The following information is summarized from this source: A Report on the Experiences of Grassroots and Intermediary Organizations in a U.S. Department of Labor Demonstration, February 2005.

Faith-based and community organizations have a long tradition of helping Americans in need and together represent an integral part of our nation’s social service network. The White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and Centers for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in ten Federal agencies worked together to develop new mechanisms of supporting and expanding the role of faith-based & community organizations in providing social services.

One example is the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (CFBCI) at the US Department of Labor (DOL). They developed opportunities for collaboration with government programs and local officials to integrate FBCI into the strategic planning and service development process of the local Workforce Investment Boards (WIB). Among the lessons learned in this initiative was that there was need to dramatically increase the awareness of the groups to each other: a database of organizations who would get WIB proposals for community programs was developed and special activities were conducted to ensure it was very diverse including grass root groups being contacted for the names of appropriate organizations.

It was also discovered that the DOL staff involved in the project had to remain actively involved over the length of the project, and that adequate staff had to be deployed to provide technical assistance and support. The support was targeted to program and board development, data collection, staff training, and program monitoring. Much stronger relationships were built where formal memorandums of understanding were developed. Co-location of some organizations also strengthen the partnerships and enhanced services to clients ad volunteers were used to increase staff capacity.

For more information, visit the Ohio Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives, at http://www.fbciohio.gov.