Before answering this question, it might be useful to go over some of the basics. On January 29, 2001,
President George W. Bush issued an executive order creating the White House Office for Faith-Based and
Community Initiatives (OFBCI) and directed five government agencies, (the Departments of Justice, Education,
Labor, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development), to establish their own respective
offices, or "Centers", within 45 days of the executive order. On December 12, 2002, President Bush
further ordered the Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Agency for International Development to develop OFBCI offices
within 45 days.
President Bush's initiative is intended to identify
and eliminate regulatory, contracting and other obstacles to the participation of faith-based groups in
the delivery of social services.
In part, the OFBCI's function is to knock down "unnecessary legislative, regulatory, and other bureaucratic
barriers that impede effective faith-based and other community efforts to solve social problems." The OFBCI
will also draft new legislation and generally act as an advocate for the cause.
Much of the initial initiative has been scaled back and it remains to be seen how this will finally develop.
Further information on this initiative can be found on the White House Office of Faith-Based & Community Initiatives.
Faith-based organizations interested in applying for federal funding should contact the agency running
the program they are interested in directly. Each of the seven government agencies directed to establish
OFBCI Centers have established Web sites focusing on faith-based initiatives.
A list of more than 150 programs of interest to small, faith-based and community groups is available here.
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