The White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) is sponsoring a conference in June 2008 to highlight the wide range of research on new initiatives and the changes in governance that have occurred over the past seven years. This White House conference represents an important opportunity to review policy, regulatory, and programmatic changes and to gain a better understanding of the components of the Faith-Based and Community Initiative (FBCI) that are believed to have produced significant and long-term potential for positive change. Furthermore, the conference will provide researchers, policy makers, and practitioners with information about the impact of these changes, what challenges they confront moving forward, and which factors contribute to successful service delivery in different groups.
Since its inception in 2001, the FBCI has focused on reorienting government to build on the strength of grassroots nonprofit and faith-based organizations to address some of the country's most stubborn social problems. A number of innovations in governance have occurred in order to ensure that these organizations can better contribute their unique strengths to federal approaches to addressing human needs. These innovations include regulatory reforms, mini-grant programs, indirect funding mechanisms, technical assistance, capacity building, and public/private partnerships. Program areas that have seen significant growth in faith- and community-based initiatives include:
The White House OFBCI, in coordination with the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation and Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, is soliciting abstracts for research papers to be presented at the conference. Research papers of interest for Track 2, Emerging Scholarship in FBCI Research, should reflect the program areas or other topics outlined above. Potential research topics will focus on smaller-scale investigation of local programs or organizational activity of one or a few smaller faith-based and community organizations in a particular geographic region. Examples include: best practices and lessons learned from local FBCI efforts, organizational decision-making involved in applying for government funding, innovative service delivery approaches, use of technology in capacity building, efforts of state-level FBCI offices or technical assistance providers, and results of mini-grant awards for particular programs. A broad mix of empirical methods is being sought for the conference.
Abstracts should include a description of the initiative or program, the relevant research or policy literature that will be reviewed, the study's research objectives, the data and methods that will be employed, any initial findings, and the implications for future research, policy, and practice. Researchers presenting in this topical area will include those early in their careers or advance graduate students. Joint submissions between professors and graduate students as well as researchers and practitioners are encouraged.
Paper abstract length is a minimum of 1 page and a maximum of 2 pages, single spaced, including any tables. Submissions should be sent via email to Dianne Munevar (dmunevar@rti.org) with mention of "Emerging Scholarship in FBCI Research" on the subject line by 11 PM EST on December 3, 2007. Abstracts will be peer reviewed and selected authors will receive travel and lodging to present papers and attend the conference. Commissioned papers are expected to be written in clear and direct language appropriate for a wide lay audience. Final papers must be 20 pages in length or less, not including appendices, with specifics on sampling or statistical methodology and other technical detail including tables limited to appendices.
Questions on the submission process or paper requirements can be directed via email to Dianne Munevar at RTI International (dmunevar@rti.org).
Home Pages:
Confererece on Research Related to the Faith-Based and Community
Initiative
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
(ASPE)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS)
Last updated: 12/12/07