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The Welfare Reform Bill Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 contains a section referred to as "Charitable Choice." This section was designed to ensure that faith-based agencies were not discriminated against in the awarding of federal funding. States are not required to implement any part of the initiative, except ensuring that there is no discrimination against faith-based organizations. States have responded in a variety of ways in the hope of increasing the number of faith-based organizations receiving and competing for social services funds. Although religious groups have been receiving government funds to provide social services for much of American history, the faith-based initiative represents a new effort from both state and federal government to encourage even greater participation. There has been a tremendous amount of research on the impact of the faith-based organizations; however, very little attention has been given to the non-religious based social service organizations. To understand the impact of the faith-based implementation on non-religious based social service agencies, the primary focus was on examining: personnel, clientele, programs and services data, as well as internal and external factors. The secondary focus was determining if the implementation of the faith-based initiative signified the “second-order of devolution.” The study focused on three NBSSOs in Washington, D.C. Interviews were conducted with agency officials and data collected from all three agencies. While supporters argue that the faith-based initiative is about solving problems of poverty, taxing an over-burdened welfare system and violating the constitution, the researcher found that there was no impact of the faith-based initiative on non-religious based social service organizations. The participating agencies had been impacted by elected officials, public policy and federal funding, however; research also shows that there was no evidence of a “second-order of devolution.” The expected outsourcing of public services and the creation of numerous models of welfare systems with a variety of public-private partnerships that included secular non-profit organizations, for-profit organizations and religious organizations had not occurred.

This dissertation research is a study of the anthropology of policy with welfare reform in general and charitable choice in particular as its focus. The study begins with the notion that policies work as instruments of governance and consequently have social and political implications. These policies are examined by exploring the manner in which Catholic Charities and policy makers in Florida are responding to the charitable choice mandate and how their views are shaping local policies. The study is framed within anthropological principles pertaining to economic, humanistic and philosophical tenets. The study provides a historical background of poverty, the development of the welfare state in the United States as well as some of the social, economic, and political factors that shape social policies. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with representatives from Catholic Charities, government agencies, legislative committees, and faith-based organizations, and through document reviews. Data were analyzed qualitatively and were managed using the software Atlas.ti. Analysis of the data show that while there is increased convergence between the state and faith-based organizations (FBOs), there is some hesitancy on the part of religious organizations to assume full responsibility for the poor, particularly without having any funding guarantees. The data also suggests that through the implementation of charitable choice religious organizations face the risk of becoming highly dependent on the state and therefore loose their voice and the possibility of lobbying for the poor. Furthermore, the data suggests that there are some aspects of the implementation of charitable choice that have not received congressional approval and may eventually jeopardize the entire faith-based initiative.

"If the [White House faith-based] initiative was going to have an impact on the local community, you had to begin to think of the initiative in local terms." – Brad Yarbrough, Director of the Oklahoma Office of Faith and Community Initiatives Charitable Choice and other faith-based initiatives attempt to provide faith-based organizations (FBOs) easier access to public funds for social service delivery in the community. Five years after Charitable Choice was included in the federal welfare reforms of 1996, President George W. Bush introduced the White House Office of Faith-Based & Community Initiatives in order to expand partnership opportunities between federal agencies and FBOs. The Bush administration actively recruited religious groups to apply for public dollars that would fund local social programs. The actions in Washington mirrored similar movements that took place in many states during the mid to late 1990s. Since then, so-called "faith-based social services" have received their share of media attention and public scrutiny. Much of the attention has been on political-philosophical debates and the legal challenges to church-state separation. Research by Bartkowski and Regis (1999), Kennedy and Bielefeld (2001), Gomez (2003), Vanderwoerd (2004) and Sager (2006) depict the efforts of individual states to implement Charitable Choice policies and the attitudes of FBOs towards partnerships with government. However, there has been inadequate research on the experience of local governments who engage faith-based providers on a daily basis. Much more can be learned about the themes that shape current collaborations between local social service agencies and the faith community in Virginia. Using a collective case study design, this research captures the experiences and perspectives of local public managers who have formed partnerships with FBOs mostly through non-financial means. The data shows that federal and state faith-based initiatives have little influence on the way local social service agencies in Virginia conduct their work. The typical partnerships with FBOs are the result of pre-existing, informal and non-financial relationships that have been fostered and sustained long before welfare reform or without the impetus of any faith-based initiatives. / Ph. D.

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The primary purpose of this study is to determine whether being a church affiliated nursing home influences performance. Performance is measured based on criterion put in place by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The secondary purpose is, regardless of ownership type - religiously affiliated or secular- to investigate if more religiously involved nursing homes perform better than their less religiously involved counterparts. These two purposes are hypothesized with six different hypotheses each of which are tested by utilizing OLS regression analysis. This study extensively discusses the arguments surrounding the Charitable Choice Initiative, which allowed faith-based organizations (FBOs) to compete for federal and state grants and funds without altering their religious beliefs or practices while setting up a partnership with government in delivering social services. The subject has been part of serious debates among policy makers, practitioners and scholars after President George W. Bush's creation of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in 2001. This study applied self regulation theory, which is originally an individual level theory, to organizations by using metaphors, as many newly developing fields of studies have done. The self regulation theory is tested through analyzing secondary data sets that are provided by CMS and through a religiosity survey data set that this researcher collected from 218 out of 287 CMS certified nursing homes in Virginia. The relationship between religious involvements of nursing homes and their patient outcomes and health inspection outcomes are tested. The statistical analyses supported only one hypothesis out of six. Since most of the hypotheses are not supported by the findings, the theory used to explain the role of religious motivation in performance of organizations requires further testing through additional rigorous studies.

Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 261 pages. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of South Florida, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: This dissertation research is a study of the anthropology of policy with welfare reform in general and charitable choice in particular as its focus. The study begins with the notion that policies work as instruments of governance and consequently have social and political implications. These policies are examined by exploring the manner in which Catholic Charities and policy makers in Florida are responding to the charitable choice mandate and how their views are shaping local policies. The study is framed within anthropological principles pertaining to economic, humanistic and philosophical tenets. The study provides a historical background of poverty, the development of the welfare state in the United States as well as some of the social, economic, and political factors that shape social policies. / ABSTRACT: Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with representatives from Catholic Charities, government agencies, legislative committees, and faith-based organizations, and through document reviews. Data were analyzed qualitatively and were managed using the software Atlas.ti. Analysis of the data show that while there is increased convergence between the state and faith-based organizations (FBOs), there is some hesitancy on the part of religious organizations to assume full responsibility for the poor, particularly without having any funding guarantees. The data also suggests that through the implementation of charitable choice religious organizations face the risk of becoming highly dependent on the state and therefore loose their voice and the possibility of lobbying for the poor. / ABSTRACT: Furthermore, the data suggests that there are some aspects of the implementation of charitable choice that have not received congressional approval and may eventually jeopardize the entire faith-based initiative. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.