The first academic study comparing the effectiveness of faith-based and secular providers of social services was released this month. It showed in one area – job training – secular groups were more effective than faith-based groups. But the research notes that broad conclusions can not be reached yet.

Researchers from the Center for Urban Policy and the Environment, a part of Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, have begun work on the Charitable Choice Research Project. With funds provided by the Ford Foundation, the Charitable Choice Research Project is an effort to study the long-held assumptions of charitable choice supporters that faith-based organizations are more effective in providing social services than their secular counterparts.

Government agencies have a long history of contracting with faith-based organizations to provide social services. President Bush has highlighted and focused public debate on expanding these grants and contracts through his "Faith Based Initiative." Bush argues that greater participation by faith-based organizations in providing government funded services is necessary because religious social service providers are more effective than secular providers.

Contrary to the President’s belief, after three years of study this new research found that faith-based organizations operating job-training programs placed 31 percent of their clients in full-time employment, compared to 53 percent by the secular-based organizations. Moreover, clients who received job training from faith-based providers were substantially less likely to receive health insurance.

This study concedes that its research is limited and broad conclusions should not be made. However, the study did find that states are not monitoring constitutional violations and did little to educate grantees about constitutional compliance. The Charitable Choice Project recommends that faith-based grantees look at the settlement in Bellmore v. United Methodists Children’s Home and Department of Human Resources Georgia for guidance.