Towey said that the administration will push for legislation allowing religious grantees to based hiring decisions for federally funded positions on religion and promote faith-based programs at the state and local levels. He also cited use of vouchers in a drug treatment program as a mechanism that allows service providers to incorporate religion into their federally funded service because the funds come from the client, not through a direct grant.

Expansion of the faith-based initiative is drawing more attention to continuing declines in federal funding for social service programs. A report Funding Faith-Based Services in a Time of Fiscal Pressures by the Rockefeller Institute of Government examines how long-term fiscal trends affect faith-based social services. The report found:

• During the 1990s funding for faith-based services expanded
• The surplus of state resources compared to social needs Òhas largely vanishedÓ
• Federal funding for faith-based organizations is small and has not grown.

A summary of conference presentations is online.