INOM Studies Faith-Based Social Service
USF’s Institute for Nonprofit Organization Management (INOM) has provided quantitative data for a major “California Religious Community Capacity Study” conducted in conjunction with the California Council of Churches and the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California.
The study aimed to determine the roles faith-based organizations could and should play in the delivery of social service as part of California’s new welfare system. The report comes in response to the Charitable Choice provisions of 1996 welfare reform legislation that encouraged faith-based organizations to compete for welfare-to-work contracts.
“Our study shows that it was naïve to assume that Charitable Choice provisions of the welfare reform legislation passed during the Clinton Administration would easily generate greater church involvement in federal and state welfare programs,” said Michael Cortes, director of INOM. “Our survey found that state and county welfare administrators did not get the word out to most religious congregations. The survey also found that many local churches, once informed about the opportunities created by Charitable Choice legislation, are reluctant to get involved.”
Between March and June 2000, INOM conducted a statewide survey of leaders of religious congregations and faith-based nonprofit organizations for the report. Leaders were asked about their knowledge of Charitable Choice activities, their involvement in social ministry, and the resources of their organizations.
Among the findings, the study concluded that California religious congregations have an impressive record of serving the poor and should be regarded as an important resource for the state’s welfare-to-work participants.
The findings of the study come on the heels of President George Bush’s controversial proposal to allow faith-based organizations to compete for federal money.
“Much of the attention and controversy surrounding President Bush’s faith-based initiative neglects the fact that there is already a long history of federal government support for religious nonprofits providing social services in the United States,” Cortes said.
Carol Silverman, INOM’s director of research, was a member of the study’s project team, which was dedicated to her predecessor, Richard Orend. Before his death last year, Orend assisted with the design of the initial study. INOM founder Michael O’Neill assumed responsibility for the USF portion of the study after Orend’s death.
The full report is available online at www.calchurches.org 
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