First Places for Information 

• White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives

 

• " Economic Development Catalogue (pdf, 542kb)

 

• USA Freedom Corps

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Other Faith-Based and Community Initiative    

Cabinet Centers

• Department of Agriculture
• Department of Commerce
• Department of Education
• Department of Health and Human Services
• Department of Homeland Security
• Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Department of Justice
• Department of Labor
• Department of Veterans Affairs
• Small Business Administration

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USAID Offices and Resources

• Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid (ACVFA)
• American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA)
• Food for Peace
• Global Development Alliance
• Global Health
• International Food Relief Partnership
• Malaria Communities Program
• New Partner Initiative (NPI)
• Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business
• PEPFAR
• Presidents Malaria Initiative (PMI)
• PVO Registration
• Sign up for the CFBCI eNewsletter
• USAID Event Calendar
• USAID Global Health Faith-Based page
• USAID Global Health Outreach Calendar (pdf, 212kb)
• USAID Development Experience Clearinghouse
• Volunteers for Prosperity

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Legal Guidance

LINKS FOR LEGAL GUIDANCE TIPS

• Frequently Asked Questions Regarding FBCO Legal Compliance
• Guidance Materials from the WHOFBCI

USAID "RULE" FOR PARTICIPATION BY RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS

The Rule's principal provisions include:

• FBCOs are eligible to participate in USAID programs on the same basis as any other organization without regard to their religious character or affiliation and may not be excluded from competition for USAID funding. USAID may not discriminate for or against a program applicant on the basis of religious character or affiliation.

 

• FBCOs may not use direct financial assistance from USAID (or any other Federal agency) to support inherently religious activities, but are otherwise free to engage in such activities. Inherently religious activities would include worship, prayer meetings, religious instruction and proselytization. These activities must be separated either in time or location from USAID-funded programs, and participation by actual or potential program beneficiaries must be voluntary. Assistance furnished with USAID funding may not be conditioned on participation in any inherently religious activities. The separation requirement may be different for certain programs in correctional facilities, in recognition of the unique environment and needs of inmates.

• FBCOs will retain their independence and may continue to carry out their religious mission. For example, they may continue to engage in inherently religious activities, provided they are separated in time or location from their USAID-funded activities. FBCOs may use their own space to provide USAID-funded services, without removing religious art, icons or symbols. Additionally, FBCOs may continue to govern themselves on a religious basis, select their board members on a religious basis, and include religious references in their organizations' mission statements.

 

• USAID funds may be used for the acquisition or construction of structures, only to the extent they are used for eligible activities under the specific USAID program. For "dual use" structures, USAID funding may not exceed the proportion of the cost attributable to eligible activities. USAID funds may not be used for sanctuaries, chapels, or other rooms that a USAID-funded religious congregation uses as a principal place of worship.

 

• FBCOs may not, in providing USAID-funded program assistance, discriminate for or against any actual or potential beneficiary on the basis of religion or religious belief.

                                              

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Suggested Readigns & Executive Orders

 

• Read the Executive Order that created the White House Office of Faith-Based & Community Initiatives on January 29, 2001

 

• Read the Executive Order that created five Centers for Faith-Based & Community Initiatives on January 29, 2001

 

• Read the Executive Order that created the center at USAID on December 12, 2002

 

• Read the Executive Order from December 12, 2002, that requires equal protection for faith-based and community organizations

 

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DEVELOPMENT AND FAITH-BASED

BOOKS AND ARTICLES

• President George W. Bush, Rallying the Armies of Compassion (The White House, January 2001)

 

• Unlevel Playing Field: Barriers to Participation by Faith-Based and Community Organizations in Federal Social Service Programs (The White House, August 2001)

 

• Joseph Loconte, God, Government and the Good Samaritan: The Promise and the Peril of the President's Faith-Based Agenda (Washington, DC: The Heritage Foundation, 2001)

 

• Marvin Olasky, Compassionate Conservatism: What It Is, What It Does, And How It Can Transform America (New York: Free Press, 2000)

 

• Luis E. Lugo, Equal Partners: The Welfare Responsibility of Governments and Churches (Washington, DC: Center for Public Justice, 1998).

 

• Stephen V. Monsma, When Sacred and Secular Mix: Religious Nonprofit Organizations and Public Money (Lanham,Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 1996).

 

• Ram A. Cnaan with Robert J. Wineburg and Stephanie C. Boddie, The Newer Deal: Social Work and Religion in Partnership (New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1999).

 

• Ryan Streeter, Transforming Charity: Toward a Results-Oriented Social Sector (Indianapolis: The Hudson Institute, 2001).

 

• E. J. Dionne Jr. and Ming Hsu Chen, eds., Sacred Places, Civic Purposes: Should Government Help Faith-Based Charity? (Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 2001).

 

• Ronald J. Sider, "The Case for Discrimination," First Things (June/July 2002)

 

• Byron R. Johnson, Objective Hope: Assessing the Effectiveness of Faith-Based Organizations: A Review of the Literature (Philadelphia: Center for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society, 2002).

 

• The Nonprofit Sector and Government: Clarifying the Relationship (Washington, DC: The Aspen Institute, 2002)

 

• Religious Organizations and Government (Washington, DC: The Aspen Institute, 2002)

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