At USNews, Dan Gilgoff explains how President Obama's Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships seeks to be both more active and less controversial than its predecessor.
Bush's office sought to "level the playing field" for faith-based and community groups seeking federal grants to deliver social services, like counseling drug addicts and mentoring at-risk youth. Obama, by contrast, has tasked his office with four broad policy goals: bringing faith groups into the economic recovery and fighting poverty, reducing demand for abortion, promoting responsible fatherhood, and facilitating global interfaith dialogue. "We're moving from a sole focus on leveling the playing field," says Joshua DuBois, the office's executive director, "to forming partnerships with faith-based and community groups to help solve specific policy challenges."
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[T]he Obama office is focused on building nonfiduciary relationships with faith and community groups through satellite offices at a dozen federal agencies. The satellite office at the Homeland Security Department, for example, is working to bring churches and other faith groups into the government's hurricane preparedness training.
As the Faith Advisory Council's task forces begin to roll out drafts of recommendations in the next few weeks, including – Gilgoff says – "a 'common ground' plan on reducing demand for abortion that the faith-based office helped craft," expect the office to receive increased attention.
