Faith and the Feds, version 2.0.08

By Electa Draper - Denver Post
Monday, July 14, 2008 - Web Link
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July 14, 2008

Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain say they will build on Bush administration efforts to help small church groups and neighborhood nonprofits deliver more social services - a foundation that critics call shaky, reports Electa Draper.

Colorado faith-based nonprofits and national experts say President Bush's plan to promote grassroots partnerships in the war against poverty struck a chord, but it rang hollow when federal funding didn't materialize.

"There were big promises made. It was exploited for political purposes. It was a sham," said David Kuo, former special assistant to the president and deputy director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.

The program reported that in 2007, federal agencies, with coordination by the office, handed out more than 200 social-services grants totaling $136 million in Colorado.

However, most recipients were large secular organizations already in the pipeline - not the mom-and-pop nonprofits, religious or secular, targeted by the initiatives.

Colorado faith-based groups received roughly $9 million in 2007, down from the $19 million garnered by the state's religious nonprofits in 2006, when grants totaled $138 million.