Fundamental Principles and Policymaking Criteria for Partnerships With Faith-Based and Other Neighborhood Organizations

Executive Order 13559 of November 17, 2010

Fundamental Principles and Policymaking Criteria
for Partnerships With Faith-Based and Other
Neighborhood Organizations

By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, and in order to guide Federal agencies in
formulating and developing policies with implications
for faith-based and other neighborhood organizations,
to promote compliance with constitutional and other
applicable legal principles, and to strengthen the
capacity of faith-based and other neighborhood
organizations to deliver services effectively to those
in need, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1. Amendments to Executive Order 13279.
Executive Order 13279 of December 12, 2002 (Equal
Protection of the Laws for Faith-Based and Community
Organizations), as amended, is hereby further amended:

(a) in section 1, by striking subsection (e), and
inserting in lieu thereof the following:
``(e) `Specified agency heads' means:

(i) the Attorney General;

(ii) the Secretary of Agriculture;

(iii) the Secretary of Commerce;

(iv) the Secretary of Labor;

(v) the Secretary of Health and Human Services;

(vi) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;

(vii) the Secretary of Education;

(viii) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs;

(ix) the Secretary of Homeland Security;

(x) the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency;

(xi) the Administrator of the Small Business Administration;

(xii) the Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development; and

(xiii) the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and
Community Service.'';

(b) by striking section 2, and inserting in lieu
thereof the following:

``Sec. 2. Fundamental Principles. In formulating and
implementing policies that have implications for faith-
based and other neighborhood organizations, agencies
that administer social service programs or that support
(including through prime awards or sub-awards) social
service programs with Federal financial assistance
shall, to the extent permitted by law, be guided by the
following fundamental principles:

(a) Federal financial assistance for social service
programs should be distributed in the most effective
and efficient manner possible.
(b) The Nation's social service capacity will
benefit if all eligible organizations, including faith-
based and other neighborhood organizations, are able to
compete on an equal footing for Federal financial
assistance used to support social service programs.

(c) No organization should be discriminated against
on the basis of religion or religious belief in the
administration or distribution of Federal financial
assistance under social service programs.
(d) All organizations that receive Federal
financial assistance under social service programs
should be prohibited from discriminating against
beneficiaries or prospective beneficiaries of the
social service programs on the basis of religion or
religious belief. Accordingly, organizations, in
providing services supported in whole or in part with
Federal financial assistance, and in their outreach
activities related to such services, should not be
allowed to discriminate against current or prospective
program beneficiaries on the basis of religion, a
religious belief, a refusal to hold a religious belief,
or a refusal to attend or participate in a religious
practice.
(e) The Federal Government must implement Federal
programs in accordance with the Establishment Clause
and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to
the United States Constitution, as well as other
applicable law, and must monitor and enforce standards
regarding the relationship between religion and
government in ways that avoid excessive entanglement
between religious bodies and governmental entities.
(f) Organizations that engage in explicitly
religious activities (including activities that involve
overt religious content such as worship, religious
instruction, or proselytization) must perform such
activities and offer such services outside of programs
that are supported with direct Federal financial
assistance (including through prime awards or sub-
awards), separately in time or location from any such
programs or services supported with direct Federal
financial assistance, and participation in any such
explicitly religious activities must be voluntary for
the beneficiaries of the social service program
supported with such Federal financial assistance.
(g) Faith-based organizations should be eligible to
compete for Federal financial assistance used to
support social service programs and to participate
fully in the social service programs supported with
Federal financial assistance without impairing their
independence, autonomy, expression outside the programs
in question, or religious character. Accordingly, a
faith-based organization that applies for, or
participates in, a social service program supported
with Federal financial assistance may retain its
independence and may continue to carry out its mission,
including the definition, development, practice, and
expression of its religious beliefs, provided that it
does not use direct Federal financial assistance that
it receives (including through a prime award or sub-
award) to support or engage in any explicitly religious
activities (including activities that involve overt
religious content such as worship, religious
instruction, or proselytization), or in any other
manner prohibited by law. Among other things, faith-
based organizations that receive Federal financial
assistance may use their facilities to provide social
services supported with Federal financial assistance,
without removing or altering religious art, icons,
scriptures, or other symbols from these facilities. In
addition, a faith-based organization that applies for,
or participates in, a social service program supported
with Federal financial assistance may retain religious
terms in its name, select its board members on a
religious basis, and include religious references in
its organization's mission statements and other
chartering or governing documents.
(h) Each agency responsible for administering or
awarding Federal financial assistance for social
service programs shall offer protections for
beneficiaries of such programs pursuant to the
following principles:

(i) Referral to an Alternative Provider. If a beneficiary or prospective
beneficiary of a social service program supported by Federal financial
assistance objects to the religious character of an organization that
provides services under the program, that organization shall, within a
reasonable time after the date of the objection, refer the beneficiary to
an alternative provider.

(ii) Agency Responsibilities. Each agency responsible for administering a
social service program or supporting a social service program with

Federal financial assistance shall establish policies and procedures
designed to ensure that (1) appropriate and timely referrals are made to an
alternative provider; (2) all referrals are made in a manner consistent
with all applicable privacy laws and regulations; (3) the organization
subject to subsection (h)(i) notifies the agency of any referral; (4) such
organization has established a process for determining whether the
beneficiary has contacted the alternative provider; and (5) each
beneficiary of a social service program receives written notice of the
protections set forth in this subsection prior to enrolling in or receiving
services from such program.

(i) To promote transparency and accountability,
agencies that provide Federal financial assistance for
social service programs shall post online, in an easily
accessible manner, regulations, guidance documents, and
policies that reflect or elaborate upon the fundamental
principles described in this section. Agencies shall
also post online a list of entities that receive
Federal financial assistance for provision of social
service programs, consistent with law and pursuant to
guidance set forth in paragraph (c) of section 3 of
this order.
(j) Decisions about awards of Federal financial
assistance must be free from political interference or
even the appearance of such interference and must be
made on the basis of merit, not on the basis of the
religious affiliation of a recipient organization or
lack thereof.'';
(c) by striking section 3, and inserting in lieu
thereof the following:

``Sec. 3. Ensuring Uniform Implementation Across the
Federal Government.

In order to promote uniformity in agencies' policies
that have implications for faith-based and other
neighborhood organizations and in related guidance, and
to ensure that those policies and guidance are
consistent with the fundamental principles set forth in
section 2 of this order, there is established an
Interagency Working Group on Faith-Based and Other
Neighborhood Partnerships (Working Group).

(a) Mission and Function of the Working Group. The
Working Group shall meet periodically to review and
evaluate existing agency regulations, guidance
documents, and policies that have implications for
faith-based and other neighborhood organizations. Where
appropriate, specified agency heads shall, to the
extent permitted by law, amend all such existing
policies of their respective agencies to ensure that
they are consistent with the fundamental principles set
forth in section 2 of this order.
(b) Uniform Agency Implementation. Within 120 days
of the date of this order, the Working Group shall
submit a report to the President on amendments,
changes, or additions that are necessary to ensure that
regulations and guidance documents associated with the
distribution of Federal financial assistance for social
service programs are consistent with the fundamental
principles set forth in section 2 of this order. The
Working Group's report should include, but not be
limited to, a model set of regulations and guidance
documents for agencies to adopt in the following areas:
(i) prohibited uses of direct Federal financial
assistance and separation requirements; (ii)
protections for religious identity; (iii) the
distinction between ``direct'' and ``indirect'' Federal
financial assistance; (iv) protections for
beneficiaries of social service programs; (v)
transparency requirements, consistent with and in
furtherance of existing open government initiatives;
(vi) obligations of nongovernmental and governmental
intermediaries; (vii) instructions for peer reviewers
and those who recruit peer reviewers; and (viii)
training on these matters for government employees and
for Federal, State, and local governmental and
nongovernmental organizations that receive Federal
financial assistance under social service programs. In
developing this report and in reviewing agency
regulations and guidance for consistency with section 2
of this order, the Working Group shall consult the
March 2010 report and recommendations prepared by the
President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and
Neighborhood Partnerships on the topic of reforming the
Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

(c) Guidance. The Director of the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB), following receipt of a
copy of the report of the Working Group, and in
coordination with the Department of Justice, shall
issue guidance to agencies on the implementation of
this order, including in particular subsections 2(h)-
(j).
(d) Membership of the Working Group. The Director
of the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood
Partnerships and a senior official from the OMB
designated by the Director of the OMB shall serve as
the Co-Chairs of the Working Group. The Co-Chairs shall
convene regular meetings of the Working Group,
determine its agenda, and direct its work. In addition
to the Co-Chairs, the Working Group shall consist of a
senior official with knowledge of policies that have
implications for faith-based and other neighborhood
organizations from the following agencies and offices:

(i) the Department of State;

(ii) the Department of Justice;

(iii) the Department of the Interior;

(iv) the Department of Agriculture;

(v) the Department of Commerce;

(vi) the Department of Labor;

(vii) the Department of Health and Human Services;

(viii) the Department of Housing and Urban Development;

(ix) the Department of Education;

(x) the Department of Veterans Affairs;

(xi) the Department of Homeland Security;

(xii) the Environmental Protection Agency;

(xiii) the Small Business Administration;

(xiv) the United States Agency for International Development;

(xv) the Corporation for National and Community Service; and

(xvi) other agencies and offices as the President, from time to time, may
designate.

(e) Administration of the Initiative. The
Department of Health and Human Services shall provide
funding and administrative support for the Working
Group to the extent permitted by law and within
existing appropriations.''; and
(d) by striking in the title, preamble, and section
1(c), ``community'' and inserting in lieu thereof
``other neighborhood''.

Sec. 2. General Provisions.

(a) This order amends the requirements contained in
Executive Order 13279. This order supplements, but does
not supersede, the requirements contained in Executive
Orders 13198 and 13199 of January 29, 2001, and
Executive Order 13498 of February 5, 2009.
(b) Nothing in this order shall be construed to
impair or otherwise affect:

(i) authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the
head thereof; or

(ii) functions of the Director of the OMB relating to budgetary,
administrative, or legislative proposals.

(c) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.

(d) This order is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.

THE WHITE HOUSE,

November 17, 2010.