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OPA News Release: [03/19/2002]
Contact Name: Gwen Zuares

Faith-Based Organizations In Five Cities Get Share Of Federal Funds For Helping People Find Jobs

WASHINGTON—Workforce investment agencies in five U.S. cities have directed some part of their federal funding to faith-based organizations to provide employment-related services, according to a study by the Urban Institute that was funded by the U.S. Department of Labor.

“We commissioned this report to get a better idea of the level of funding going to faith-based organizations and the kinds of services they are providing to people who need jobs,” said Emily Stover DeRocco, assistant secretary of labor for employment and training. “We found that faith-based organizations are active partners with local workforce boards and, with some help, probably could provide more services.”

According to the Urban Institute’s telephone survey, in 2000, employment service contracts with faith-based organizations ranged from $36,000 to $3.6 million in Fort Worth, Baltimore, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, and San Diego. Funding to faith-based organizations ranged from about one percent to 10 percent of the local workforce agencies’ budgets.

In each city, one to three large church congregations reported sponsoring more formal employment-related services without public funding. Most of the congregations contacted in the five cities did not provide formal, extensive or prolonged employment-related services. Instead, several reported that they provide aid on a case-by-case basis to people who request or need help. The services included the provision of clothing for work, transportation, employment counseling, job mentors, basic computer training and job search assistance.

Of the non-profit agencies sponsored by faith-based organizations that were surveyed—such as homeless shelters, transitional housing facilities or social service agencies—nearly half received public funding and many provided employment-related services. Many received funding from other federal programs through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as well as through Department of Labor programs.

The Urban Institute report, "Faith-Based Organizations Providing Employment and Training Services: A Preliminary Exploration," by Demetra Smith Nightingale, Frederica D. Kramer, John Trutko, Shayne Spaulding, and Burt S. Barnow, is available on www.doleta.gov and www.urban.org.

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