Presidential Documents

71319 

Federal Register 

Vol. 75, No. 224 

Monday, November 22, 2010 

Title 3— 

The President 

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. 


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(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. 


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(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. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, 

November 17, 2010. 

[FR Doc. 2010–29579 

Filed 11–19–10; 11:15 am] 

Billing code 3195–W1–P 


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