White House Faith-Based and Community Initiative National Conference on Research, Evaluation and Outcomes, "Innovations in Effective Compassion"

At the White House National Conference on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, June 26-27th in Washington DC.the Dr. Byron Johnson, co-director of the Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR) at Baylor University, delivered a talk on prisoner reentry as well as a plenary presentation on the state of research evaluating the effectiveness of faith-based initiatives.  In addition to these presentations, Johnson invited scholars around the country to submit essays on the impact of the faith-based community initiative some seven and one-half years after the initial launch of the initiative in 2001.  These compiled essays appear in “Not By Faith or Government Alone.”

Byron Johnson is interviewed by Bill Whitaker, of the Waco Tribune Herald in this Q & A article, July 7, 2008 : BU official: Bush's faith-based program misunderstood

President Bush Attends Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives' National Conference

President George W. Bush listens as Edith Espinoza introduces him at the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives National Conference
Thursday, June 26, 2008, in Washington, D.C. White House photo by Chris Greenberg

From President Bush’s Remarks: “Bureaucracies can put money in people's hands, but they cannot put hope in a person's heart. Putting hope in people's hearts is the mission of our nation's faith-based and community groups. And today we're going to herald some of the results…I am confident that the progress that you have made over the last eight years will continue. I'm confident because the movement is bigger than politics or any political party.”

 

Speaker Highlights: Keynote Remarks at National Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Conference

Attorney General Michael Mukasey

Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Steve Preston

Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer

 

Fact Sheet: Faith-Based and Community Initiative: Delivering Help and Hope to Millions at Home and Around the World

President Bush used his first executive order as President to establish the Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives at the White House, and his next one to create Faith-Based and Community Initiative (FBCI) centers within major Federal agencies. These offices were tasked with a boldmission: to lower the legal and institutional barriers that prevented government and faith-based groups from working as partners, and to place these organizations at the center of Federal efforts to address pressing human needs across America and around the world.

 

 Portraits Of Compassion Video Contest Winners

The Portraits of Compassion video contest shone a light on the countless caring Americans who offer help and hope to their neighbors in need as part of the Faith-Based and Community Initiative. Each day across the country, passionate citizens rally together through volunteer organizations, local nonprofit organizations, houses of worship, and civic groups to serve their neighbors and lift their communities. The Portraits of Compassion video contest highlights this vital work and inspires others to service as well. Top winners included Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago - St. Leo Campus for Veterans of Chicago, IL; Free Wheelchair Mission of Irvine, CA; and The Next Door, Inc. of Nashville, TN.

 

Innovations In Effective Compassion: Results and Outcomes Associated with the Faith-Based and Community Initiative

In conjunction with the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives’ national conference "Innovations in Effective Compassion," this Web site serves as a clearinghouse for research and evaluation that describe how the government has expanded partnership with America’s faith-based and other community nonprofit organizations to address some of the country's most complex social problems.

Each section of this Web site features an aspect of the reforms and innovations led by the FBCI. Collectively, they illustrate the interdependent elements of a “quiet revolution” in government’s approach to addressing human need—leading a shift away from large, impersonal bureaucracy toward solutions built in local communities that harness the caring touch of neighbor serving neighbor.

 

What They’re Saying

Paradigm of Hope
Evaluating the Faith-Based Initiative 
By Gary Andres
The Washington Times
June 26, 2008

…President Bush has created a new archetype of compassion and a more effective way for the federal government to help people solve problems. Many of the successes are already outlined in an impressive White House report issued last January titled "The Quiet Revolution." The report highlights how President Bush has transformed thinking about helping the poor and distressed communities. It rejects "the failed formula of towering distant bureaucracies." Instead, as candidate Bush said in 1999, "[I]n every instance where my administration sees a responsibility to help people, we will look first to faith-based organizations, to charities, and to community groups."

This "quiet revolution" has indeed transformed government and social-service delivery at a variety of levels and should become a part of this president's legacy. Mr. Bush recognizes that mobilizing "armies of compassion" and creating a more welcoming environment for faith-based organizations requires pushing these ideas beyond an office in the White House. Eleven major federal departments or agencies now have faith-based centers looking for ways to remove barriers, train and encourage community activists and re-orient the way the federal government addresses social problems…

For the full article, visit:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jun/26/paradigm-of-hope/

 

Success of Faith-Based Initiative Proves the Power of the Personal

By Ryan Messmore
The Modesto Bee
June 26, 2008
…Instead of statistics, you might know a family who can't pay its rent because of unexpected doctor bills. Instead of a case number, you might know a pregnant teenager whose dad was never around. Your close-up view of these problems helps you see what Washington bureaucrats can't: That what these people need most are family, friends and support networks that know them personally.  Therein lies the power of religious and community-based organizations, which President Bush has rightly highlighted from the earliest days of his campaign right up through today….

For the full article, visit:  www.modbee.com/opinion/national/story/340976.html