Reforming the federal grants process to ensure the best help to the most people

I recently enjoyed the privilege of meeting with USAID chief Mark Green (center) to discuss how the US govt. can work better with faith-based organizations, to partner with to reach the needy overseas. What's needed IMHO is wholesale reformation of a byzantine grants process that favors huge companies that have extensive financial resources--not necessarily to do the best work or to reach the most in need--but resources to hire staff who write slick grant proposals and schmooze with bureaucrats. By contrast, many faith-based ministries operate on shoestring budgets devoted to direct care rather than to financial development.
USAID under Administrator Green is addressing this challenge, and their dedication promises improvements that will extend more effective aid to more individuals. For example, a Broad Agency Announcement now allows interested organizations to submit a two-page expression of interest for grant projects.
Other practical suggestions for reform include:

1. Provide training for faith-based organizations by government officials and faith-based grantees on how to navigate the grants process, similar to the New Partners Initiative program.
2. Use the USAID faith-based office to review all relevant grants for faith-friendliness, and provide the office with legal expertise on religious freedom issues.
3. Include members of the faith community on grant review panels, which injects a faith perspective into the process and also educates reviewers about the process.
4. Take a look at the current contractors under the Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) system, which as far as I can tell has no explicitly faith-friendly contractors, and see how a large faith-based organization might participate and then be in a position to sub-grant to smaller faith-based organizations. 

The goal is not to get money to any particular organization based on size or ideology but simply to keep the doors open to those organizations capable of doing the best work for the most people.

Essay 4: "Patient autonomy" – The Trojan Horse assault on conscience freedom in healthcare

Editor's Note: This is the fourth essay in a series on conscience in healthcare, by Freedom2Care Director Jonathan Imbody. For the other essays, click "ConscienceEssay" on Topics at left. 

Just as the Declaration of Geneva's original commitment in 1948 to honor pre-born life fell to new ideology, so did the original commitment to healthcare professionals' conscience freedom.

The relevant clause in the original Declaration of Geneva read simply,

"I will practise my profession with conscience and dignity."[i] 

Why the US Should Strategically Invest in Foreign Aid and Engage with Faith-based Organizations

W.H.O.: faith-based organizations provide
up to 70% of healthcare in Africa.

Faith-based organizations (FBO's)

·        The World Health Organization released a report revealing that between 30% and 70% of the health infrastructure in Africa is currently owned by faith-based organizations.[1]

·        The Gallup World Poll asked sub-Saharan Africans in 19 countries about their confidence in eight social and political institutions. Overall across the continent, they were most likely to say they were confident in the religious organizations (76%) in their countries. [2] 

(FBO's) typically are:

1.      Efficient - know how to operate on limited budgets and tap vast resources of volunteers.

2.      Accountable - answerable to governing boards and donors who expect a high yield on their donations.

3.      Transparent - overseen by charitable organization watchdogs and use well-established networks in local communities to reach the people most in need.

4.      Sustainable - typically long-established in communities and dedicated to remaining to serve communities long after grant projects are completed.

Gallup: Africans most likely to say they were
confident in the religious organizations (76%)
in their countries

5.      Apolitical - motivated by faith tenets, not by political ideology.

U.S. Funding Goals:

Our government should carefully target foreign aid to reflect the values of the American people, who expect aid to be:

1.      Efficient: Programs meet quantifiable goals and demonstrate a high return on investment.

2.      Accountable: Programs produce measurable results.

3.      Transparent: Open accounting proves that U.S. funds actually reach the needy.

4.      Sustainable: Programs will continue yielding benefits long after U.S. funds are expended.

5.      Apolitical: Aid reflects universal values of compassion and not partisan ideology.

Besides meeting these criteria, aid can also serve pragmatic American interests by prioritizing aid that will keep Americans safe. Death and disease lead to economic instability, making a country vulnerable to radical political movements. For example, when mothers in Africa die from AIDS, their sons become the recruiting targets of terrorist groups. Foreign aid can help prevent country disintegration that ultimately threatens American security.

Additional worthy goals can include aiding countries that: advance democracy by practicing or moving toward American values and strengthen alliances with countries that provide economic, energy, military and political advantages to the United States.

---

[1] "Faith-based organizations play a major role in HIV/AIDS care and treatment in sub-Saharan Africa," February 8, 2007: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/notes/2007/np05/en/index.html.

[2] Gallup Poll, "Africans' Confidence in Institutions -- Which Country Stands Out?" January 18, 2007: http://www.gallupworldpoll.com/content/?ci=26176. 

Essay 3: Medical ethics: Bedrock oaths versus zeitgeist barometers

Editor's Note: This is the third essay in a series on conscience in healthcare, by Freedom2Care Director Jonathan Imbody. For the other essays, click "ConscienceEssay" on Topics at left. 
On the heels of World War II, with medical ethics in the spotlight following unconscionable Nazi atrocities, the World Medical Association (WMA) decided that the Hippocratic oath, which had guided medicine since around 500 BC, needed to be replaced. So the Association developed a new oath that contained some of the principles of the ancient oath but opened the door to continual modernizing.

Christian Medical Association doctors and Freedom2Care applaud HHS initiative to connect sex education to science

Washington, DC—November 3, 2017: The 19,000-member Christian Medical Association (www.cmda.org) and the 30,000-strong Freedom2Care (www.Freedom2Care.org) today applauded a new initiative by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services to ensure that its investment in sex education is backed by sound and objective scientific research.
"The HHS leadership recognizes how important it is to tie policy and programs to  sound research, and this project promises to tie that knot securely," said CMA CEO Dr. David Stevens. "Research not only on what programs work but also what communication with youth works should go a long way toward equipping our youth with sound strategies for sexual health. It's also vitally important to involve parents in any strategies, such as sexual risk avoidance programs, for their children's sex education."
Freedom2Care director Jonathan Imbody added, "The new $10 million research project with HHS's Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) promises to make a reality what too often is just a slogan: evidence-based policy. It's tempting to bend social science research to fit one's ideology, and we trust that this effort will provide a transparent process, scientifically sound methodology and accurate and objective interpretation of results to produce the best strategies for our youth. With so many previous federally funded sex education programs failing to produce positive results, it's imperative to translate this research into policy quickly and effectively for the sake of our youth."