| Involving Faith-Based and Community
Organizations
Omar A. Vargas, Associate Deputy
Director
Task Force for Faith-Based and Community
Initiatives, U.S. Department of Justice
Bobby Green and Travis Curd, both 16 years old, participate
in crime prevention and community development programs at
the Christamore House, a faith-based community organization
in Indianapolis, IN, and a partner in the Westside Weed and
Seed site. On September 17, 2004, the teens
came upon a sheriff's deputy being stabbed with a kitchen
knife by her estranged husband. As 10 other people stood
by, Bobby and Travis intervened peacefully and urged the
man not to kill his wife. Once confronted, the attacker stopped
and walked into a nearby alley, still carrying the knife,
where police apprehended him. Although the sheriff's
deputy suffered severe cuts to her hands, arms, and face
(requiring 98 stitches on her face alone), she is alive today
because of two young men who took the Christamore House mission
to heart and put it into action in their community.
Often, a faith-based or community organization can help
change people's lives and motivate them to rise to new
levels of caring for their neighbors. In Newark, NJ, a community
development organization with faith-based roots coordinates
a community's strategy for combating and preventing crime.
In Corpus Christi, TX, a pastor has created a Safe Haven
for neighborhood residents, mostly children. The thread binding
these organizations is that each is an important element in
the successful Weed and Seed strategy. Working in collaboration
with federal, state, and local criminal justice agencies, grassroots
community organizations—both faith-based and secular—have
been essential in gaining and maintaining public trust, decreasing
crime, and fostering neighborhood development. The success
of Weed and Seed strategies is predicated on leveraging the
experience and resources of grassroots community groups like
the Christamore House in Indianapolis, Community Agencies
Corporation of New Jersey in Newark, and God's Gym in
Corpus Christi.
Many faith-based and other community leaders want to learn
more about the President's Faith-Based and Community
Initiative and how it can help them with the work they do every
day. The initiative aims to help people in need by supporting
the work of faith-based and other community groups to solve
the nation's social problems. Because the President believes
that government can and should work in partnership with these
grassroots organizations, a prime initiative priority is to
identify and eradicate the institutional barriers that prevent
these organizations from competing for federal grants.
The initiative is not a grant program; neither the White House
Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives nor the U.S.
Department of Justice (DOJ) Task Force for Faith-Based and
Community Initiatives awards grants. All government grants
are awarded through existing federal grant program offices.
The role of the task force is to help ensure equal access to
federal grant opportunities. DOJ has therefore streamlined
its grant program solicitations so that they are shorter and
easier to read. Through task force efforts, many criminal justice
strategies now anticipate a role for qualified faith-based
and other community organizations. The task force has also
reached out to these organizations to provide them with technical
assistance regarding funding opportunities through DOJ or through
the state agencies that administer DOJ formula or block grant
funds.
A signature accomplishment of the task force is the January
2004 promulgation of a regulation entitled "Participation
in Justice Department Programs by Religious Organizations;
Providing for Equal Treatment of all Justice Department Program
Participants." It applies to all DOJ employees, vendors,
grantees (including state and local governmental agencies),
and subgrantees. As applied to the administration of Weed and
Seed funds, this regulation—
- Prohibits discrimination for or against an organization
on the basis of religion, religious belief, or religious
character.
- Allows a participating religious organization to retain
its independence and continue to carry out its mission, provided
that Weed and Seed funds to grantees and subgrantees do not
support any inherently religious activities.
- Clarifies that faith-based organizations can use space
in their facilities to provide Weed and Seed-funded services
without removing religious art, icons, scriptures, or other
religious symbols.
- Ensures that Weed and Seed-funded services are available
to all beneficiaries, regardless of their religion.
- Eliminates the requirement that Weed and Seed grantees
and subgrantees obtain tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3)
of the Internal Revenue Code to be eligible for funding.
A copy and summary of the regulation is available on the task
force Web site.
For further information, contact:
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