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eNews for Faith-Based Organizations
September 8, 2009
Editor: Stanley Carlson-Thies
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Access Past Issues of the E-News
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An archive of current and past eNews for FBOs can be accessed HERE.
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Pitfalls the Obama Faith-Based Initiative Must Avoid
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1) Keep the level playing field rules, despite all the pressure
from activist groups and some powerful Democratic members of Congress;
2) Keep a qualitative concept of effectiveness, rather than
over-stressing quantity of service and precise adherence to every minor detail
of reporting;
3) Keep stressing the independent initiative of civil society
groups, not turning them into mere supporters of the administration's policy goals.
For more, see Stanley Carlson-Thies, "Government's Role in Supporting Faith-Based Groups: An 'All Hands on Deck' Attack on Social Problems," Spotlight on Poverty (Sept. 8).
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Renewed Faith-Based Initiative in Michigan~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On August 20 th, Governor Michigan Jennifer
Granholm issued an executive order renaming the state's faith-based initiative to correspond to the
renamed federal initiative. This
amendment of her 2005 executive order states in a more concise way the
constitutional framework for the state's collaboration with faith-based
organizations.
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Faith-Based Organizations as Administration Mouthpieces?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Is it good or bad that the administration is working to connect faith-based organizations more closely to public policy choices? See the brief discussion in Dan Gilgoff's post, " Obama Has Dramatically Changed the Role of the Faith-Based Office," God and Country blog at US News and World Report (August 31).
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Health Care Reform in Catholic Perspective
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On October 22, Dr. Clarke Cochran, VP for Mission Integration
for the Covenant Health System in Lubbock, Texas, will present the 2009 Kuyper
Lecture of the Center for Public Justice, "Seeking Justice: The Imperiled Promise of Healthcare
Reform." Check the CPJ website for
details. Dr. Cochran has written
extensively the challenges to Catholic identity in the health care arena. |
Resource
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At the end of 2008, HHS released an important study on how
various states have structured their faith-based initiatives: "The Role of State Faith Community Liaisons in Charitable Choice Implementation Final Report," by
Pamela Winston, et al., Mathematica Policy Research. A Research Brief is also available.
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For further information:
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e-mail: info@IRFAlliance.org
website (under construction): www.IRFAlliance.org
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What is IRFA?
The Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance works to safeguard the religious identity, faith-based standards and practices, and faith-shaped services of faith-based organizations across the range of service sectors and religions, enabling them to make their distinctive and best contributions to the common good.
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