White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
Encyclopedia
The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, formerly the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) is an office within the White House Office
that is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States
.
George W. Bush
through executive order on January 29, 2001, representing one of the key domestic policies of Bush's campaign promise of "compassionate conservatism
." The initiative sought to strengthen faith-based
and community organizations and expand their capacity to provide federally-funded social services
, with the idea having been that these groups were well-situated to meet the needs of local individuals. As Texas governor, Bush had used the "Charitable Choice" provisions of the 1996 welfare reform
(which allowed "faith-based" entities to compete for government contracts to deliver social services) to support the work of faith-based groups in Texas
.
The office was briefly led by Don Willett
, an aide from Bush's tenure as governor of Texas
who was later appointed a justice on the Supreme Court of Texas. The first person named as director of the OFBCI was John DiIulio
, a University of Pennsylvania
political science
professor. DiIulio later left the office and became a critic of the Bush administration.
Critics of the OFBCI, including Americans United for Separation of Church and State
and the American Civil Liberties Union
, assert that it violated the Establishment Clause
by using tax money to fund religion. They also argued that faith-based initiatives were used as part of electoral strategies to yield more votes for Bush and the GOP.
For fiscal year 2005, more than $2.2 billion in competitive social service grants were awarded to faith-based organizations. Between fiscal years 2003 and 2005, the total dollar amount of all grants awarded to FBOs increased by 21 percent (GAO 2006:43). The majority of these grants were distributed through state agencies to local organizations in the form of formula grants (GAO 2006:17).
.
renamed the office and appointed Joshua DuBois
as its head. He also established an advisory council for the office. The Advisory Council is composed of religious and secular leaders and scholars from different backgrounds. Each member of the Council is appointed to a one-year term. The members of the Council include:
According to ABC News
, the office would seek "to expand the role of this office as it relates to policy issues where religious and local leaders can be effective. DuBois will coordinate with faith-based and community organizations on social service outreach and will work to utilize these organizations' efforts to advance the administration's policies, with a primary focus on poverty."
White House Office
The White House Office is an entity within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. The White House Office is headed by the White House Chief of Staff, which was temporarily Pete Rouse, replaced on January 6, 2010 with the permanent appointment of William M. Daley, who is also...
that is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States
Executive Office of the President of the United States
The Executive Office of the President consists of the immediate staff of the President of the United States, as well as multiple levels of support staff reporting to the President. The EOP is headed by the White House Chief of Staff, currently William M. Daley...
.
Under George W. Bush
OFBCI was established by PresidentPresident of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
through executive order on January 29, 2001, representing one of the key domestic policies of Bush's campaign promise of "compassionate conservatism
Compassionate conservatism
Compassionate Conservatism is a political philosophy that stresses using traditionally conservative techniques and concepts in order to improve the general welfare of society. The term itself is often credited to U.S. historian and politician Doug Wead who used it as the title of a speech in 1979....
." The initiative sought to strengthen faith-based
Faith-based
The term faith-based is a neologism , mostly current in US English, to describe any organization or government idea or plan based on religious beliefs, specifically Christian beliefs....
and community organizations and expand their capacity to provide federally-funded social services
Social work
Social Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...
, with the idea having been that these groups were well-situated to meet the needs of local individuals. As Texas governor, Bush had used the "Charitable Choice" provisions of the 1996 welfare reform
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 is a United States federal law considered to be a fundamental shift in both the method and goal of federal cash assistance to the poor. The bill added a workforce development component to welfare legislation, encouraging...
(which allowed "faith-based" entities to compete for government contracts to deliver social services) to support the work of faith-based groups in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
The office was briefly led by Don Willett
Don Willett
Don R. Willett is a Justice on the Supreme Court of Texas. He was appointed by Governor Rick Perry on August 24, 2005 to fill the vacancy created when former Justice Priscilla Owen joined the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit...
, an aide from Bush's tenure as governor of Texas
Governor of Texas
The governor of Texas is the head of the executive branch of Texas's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Texas Legislature, and to convene the legislature...
who was later appointed a justice on the Supreme Court of Texas. The first person named as director of the OFBCI was John DiIulio
John DiIulio
John J. Dilulio Jr. is a political scientist. He currently serves as the Frederic Fox Leadership Professor of Politics, Religion, and Civil Society and Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. Previously, he served as the first director of the White House Office of...
, a University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
professor. DiIulio later left the office and became a critic of the Bush administration.
Critics of the OFBCI, including Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Americans United for Separation of Church and State is a group that advocates separation of church and state, a legal doctrine interpreted by AU as being enshrined in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.-Mission:The guiding principle of Americans...
and the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
, assert that it violated the Establishment Clause
Establishment Clause of the First Amendment
The Establishment Clause is the first of several pronouncements in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, stating, Together with the Free Exercise Clause The Establishment Clause is the first of several pronouncements in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution,...
by using tax money to fund religion. They also argued that faith-based initiatives were used as part of electoral strategies to yield more votes for Bush and the GOP.
For fiscal year 2005, more than $2.2 billion in competitive social service grants were awarded to faith-based organizations. Between fiscal years 2003 and 2005, the total dollar amount of all grants awarded to FBOs increased by 21 percent (GAO 2006:43). The majority of these grants were distributed through state agencies to local organizations in the form of formula grants (GAO 2006:17).
Safeguards on faith-based organizations
Faith-based organizations are eligible to participate in federally administered social service programs to the same degree as any other group, although certain restrictions on FBOs that accept government funding have been created by the White House to protect separation of church and stateSeparation of church and state
The concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....
.
- They may not use direct government funds to support inherently religious activities such as prayer, worship, religious instruction, or proselytization.
- Any inherently religious activities that the organizations may offer must be offered separately in time or location from services that receive federal assistance.
- FBOs cannot discriminate on the basis of religion when providing services (GAO 2006:13).
Under Barack Obama
President Barack ObamaBarack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
renamed the office and appointed Joshua DuBois
Joshua DuBois
Joshua DuBois is the head of the Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships in the Executive Office of the President of the United States under President Barack Obama....
as its head. He also established an advisory council for the office. The Advisory Council is composed of religious and secular leaders and scholars from different backgrounds. Each member of the Council is appointed to a one-year term. The members of the Council include:
- Diane Baillargeon, President & CEO, SeedcoSeedcoSeedco, the Structured Employment Economic Development Corporation, is a national, nonprofit, community development organization that works with local organizations in low-income communities to promote economic advancement and help people move out of poverty...
, New York, NY - Anju Bhargava, Founder, Asian Indian Women of America, New Jersey
- Bishop Charles E. BlakeCharles E. BlakeBishop Charles Edward Blake Sr. serves as the Presiding Bishop and Chief Apostle of the Church of God in Christ, Inc., a 6 million-member Pentecostal-Holiness denomination. On March 21, 2007, he became the Presiding Bishop of the Church of God in Christ, Inc., as a result of Presiding Bishop...
, Presiding Bishop, Church of God in ChristChurch of God in ChristThe Church of God in Christ is a Pentecostal Holiness Christian denomination with a predominantly African-American membership. With nearly five million members in the United States and 12,000 congregations, it is the largest Pentecostal church and the fifth largest Christian church in the U.S....
, Los Angeles, CA - Noel Castellanos, CEO, Christian Community Development Association, Chicago, IL
- The Rev. Peg Chemberlin, President-Elect, National Council of ChurchesNational Council of ChurchesThe National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA is an ecumenical partnership of 37 Christian faith groups in the United States. Its member denominations, churches, conventions, and archdioceses include Mainline Protestant, Orthodox, African American, Evangelical, and historic peace...
USA, Minneapolis, MN - Dr. Arturo Chavez, President & CEO, Mexican American Catholic College, San Antonio, TX
- Fred Davie, Senior Adviser, Public/Private VenturesPublic/Private VenturesPublic/Private Ventures is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, social research and policy organization. Its mission is to improve the effectiveness of policies, programs and community initiatives, especially as they affect vulnerable communities...
, New York, NY - Nathan Diament, Director of Public Policy, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, Washington, DC
- Pastor Joel C. Hunter, Senior Pastor, Northland, a Church Distributed, Longwood, FL
- Harry Knox, Director, Religion and Faith Program, Human Rights CampaignHuman Rights CampaignThe Human Rights Campaign is the United States' largest LGBT advocacy group and lobbying organization; according to the HRC, it has more than one million members and supporters...
, Washington, DC - Bishop Vashti M. McKenzieVashti Murphy McKenzieVashti Murphy McKenzie was elected as the first female bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. She is also the national chaplain of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated and the granddaughter of Delta founder Vashti Turley Murphy...
, Presiding Bishop, 13th Episcopal District, African Methodist Episcopal ChurchAfrican Methodist Episcopal ChurchThe African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination based in the United States. It was founded by the Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the...
, Knoxville, TN - Dalia MogahedDalia MogahedDalia Mogahed is an American Muslim scholar of Egyptian origin. She is the Executive Director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, a non-partisan research center that provides data and analysis to reflect the views of Muslims all over the world. She was selected as an advisor by U.S...
, Executive Director, Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, Washington, DC - Rev. Otis Moss, Jr., Pastor emeritus, Olivet Institutional Baptist Church, Cleveland, OH
- Dr. Frank S. Page, President emeritus, Southern Baptist ConventionSouthern Baptist ConventionThe Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...
, Taylors, SC - Eboo S. PatelEboo PatelEboo Patel is a member of President Barack Obama's inaugural Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships. He is an American Muslim of Gujarati Indian heritage and founder and president of the ,...
, Founder & Executive Director, Interfaith Youth CoreInterfaith Youth CoreInterfaith Youth Core is a Chicago-based non-profit founded in 2002 by Eboo Patel. The organization’s stated mission is to make interfaith cooperation a social norm. Today it operates with approximately 30 full-time staff and a $4 million budget...
, Chicago, IL - Anthony Picarello, General Counsel , United States Conference of Catholic BishopsUnited States Conference of Catholic BishopsThe United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops and United States Catholic Conference, it is composed of all active and retired members of the Catholic...
, Washington, DC - Nancy Ratzan, National President, National Council of Jewish WomenNational Council of Jewish WomenThe National Council of Jewish Women defines itself as a grassroots organization of volunteers and advocates who turn progressive ideals into action...
, Miami, FL - Melissa Rogers, Director, Wake ForestWake Forest UniversityWake Forest University is a private, coeducational university in the U.S. state of North Carolina, founded in 1834. The university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capital. The Reynolda Campus, the university's main campus, is...
School of Divinity Center for Religion and Public Affairs, Winston-Salem, NC - Rabbi David N. SapersteinDavid Saperstein (rabbi)David Saperstein is a rabbi, lawyer, and Jewish community leader. He has served as the director and chief legal counsel at the Union for Reform Judaism's Religious Action Center for more than 30 years. Saperstein succeeded Rabbi Richard G. Hirsch as leader of the Washington D.C.-based political...
, Director & Counsel, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Washington, DC - Dr. William J. ShawWilliam J. ShawWilliam J. Shaw was a prominent American resident in Manila who founded the Wack Wack Golf & Country Club in 1930 as an exclusive championship course in Mandaluyong City in Metropolitan Manila...
, President, National Baptist ConventionNational Baptist ConventionNational Baptist Convention may refer to:One of several historically African-American Christian denominations:*National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., the oldest and largest denomination using this name, formed in the late 19th century...
, USA, Philadelphia , PA - Father Larry J. Snyder, President, Catholic CharitiesCatholic CharitiesCatholic Charities is a network of charities whose aim is "to provide service to people in need, to advocate for justice in social structures, and to call the entire church and other people of good will to do the same." It is one of the largest charities in the United States...
USA, Alexandria, VA - Richard StearnsRichard Stearns (World Vision)Richard Stearns is the president of World Vision United States, a Christian relief charity based in Federal Way, Washington.- Biography :Stearns holds a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. While at Cornell, he joined the...
, President, World VisionWorld VisionWorld Vision, founded in the USA in 1950, is an evangelical relief and development organization whose stated goal is "to follow our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed to promote human transformation, seek justice and bear witness to the good news of the Kingdom of...
, Bellevue, WA - Judith N. Vredenburgh, President and Chief Executive Officer, Big Brothers Big Sisters of AmericaBig Brothers Big Sisters of AmericaBig Brothers Big Sisters of America is a 501 non-profit organization whose mission is to help children reach their potential through professionally supported, one-to-one relationships with mentors that try to have a measurable impact on youth....
, Philadelphia, PA - Rev. Jim WallisJim WallisJim Wallis is an American evangelical Christian writer and political activist. He is best known as the founder and editor of Sojourners magazine, and of the Washington, D.C.-based Christian community of the same name....
, President & Executive Director, SojournersSojourners CommunityThe Sojourners Community is an intentional community that was started in the early 1970s by a group of students at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. The founders had the desire to further explore the relationship between their orthodox Protestant faith and the social crisis that surrounded...
, Washington, DC - Dr. Sharon Watkins, General Minister and President, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)The Christian Church is a Mainline Protestant denomination in North America. It is often referred to as The Christian Church, The Disciples of Christ, or more simply as The Disciples...
, Indianapolis, IN
According to ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
, the office would seek "to expand the role of this office as it relates to policy issues where religious and local leaders can be effective. DuBois will coordinate with faith-based and community organizations on social service outreach and will work to utilize these organizations' efforts to advance the administration's policies, with a primary focus on poverty."
Controversies
- The separation of church and stateSeparation of church and stateThe concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....
was noted as one of major issues with the Faith-Based Initiatives laws. Critics have claimed that millions in government grants have gone to ministries operated by political supporters of the Bush administration, or have been given to minority pastors who recently committed their support.
- In June, 2006, U.S. District Judge Robert W. Pratt ruled that a faith based-program called InnerChange at a Newton, Iowa prison, operated by Charles Colson's Prison Fellowship Ministries, unconstitutionally used tax money for a religious program that gave special privileges to inmates who accepted its evangelical Christian teachings and terms. "For all practical purposes," Judge Pratt said, "the state has literally established an Evangelical Christian congregation within the walls of one of its penal institutions, giving the leaders of that congregation, i.e., InnerChange employees, authority to control the spiritual, emotional, and physical lives of hundreds of Iowa inmates." [See Americans United v. Prison Fellowship Ministries, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36970, June 2, 2006]
- On June 25, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Hein v. Freedom From Religion FoundationHein v. Freedom From Religion FoundationHein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, 551 U.S. 587 , was a decision by the United States Supreme Court which ruled that taxpayers do not have the right to challenge the constitutionality of expenditures by the executive branch of the government....
that executive orders may not be challenged on Establishment ClauseEstablishment Clause of the First AmendmentThe Establishment Clause is the first of several pronouncements in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, stating, Together with the Free Exercise Clause The Establishment Clause is the first of several pronouncements in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution,...
grounds by individuals whose sole claim to legal standing is that they are taxpayers. Both of Bush's appointees, John G. Roberts and Samuel AlitoSamuel AlitoSamuel Anthony Alito, Jr. is an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was nominated by President George W. Bush and has served on the court since January 31, 2006....
, sided with the majority. - The second head of the department, Jim ToweyJim ToweyJim Towey served as Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and as Assistant to President George W. Bush from 2002 to May 2006. He served as president of Saint Vincent College, a small Catholic university in Latrobe, Pennsylvania from 2006 until stepping down on...
, in a session of "Ask the Whitehouse" dated November 26, 2003, stated in regard to a question about pagan faith-based organizations:"I haven't run into a pagan faith-based group yet, much less a pagan group that cares for the poor! Once you make it clear to any applicant that public money must go to public purposes and can't be used to promote ideology, the fringe groups lose interest. Helping the poor is tough work and only those with loving hearts seem drawn to it."
Pagans reacted angrily to the label "fringe group", the suggestion that pagans are uncompassionate, the idea that they would apply for funding only to promote ideology, and the exclusion of pagan organizations implicit in the statement.
- Catholic League President William A. DonohueWilliam A. DonohueWilliam Anthony "Bill" Donohue is the president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights in the United States, a position he has held since 1993.-Life and career:...
protested against the nomination of Harry Knox, a former director of Human Rights CampaignHuman Rights CampaignThe Human Rights Campaign is the United States' largest LGBT advocacy group and lobbying organization; according to the HRC, it has more than one million members and supporters...
and gay rights activist, arguing that he has been dishonest and intolerant. Knox has condemned the positions of the Roman Catholic Church on the issues of contraception and gay ordination.
External links
- Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships
- "Obama's Faith-Based Office" (video | audio), Speaking of FaithSpeaking of FaithOn Being is a weekly public radio program about "religion, meaning, ethics, and ideas", produced by American Public Media...
with Krista Tippett (May 21, 2009) - a public radio interview with Joshua DuBoisJoshua DuBoisJoshua DuBois is the head of the Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships in the Executive Office of the President of the United States under President Barack Obama.... - How Obama's Faith Council Worked: Six Points of Consensus, Jim Wallis, God's Politics blog, March 11, 2010.
- Archive White House FBCI Office - Archived site from the George W. Bush Administration
- National Association of Faith Based Initiatives (Commercial site, not affiliated with Federal Gov't)
- Book says Bush just using Christians, MSNBCMSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, October 11, 2006 - Boston Globe series about USAID and "Faith-based initiatives": *Part 1 *2 *3
- Obama's Faith-Based Follies, Faith Complex, On Faith, Washington Post, June 22, 2009 - Jacques BerlinerblauJacques BerlinerblauJacques Berlinerblau is associate professor and Director of the Program for Jewish Civilization at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University...
interviews Washington Post's Jacqui Salmon about the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships - Mind the Leadership Gap, by Dr. Robert Aziz, Huffington Post, April 13, 2009.