Charitable Choice 101 - An Introduction

Stanley W. Carlson-Thies

Charitable Choice is a set of new rules that apply when a state or local government uses certain federal funds to buy social services. Past rules often required assistance to be secularized and excluded many faith-based organizations from participating. Charitable Choice ensures that faith-based providers have a chance to compete to provide help and it protects their religious character if they accept government funds. At the same time, Charitable Choice protects the religious liberty of people needing help.

New Freedoms and Responsibilities

Charitable Choice:

encourages public officials to obtain services from nongovernmental groups because community-based solutions can be key in fighting poverty and dependency.
requires government not to discriminate against faith-based organizations when choosing contractors or deciding who can accept vouchers to provide services.
obligates government to respect the religious character of faith-based providers that accept public money by affirming that:

they may display religious symbols and items,
they may use a faith-based approach and emphasize values and character,
they retain their right to use religious criteria in hiring.

protects the right of recipients to be helped without religious coercion by ensuring that

they may not be discriminated against when seeking services,
they can decline to take part in inherently religious activities,
they have the right to an alternative if they object to a religious provider.

maintains the separation of church and state by requiring that government funds be used only for the public purpose of assisting the needy, not for inherently religious activities such as worship, sectarian instruction, or proselytization. (Vouchers give clients more choices and impose fewer restrictions on providers.)

Constitutional Foundations

Charitable Choice rests on the constitutional concepts that government must not discriminate against religion when it selects service providers, may not endorse one religion or many, and must safeguard religious liberty for all.

Charitable Choice now governs federal (and admixed state) spending for:

welfare services (TANF, in the federal welfare reform law, 1996);
Welfare-to-Work program (adopted in 1997);
Community Action Agencies (1998 reauthorization of Community Services Block Grants)
SAMHSA drug treatment (Oct. 2000 and Dec. 2000 laws).

Government Collaborating with Faith Communities

Government should work closely with faith-based and community groups. Government has great resources and can provide uniformity of service, while social organizations arround the needy can better provide encouragement and challenge, offer connections to networks, and deal with moral and spiritual matters. Many kinds of cooperation are possible. Faith-based organizations can be encouraged to expand their own outreach to their neighbors. They can join a welfare department's referral system. Government and congregations can together build a mentoring network to support welfare families.

In addition, government can purchase services from faith-based providers. Charitable Choice is not optional for any state, county, or city: it is the law of the land. Charitable Choice isn't a program to fund churches and synagogues. Instead it is a general principle that requires that faith-based organizations have a chance to compete for certain federal funds to provide services. Hurting people deserve the most effective help and now public officials can turn to faith-based groups along with other providers.

Making It Happen

Not all officials know about Charitable Choice or are complying with its new rules. Illegal barriers continue to be put in the way of expanded collaboration between government and the faith communities. Compliance is the first step forward.

Then the legacy of mistrust between many faith-based organizations and government needs to be overcome. Faith groups should take seriously the changed environment and explore the new opportunities. Public officials should acknowledge their need to become more hospitable to faith-based involvement and learn how to reach out. Government also can foster effective new collaborations by using smaller-scale contracts, encouraging subcontracting, and providing technical assistance.

A Challenge to Public Officials. For the sake of welfare families that need extensive assistance and a community of care, give special attention to nurturing expanded relations with faith communities. It is not enough to say that the doors are open; constructive steps are essential to overcome the legacy of mistrust and to facilitate collaboration.

A Challenge to Conservative Faith Communities. Don't just say that serving the poor is the task of people of faith. Government officials recognize that public programs are insufficient and they want to collaborate with faith communities. The time to act is now. Take seriously government's offer with Charitable Choice to provide public funding without stripping ministries of the faith basis that makes them effective.

A Challenge to Progressive Faith Communities. Welfare reform needs further reform. Yet the needy also deserve to be reconnected to community and faith-based help. Advocate for policy change but don't neglect expanding your services. Take advantage of Charitable Choice to renew the spiritual depth of your services.

Resources

Charitable Choice: Top 10 Tips for Faith-Based Organizations

Charitable Choice: Top 10 Tips for Public Officials

A Guide to Charitable Choice: The Rules of Section 104 of the 1996 Federal Welfare Law Governing State Cooperation with Faith-based Social-Service Providers (Center for Public Justice and Christian Legal Society, 1997); 410-571-6300.

S. Carlson-Thies and M. Rogers, "Charitable Choice: Two Views." Sojourners, July-Aug. '98.

Carl Esbeck, "The Neutral Treatment of Religion and Faith-Based Social Service Providers: Charitable Choice and Its Critics," in Davis and Hankins, eds., Welfare Reform & Faith-based Organizations (Baylor Univ., 1999).