Snapshots of Promising Practices: TANF Faith-Based and Community Organizations Initiative

As part of Phase 2 of the Initiative (2008-2009), this report is based on the analysis of the 139 promising programs (see the Compendium) and offers a window into a subset of the nation’s leading faith- and community-based intermediary organizations that are working everyday with TANF participants and other low-income populations. The selected programs range from those deeply motivated by faith commitments to those which are entirely secular in nature; from highly professionalized to volunteer-driven efforts; from groups serving TANF families to those who support ex-offenders re-integrate into society; and from organizations serving highly urbanized to rural settings representing all 10 ACF regions. The project team conducted structured phone-based discussions with Executive Directors of the 23 FBCOs, summarizing key findings in this report. (Two programs elected not to participate in the study.) Under the leadership of senior policymakers at OFA, eight of these programs were selected for further study.