Fundamental Principles and Policymaking Criteria for Partnerships With Faith-Based and Other Neighborhood Organizations
Headline: Agencies Must Ensure Equal Treatment for Faith-Based Service Providers
What it does: Agencies that administer or support social service programs must follow new principles, protect beneficiaries, prevent discrimination, and ensure transparency.
- Faith-based groups can compete for federal social service funding while keeping religious identity.
- Recipients must separate worship or proselytizing from federally funded services.
- Agencies must publish policies and lists of funded organizations online.
Summary
This order updates federal rules to guide agencies that run or fund social service programs when working with faith-based and other neighborhood organizations. It declares principles such as equal opportunity to compete for federal funding, bans discrimination against organizations or beneficiaries based on religion, and requires that explicitly religious activities be kept separate from federally funded programs with voluntary participation.
The order also requires agencies to publish policies and lists of funded groups online, create beneficiary protections and referral processes, and establishes an interagency working group to review policies and report within 120 days.
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