been hampered by budget shortfalls.

Click here for the Roundtable’s 2005 report on faith-based initiatives in the states.

The Roundtable's 2005 conference -- "From the White House to the State House: Federalism and the
Faith-Based Initiative" -- provided a comprehensive update on the progress of state and local government
partnerships with faith-based social service providers. In addition to the report above, the conference
included first-hand reports from prominent federal, state and local officials who are involved in
faith-based initiatives.

Click here for news coverage, reports and transcripts of the Roundtable's 2005 annual conference -- "From
the White House to the State House: Federalism and the Faith-Based Initiative"

New! An Interview with Jannah Scott, Policy Advisor on Faith and Community
Initiatives, Arizona

Jannah Scott is the policy advisor on Faith and Community Initiatives for Democratic Arizona Gov. Janet
Napolitano. Scott, an ordained minister, has served in a variety of capacities with government, faith
organizations and the nonprofit community.

Prior to her appointment by Napolitano in August 2005, Scott was an associate with the International
Foundation in Washington, D.C., the host of the annual Presidential Prayer Breakfast. For seven years, she
served as executive director of the Collaboration for a New Century, a private sector effort to support the
work of faith-based and community organizations in serving needy Arizonans. The Collaboration was part
of a four-city project funded through the federal Compassion Capital Fund to provide training and technical
assistance to faith-based and community groups in Phoenix.

Click here to read the interview.

New! Religious College Sues Government for Exclusion from Job Listing Service

Geneva College, a Christian school in western Pennsylvania, and the Alliance of Faith-Based Organizations
have sued the U.S. Department of Labor and several Pennsylvania officials over the exclusion of the
college from the state's Internet job listings. The state gets federal money for the listing service under the
Workforce Investment Act, which forbids religious discrimination in hiring. Because Geneva College
requires all employees to declare their commitment to Jesus Christ, the state refused to run the college's
advertisements for new employees. The suit alleges that this exclusion violates the First Amendment and
the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Click here to read a press release about the case.

Click here to read the legal complaint.

Weekly Digest of Federal Grants with Faith-Based and Community
Organization Eligibility

The grant opportunities this week for community and faith-based organizations are through
programs administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S.
Department of Justice.

Potential applicants should be aware that some grant programs may require specific
technical expertise.

Click here for the grant digest, compiled by Roundtable Correspondent Allison Sarnoff
with Lisa Montiel.

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanzaa!

Special Holiday Note - Newsletter Publication Resumes January 2nd.

The Roundtable's weekly e-newsletter will not be published next week.
Our next edition will be sent on January 2nd.