Fundamental Principles and Policymaking Criteria for Partnerships With Faith-Based and Other Neighborhood Organizations, 71319-71323 [2010-29579]

Agencies

• Executive Office of the President
• Presidential Documents

[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 224 (Monday, November 22, 2010)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 71319-71323]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-29579]



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Part IV





The President





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Executive Order 13559--Fundamental Principles and Policymaking Criteria 
for Partnerships With Faith-Based and Other Neighborhood Organizations


                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 224 / Monday, November 22, 2010 / 
Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

[[Page 71319]]

                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.

[[Page 71320]]

                    (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

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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.

[[Page 71322]]

                    (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.

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                    (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.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    November 17, 2010.

[FR Doc. 2010-29579
Filed 11-19-10; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3195-W1-P