Pew Awards Grant to Center for Faith and Service at National Crime Prevention Council

4/11/2002

From: Kellie Foster of the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC), 202-261-4120; Mobile: 202-352-3642; Web site: www.ncpc.org/newsroom

WASHINGTON, April 11 -- The Center for Faith and Service at the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC), received a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts to establish a network that will help identify and promote faith-based services to the poor.

The network, called FASTEN, (Faith and Service Technical Education Network) has three major goals.

1. Raise awareness about the important historical and critical role that faith-based organizations have played in the delivery of services to the poor.

2. Provide information, education, and training for faith-based organizations and for policy makers and funders seeking to support the work of these organizations.

3. Identify and promote practices of the most effective faith-based social service delivery organizations.

According to John A. Calhoun, president and CEO of NCPC, "The work of FASTEN will help us better understand and promote partnerships between faith-based groups and non-faith-based groups in delivering social services."

"These partnerships," said Calhoun, "have had a long and important history in this country and further build on a trend in government -- begun in the 90s -- to take services directly to neighborhoods and communities through smaller, neighborhood-anchored service providers."

The inclusion of the Charitable Choice provision in the 1996 Welfare Reform Act, increased the opportunities for local faith groups to serve their communities. FASTEN will capture the best practices of these efforts and will enhance the capacity of organizations serving the poor.

This grant is part of a broader Pew initiative that explores the role of faith-based organizations in our social welfare system. NCPC and its partner organization, Baylor University, are funded to assist religious organizations, philanthropic and corporate leaders, and public officials by providing education and training. NCPC and Baylor will provide the following:

1. An information clearinghouse that collects and distributes information and training materials through a Web-based library and resource center.

2. A series of seminars and workshops targeted at key groups.

3. A peer technical assistance network created to link organizations so that they can encourage, advise, and mentor one another.

Baylor University will assume responsibility for documenting promising and effective practices of social service programs that address urban poverty. "Baylor's School of Social Work is a national leader in this field and will be critical to the success of this effort," said Calhoun.

Diana Garland, chair of the School of Social Work at Baylor said, "The faith-based world has long awaited an initiative that could generate quality research around effective practice. The team at Baylor will make that happen and will work with NCPC to present the research in language that policy makers and community practitioners can use to transform their communities."

The mission of the National Crime Prevention Council is to build safer and more caring communities. "The resources provided by this grant," said Calhoun, "will help us to fulfill that mission by bringing effective services to the poorest, the most troubled and at risk." "The Pew Grant," declared Calhoun, "gives this country a marvelous opportunity to examine the good work of faith-based organizations, to bring more people into the struggle to help those most in need, and to highlight effective practices and promising programs."

NCPC is a private, non-profit, tax-exempt organization whose primary mission is to enable people to create safer and more caring communities by addressing the causes of crime and violence and reducing the opportunities for crime to occur.

NCPC publishes books, kits of camera-ready program materials, posters, and informational and policy reports on a variety of crime prevention and community-building subjects.

NCPC offers training, technical assistance, and national focus for crime prevention: it acts as secretariat for the Crime Prevention Coalition of America, more than 4,000 national, federal, state, and local organizations committed to preventing crime.

It hosts a number of Web sites that offer prevention tips to individuals, describe prevention practices for community building, and help anchor prevention policy into laws and budgets. It also operates demonstration programs in schools, neighborhoods, and entire jurisdictions and takes a major leadership role in youth crime prevention.

NCPC manages the McGruff "Take a Bite Out of Crime" public service advertising campaign. NCPC is funded through a variety of government agencies, corporate and private foundations, and donations from private individuals.

Baylor University is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of Texas and the largest Baptist University in the world, with more than 13,000 students. The 550-acre campus is located on the banks of the Brazos River in Waco, Texas.

The Baylor School of School of Social work offers baccalaureate and graduate degrees in social work accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. Baylor's social work education is unique, preparing students to understand and work effectively with issues of faith and spirituality, and with faith-based organizations and congregations, as well as more traditional settings for social work practice.

The faculty of the School of Social Work is engaged in major research projects addressing the integration of faith and practice through its Center for Family and Community Ministries.

The Pew Charitable Trusts (www.pewtrusts.com) support non-profit activities in the areas of culture, education, the environment, health and human services, public policy and religion. Based in Philadelphia, the Trusts make strategic investments to help organizations and citizens develop practical solutions to difficult problems.

In 2001, with approximately $4.3 billion in assets, the Trusts committed over $230 million to 175 non-profit organizations.