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Faith-based initiatives and charitable choice

What is "charitable choice"?

How many states have implemented a faith-based initiative?

"Charitable choice" is the common phrase for Section 104 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA). This section permits government agencies to contract Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds to faith-based organizations (FBOs) without requiring FBOs to provide services free of religious attributes.

This provision specifically says that states cannot legally exclude faith-based organizations from consideration for government contracts simply because these organizations are pervasively sectarian. The purpose of PRWORA Section 104 is "to allow States to contract with religious organizations on the same basis as any other non-governmental provider without impairing the religious character of such organizations, and without diminishing the religious freedom of beneficiaries..."

Prior to the charitable choice provision, religious service providers were required to establish a not-for-profit arm organizations that did not reflect any religious components in their services to the needy and therefore were eligible for government funding. Common religiously-affiliated organizations include Salvation Army, American Jewish Federation and Goodwill Industries. Charitable choice permits local synagogues, churches and mosques to apply for government funds to provide services to those in need without removing religious symbols from their site or their programs, as was previously prohibited.

More than one half of the states have either incorporated the charitable choice provision into their contracting process or created an office of faith-based initiatives.

Recognizing the potential benefit of contracting with faith-based organizations, states have begun to investigate new opportunities to work with religious entities. Policymakers who have implemented faith-based initiatives started with similar first steps. Four of the most common first steps toward implementing faith-based initiatives are the following.

• Revise state procurement policies to permit contracting with religious or faith-based organizations.
• Conduct a study of the state's faith-community and their level of involvement and interest in offering social services.
• Conduct workshops on grant writing, welfare reform and opportunities for exclusively religious organizations to apply for government funding to provide social services.
• Created an office of faith-based initiatives or a state liaison for faith-based and community leaders.

As of July 2001, at least 17 states had appointed a liaison to the faith community and/or created an office of faith-based initiatives. An additional 4 states-Alaska, Alabama, California, Florida, and Utah-created liaisons and/or formal faith-based offices at the state level in the past two years. These liaisons and offices have offered workshops to educate the faith community on charitable choice and provided guidance on how to partner with government.

At least 9 states have incorporated the charitable choice language into their state statutes to encourage congregations, mosques and temples to apply for government funding. State and local agencies have collaborated with faith-based organizations to provide services to at-risk youth, pregnant teens, substance abusers, illiterate adults, former prisoners and a variety of other populations.

Figure 1 depicts some state faith-based activities. The map identifies states that have created an office of faith-based initiatives or appointed a faith-based liaison as well as states that have adopted the charitable choice language into their state statutes. This map does not include all states that formally collaborate with faith-based organizations. Some states have included the charitable choice language in their contracting process (RFPs) or encouraged collaboration through agency rule. States that have done this include Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Utah.

Figure 1. State Offices of Faith-Based Initiatives, Faith-Based Liaisons and Statutory Contract Language as of July 2003

Source: National Conference of State Legislatures, 2003.

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