TRACING THE ROOTS OF CHARITABLE CHOICE By Erin Marie-Sergison Krcatovich A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Political Science – Doctor of Philosophy 2013 ABSTRACT TRACING THE ROOTS OF CHARITABLE CHOICE By Erin Marie-Sergison Krcatovich Does federal urban policy influence local policymaking choices, particularly in regarding the development of local regimes? Focusing on Charitable Choice, a provision of the comprehensive package of welfare reform in 1996, it argues that this is an example of the federal government attempting to directly shape who participates in local governing regimes, particularly in the areas of housing, service delivery, and community and economic development. This work utilizes a unique dataset of national and local newspaper stories as well as interviews with elites in the cities of Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan. News stories are analyzed for important frames in the areas of housing, social services, and community and economic development. Results indicate that despite efforts of national policymakers, local nonprofits are not engaging in a greater scope of work, with a few notable exceptions. Copyright by ERIN MARIE-SERGISON KRCATOVICH 2013 For David and my family, who have always been there for me, every page, every step of the way, and for my students, who challenge and inspire. Thank you. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not be possible without the support of my family and friends, especially my husband, David. I am so grateful for their constant encouragement, which has helped me stay grounded and focused every step of the way. I am thankful for my faith community, which provides balance to my life, and to the nonprofits in Michigan and nationwide who daily open their doors to serve and minister to the people of their communities. Thank you for your service. Finally, a huge thank you belongs to my dissertation chair, Dr. Richard Hula, and committee members, Dr. Laura Reese, Dr. Joshua Sapotichne, and Dr. Zachary Neal. Their careful reading and thoughtful feedback has provided many opportunities for the development of concepts within my work. Additional guidance was provided by Dr. Charles Ostrom (mentor during the Certification in College Teaching) and Dr. Jeffrey Bernstein (Eastern Michigan University). I am very appreciative of these professors’ time and commitment to my professional advancement. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................ix LIST OF FIGURES ...............................................................................................................x KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................xi LOOKING AHEAD: AN INTRODUCTION TO MAJOR CONCEPTS .............................1 Overview of Dissertation ...........................................................................................1 Research Objectives ...................................................................................................1 Primary Research Question........................................................................................3 Hypotheses .................................................................................................................3 Purpose of Dissertation ..............................................................................................3 Methodology ..............................................................................................................4 Impact on Regime Literature .....................................................................................5 General Findings of Data Analysis ............................................................................5 Preview of Upcoming Chapters .................................................................................6 BACKGROUND CONTEXT: FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS IN THE GOVERNING REGIME ................................................................................................................................9 Defining and Contextualizing Faith-Based Organizations ........................................9 Charitable Choice and the Passage of Welfare Reform .............................................11 Regime Theory: Building a Foundation ....................................................................13 A Question of Power ......................................................................................13 Development of Regime Theory ....................................................................15 Regime Typologies: Seeking Greater Specificity? ....................................................17 Alternative Explanations of the Regime ....................................................................20 External Influences on the Regime ............................................................................21 City Leadership and Business Elites ..............................................................22 The Role of State Leadership.........................................................................22 Looking Outside the Regime: Other Players in the Process ..........................23 Criticisms of Regime Theory .....................................................................................24 Public-Private Partnerships ............................................................................24 Failure to Explain Local Politics....................................................................26 Determinants of Urban Economic Development ...........................................27 Reactions to Literature ...................................................................................28 Potential Roles for Nonprofits within the Governing Regime...................................29 References ..................................................................................................................32 RESEARCH APPROACH: METHODOLOGY ...................................................................40 Introduction ................................................................................................................40 Framing the Service Delivery Discourse ...................................................................40 A Natural Experiment in Service Delivery ................................................................42 vi Data Collection: Content Analysis and Interviews ....................................................43 News Stories ..................................................................................................42 Michigan Policymaker Interviews .................................................................51 References ..................................................................................................................59 NATIONAL EVIDENCE: CHARITABLE CHOICE AND THE CHANGING DISCOURSE AROUND SERVICE DELIVERY.................................................................62 Introduction ................................................................................................................62 National Housing Discourse ......................................................................................64 National Social Services Discourse ...........................................................................67 National Development Discourse ..............................................................................69 Final Analysis of National Data.................................................................................72 ARISE FROM THE ASHES: A CASE STUDY OF DETROIT, MI....................................73 History of Detroit .......................................................................................................74 Foundations and Early Political Culture ........................................................74 Current Demographics ...................................................................................76 Development of the Social Services Sector ...............................................................77 History of Private and Public Social Services ...............................................77 Race and Poverty in Detroit ...........................................................................80 Modern Service Delivery Sector....................................................................82 Religion and the City of Detroit.................................................................................85 Characteristics of Nonprofits in Detroit .....................................................................87 Partnerships ....................................................................................................87 Financial Dependence ....................................................................................89 Challenges Faced ...........................................................................................91 Changing Nature of Service Delivery over Time ......................................................91 Local Housing Sector.....................................................................................92 Local Social Services Sector..........................................................................94 Local Development Sector .............................................................................95 Faith-Based Organizations in Detroit ........................................................................96 Local Faith-Based Community’s Involvement in Housing ...........................97 Local Faith-Based Community’s Involvement in Social Services ................99 Local Faith-Based Community’s Involvement in Development ...................99 Comparison of All Nonprofits to Special Case of Faith-Based Nonprofits...............100 References ..................................................................................................................102 STRENGTH IN ACTIVITY: A CASE STUDY OF GRAND RAPIDS, MI........................105 History of Grand Rapids ............................................................................................105 Foundations and Early Political Culture ........................................................105 Current Demographics ...................................................................................107 Development of Social Services Sector .....................................................................108 History of Private and Public Social Services ...............................................108 Race and Poverty in Grand Rapids ................................................................110 Modern Service Delivery Sector....................................................................110 Religion and the City of Grand Rapids ......................................................................113 vii Characteristics of Nonprofits in Grand Rapids ..........................................................114 Partnerships ....................................................................................................114 Financial Dependence ....................................................................................117 Challenges Faced ...........................................................................................118 Changing Nature of Service Delivery over Time ......................................................118 Local Housing Sector.....................................................................................119 Local Social Services Sector..........................................................................120 Local Development Sector .............................................................................122 Faith-Based Organizations in Grand Rapids..............................................................123 Local Faith-Based Community’s Involvement in Housing ...........................124 Local Faith-Based Community’s Involvement in Social Services ................125 Local Faith-Based Community’s Involvement in Development ...................126 Comparison of All Nonprofits to Special Case of Faith-Based Nonprofits...............127 References ..................................................................................................................129 COMPARISONS AND CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................131 Summary of National Conclusions ............................................................................131 Comparison of Detroit and Grand Rapids .................................................................132 Comparison of National Evidence to Local Cases ....................................................134 Implications for Regime Theory ................................................................................137 Final Conclusions and Directions for Future Research .............................................140 viii LIST OF TABLES TABLE 3-1: Total Number of Articles per Newspaper.........................................................46 TABLE 3-2: Keywords for Nonprofit Activity .....................................................................49 TABLE 3-3: Interview Subjects ............................................................................................55 TABLE 5-1: Detroit Population Change, 1950 – 2010 .........................................................77 TABLE 5-2: Tax-Exempt Organizations in Detroit, MI (2012) ............................................83 TABLE 6-1: Grand Rapids Population Change, 1970 – 2010...............................................108 TABLE 6-2: Tax-Exempt Organizations in Grand Rapids, MI (2012) .................................111 TABLE 7-1: Summary of Findings from Local Analysis .....................................................133 ix LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 3-1: Total Number of Articles per Newspaper .......................................................47 FIGURE 4-1: Proportions of National Housing Frames per Year .........................................65 FIGURE 4-2: Proportions of National Social Services Frames per Year..............................68 FIGURE 4-3: Proportions of National Development Frames per Year.................................71 FIGURE 5-1: Proportions of Detroit Housing Frames per Year ...........................................93 FIGURE 5-2: Proportions of Detroit Social Services Frames per Year ................................94 FIGURE 5-3: Proportions of Detroit Development Frames per Year ...................................96 FIGURE 5-4: Proportion of Detroit Housing Frames Containing “Faith-Based” .................98 FIGURE 5-5: Proportion of Detroit Social Service Frames Containing “Faith-Based” .......99 FIGURE 5-6: Proportion of Detroit Development Frames Containing “Faith-Based” .........100 FIGURE 6-1: Proportions of Grand Rapids Housing Frames per Year ................................120 FIGURE 6-2: Proportions of Grand Rapids Social Services Frames per Year .....................122 FIGURE 6-3: Proportions of Grand Rapids Development Frames per Year ........................123 FIGURE 6-4: Proportion of Grand Rapids Housing Frames Containing “Faith-Based” ......125 FIGURE 6-5: Proportion of Grand Rapids Social Service Frames Containing “Faith-Based” .............................................................................................................126 FIGURE 6-6: Proportion of Grand Rapids Development Frames Containing “Faith-Based” .............................................................................................................127 FIGURE 7-1: Comparison of National and Local Housing Data ..........................................135 FIGURE 7-2: Comparison of National and Local Social Services Data ...............................135 FIGURE 7-3: Comparison of National and Local Development Data ..................................136 x KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS AFDC: Aid to Families with Dependent Children FBO (FBOs): Faith-based organization(s) HUD: Department of Housing and Urban Development ICCF: Inner City Christian Federation MSHDA: Michigan State Housing Development Authority NSO: Neighborhood Service Organization PRWORA: Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act TANF: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families xi LOOKING AHEAD: AN INTRODUCTION TO MAJOR CONCEPTS Overview of Dissertation For the completion of the Ph.D. in American Politics in the Department of Political Science at Michigan State University, the following dissertation is presented. The purpose of this dissertation is to understand the role of nonprofits, and particularly faith-based nonprofits, within local governing regimes. It questions how national policymaking can translate into local policy changes, especially encouraging the cooperation of cities and nonprofits to develop relevant policy. Specifically, the national policy of interest here is Charitable Choice, a provision within the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA, P.L. 104-193). Charitable Choice protects faith-based nonprofits against discrimination on the basis of religious identity when federal agencies select organizations to fund and support. Overall, the dissertation relies upon the literature of regime theory, as well as complementary literature on issue framing. The analysis begins with national evidence, and then considers two cases of nonprofit sectors in Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Finally, it compares these to make a final argument about the process by which national policy impacts local policy choices and considers implications for the state of regime theory literature. Research Objectives The focus here is on understanding the impact of a federal effort to change the policy discourse around nonprofits, and specifically, faith-based nonprofits. It is not well understood how important faith-based organizations (FBOs) are to local governing regimes. Do they have a role within the governing structure of the city? How much political attention is paid to programs and 1 issues addressed by faith-based organizations? These services are one potential entry point into the governing regime. Even within the nonprofits literature, there is not a clear understanding of how faith-based nonprofits become regime actors. How often are they part of the public discourse? Are they only minor background players or are there circumstances which bring these organizations to the forefront of the discourse over issues such as privatized social service delivery? To understand these questions, this dissertation studies the extent to which faith-based nonprofits are a part of local regimes, considering Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan as two case studies. Detroit and Grand Rapids were selected because they are the two largest cities in Michigan, a state with ample economic issues and great need for social service assistance. By examining two cities from Michigan, there is an element of control over the case studies, as is explained in Chapter 3. It will examine the role of faith-based organizations within the regime, and specifically how important Housing, Social Services, and Development issues have been in the cities from 1999 to 2010. In particular, it asks if the passage of Charitable Choice generated a change in the national and local policy discourse that defines the appropriate role for such groups. This dissertation offers a unique contribution to the literature on regime theory, by focusing specifically on FBOs and in particular, on the relationship between national level intervention (via Charitable Choice) on the composition of local regimes. Charitable Choice represents a natural experiment, which can be used to compare before and after the federal government attempted to interfere in the governing structure of local regimes. 2 Primary Research Questions What role do nonprofits, particularly faith-based organizations, play within local governing regimes? Does national urban policymaking affect the development of regime partnerships, and if so, how? Hypotheses The following hypotheses are examined throughout the dissertation. Hypotheses 1 and 2 and tested in Chapter 4: National Evidence. Hypotheses 3, 4, and 5 are tested in Chapters 5 and 6, on Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Tested nationally Hypothesis 1: Changes in federal policy preferences targeted to nonprofits expanded the scope of national discourse around nonprofits over time. Hypothesis 2: Specific federal policy interventions targeted to nonprofits expanded the scope of national discourse around nonprofits during years of intervention. Tested separately for Detroit and Grand Rapids Hypothesis 3: Changes in federal policy preferences expanded the scope of participation of local nonprofits over time. Hypothesis 4: Changes in federal policy preferences expanded participation of local faith-based nonprofits over time. Hypothesis 5: Specific federal policy interventions targeted to faith-based nonprofits expanded the participation of local faith-based nonprofits during years of intervention. Purpose of Dissertation The purpose of this project is to understand the impact of national policy changes on the role of faith-based nonprofits within urban governing regimes. Regime theory literature general- 3 ly emphasizes the importance of city and business partnerships without examining the impact of nonprofits, and especially religious groups, on political decision-making. Scholarly research on these issues tends to be case-study driven, without a clear sense of changes over time or the role that FBOs play. This research uses two decades of data to understand how the national policy discourse developed and how that in turn impacted the nature of service delivery in the case study cities. Second, the project works to understand the relationship between national policymaking and local regime change. Can national urban policies affect partnerships within city regimes? More generally, what is the purpose of national urban policymaking? Again, this is an unconventional way of discussing urban regimes, to argue that they are shaped by forces outside of the city or region itself – here, national policy. This relationship is potentially viable, in that national urban policymaking does set restrictions on cities for how they can distribute federal resources. Methodology Methodology will be discussed in detail in Chapter 3. To briefly introduce the approach, there are two primary sources of data for this dissertation: a dataset of news stories from national and local papers and a series of interviews. News stories are drawn nationally from the New York Times and U.S. News and World Report; locally, they are from the Detroit News and Grand Rapids Press, both prominent city periodicals. Content analysis of these papers compares changes to prominent frames of three service delivery areas over time: Housing, Social Services, and Development. Interview subjects represent faith-based and secular nonprofits, city and state agencies, and private city contractors, in order to offer a diversity of perspectives. Analysis of the two data sources is divided into national coverage (Chapter 4) and local coverage and interviews (Chapters 5 and 6). 4 Additionally, this project provides an opportunity to utilize several methodological techniques which are not common in urban politics. First, the content analysis data is derived from a very large dataset, thousands of news stories, allowing for a more thorough comparison of changes over time. Analysis is structured around two comparable cities, using both large datasets of newspaper stories over time and interviews with representatives from faith-based and secular nonprofits, government agencies, and city contractors. This is not a common approach to research in urban politics, which tends to only focus on case studies of particular cities or regions. Impact on Regime Literature The impact on regime theory literature is the expansion of what is known about the role of national policy discourse on the structure of the regime, and consequently, on faith-based nonprofits as regime players. The following chapter explains how this literature has previously emphasized business partnerships with cities to determine policy. This dissertation explores whether nonprofits should be systematically represented in regime analysis. If they should be included, this suggests that regime theory needs to be revitalized and updated to better represent modern city politics. General Findings of Data Analysis Several main points are argued throughout this analysis. For national data, interest was high prior to 2000 and much lower afterwards. There are several years when national coverage peaked, indicating that there was considerable attention to the three service areas; in particular, Housing was important nationally in 1999, Social Services in 1995, and Development issues in 1994 and 1997. High coverage indicates that these were years where the proportion of coverage was higher than surrounding years in both of the national newspapers, which is an indicator of 5 salience and prominence of the issues. Particularly, the analysis suggests that there was higher attention paid to these three service delivery areas from 1994 through 1999 with diminished attention afterwards. This lends support to the conclusion that the national policy turned over control to states and localities for management. For the two Michigan cities, there are different conclusions to be reached, as a result of different city characteristics. Indeed, the cities have experienced very different histories of incorporating faith-based nonprofits into the two regimes. In Detroit, the importance of the three service delivery areas has dropped off over time, with all-time lows in recent years. In Grand Rapids, attention has grown significantly to demonstrate that the city is now paying the most attention to these issues in a decade. When questioning the interview subjects in Detroit, there was a significant involvement in wide partnership networks and policymaking for the city. Similarly, Grand Rapids organizations work in partnership but it is much more likely that they work with other nonprofits; only Development organizations are likely to work with the city’s offices. As in Detroit, faith-based groups demonstrate some fear of retribution if they pursue goals which may be perceived as inappropriate for religious charities, such as advocating for funding support. Preview of Upcoming Chapters Chapter 2 – Background Context: Faith-Based Organizations in the Governing Regime The next chapter considers prominent relevant literature for regime theory and establishes the context within which the dissertation is developed. It covers conceptualizing the concept of a “faith-based nonprofit and” the passage of Charitable Choice first. Then, it turns to the foundations of regime theory, existing regime typologies, alternative explanations, external influences on the regime, and several important criticisms of regime theory. After setting this foundation, it 6 begins to consider what a potential role for faith-based nonprofits in the regime would look like in practice. Chapter 3 – Research Approach: Methodology After a literature review is conducted, then the discussion turns to the methodological approach described above. Chapter 3 outlines in detail the concepts of framing, the potential natural experiment of Charitable Choice, and then explains how data was collected from the newspapers and local interviews. Chapter 4 – National Evidence: Charitable Choice and the Changing Discourse over Service Delivery In the first analytical chapter, the discussion considers national evidence for the policy changes enacted by Charitable Choice. News stories are analyzed to determine relevant sectors affected by the changes over time. It compares several years of data prior to the policy discourse to the coverage after 1996. This chapter asks: In the wake of Charitable Choice, how was the national policy discussion framed in the media around the areas of Housing, Social Services, and Development? Chapter 5 – Arise from the Ashes: A Case Study of Detroit, MI and Chapter 6 – Strength in Activity: A Case Study of Grand Rapids, MI In Chapters 5 and 6, local evidence is compared for the two case study cities: Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Here, both news stories and interviews will be analyzed to understand the impact of Charitable Choice on the local governing structures of Detroit and Grand Rapids. Both sources of data are used in order to understand systematic change as well as detailed case studies of local organizations. They consider the following questions: How did Detroit and 7 Grand Rapids, Michigan experience changes to their service delivery networks after the passage of Charitable Choice? Does the policy have a continued impact on these cities’ governing regimes today? Chapter 7 – Comparisons and Conclusions Chapter 7 looks from national to local evidence to determine whether the policy transcended the national level to have a local impact on the case cities of Grand Rapids and Detroit. It looks ahead to future research on Charitable Choice to make recommendations for both policy change and implications for other areas of urban politics. This chapter considers the issue of national-level policy intervention overall and makes final recommendations of research that is still needed to address unanswered questions. It asks: What are the implications of the passage of Charitable Choice? Did it achieve its desired policy outcomes? How does national policy affect the nature of local governing regimes? 8 BACKGROUND CONTEXT: FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS IN THE GOVERNING REGIME Defining and Contextualizing Faith-Based Organizations How did Charitable Choice, a federal policy intervention, change the structure of local regimes to incorporate more nonprofits, and specifically, more faith-based ones? This research considers whether this policy change increased the scope of local nonprofit activity. For the purpose of this analysis, faith-based organizations are defined as nonprofits owned or operated by religious institutions and / or nonprofit organizations founded on and operated by tenets of faith. There is a great variety of organizations which fit within this category. For example, the Capuchin Soup Kitchen in Detroit is a locally owned, single-location nonprofit operated by a religious order whereas Habitat for Humanity is an international organization, not affiliated with a particular church but organized by Christian belief, with thousands of chapters worldwide. Faith-based organizations are not new participants in service delivery but the terms “faith-based organization” or “faith-based nonprofit” are fairly new monikers (Dionne 1999; Safire 1999). This rhetorical change has gone hand in hand with increased attention to these groups over time, and so has implications for how aware the public is about their work. Furthermore, considering the separation of church and state, many are now asking what is the appropriate role of FBOs in providing government-subsidized social services. Many churches have provided necessary social services for more than a century in the United States. It is interesting that these groups have become so much more contentious, as potentially violating the separation of church and state, only in recent decades. This change may result from reframing the discourse as one of “faith-based organizations” rather than the more concrete and familiar concept of local churches providing services to the community. 9 Measuring the contributions of FBOs depends in part upon what type of organization is considered. Stritt (2008) distinguishes among congregations, freestanding FBOs and national network FBOs. According to Stritt’s calculations, there was a national “combined value of budget expenditures and volunteer time of congregations providing social services … estimated at $24.25 billion (2006 dollars),” (p. 734, emphasis added). Stritt further incorporates the work of Twombly (2002) and Ebaugh et. al (2005a, 2005b) to argue persuasively that the total combined service contribution of national network FBOs is roughly $20 billion and freestanding FBOs approximates $5 billion (in 2006 dollars). This is a substantial amount of money and resources that is regularly allocated to needy individuals via congregational networks of support and assistance. It is difficult to trace the amount of federal financial support allocated to local faith-based nonprofits, since the money is funneled through various channels before reaching these organizations. Chaves (1999) estimates that about 3 percent of religious congregations receive some financial support from the government; Salamon (2002) estimated that approximately one-third of nonprofits’ revenue is subsidized through government support. Charitable Choice and other faith-based initiatives have been criticized for the hazards that religious organizations may face from this acceptance of public money, including the possible dependency on governmentsubsidized support which could lead to an inability to serve clients how organization deems appropriate (Saperstein 2003). On the other hand, Chaves, Stephens, and Galaskiewicz (2004) found that members of congregations that receive federal support are personally more politically active and engaged than those attending congregations that do not receive support. 10 Charitable Choice and the Passage of Welfare Reform To understand the modern relationship of the federal government to faith-based organizations, it is necessary to begin with the passage of Charitable Choice. In 1996, The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (also known as PRWORA, P.L. 104-193) originated in the House of Representatives as H.R. 3734 (Social Security Online 2011). H.R. 3734 passed the House on July 18, 1996, with 256 supporting and 120 opposed. This bill was designed to amend the existing program known as Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and remove Title IV of the Social Security Act of 1935 (regarding grants to states for aid to dependent children). The Senate also began work on a similar bill, S.1956, in July; it incorporated H.R. 3734 and the combined version passed the Senate on July 23, 1996 (Ibid). The Conference to formally combine these bills occurred the following week, with the final version returning to the House and Senate for approval at the end of the month. On July 31, 1996, the newly combined PRWORA passed in the House by dividing Democrats 98 votes for to 97 against (with two abstentions), and support from the vast majority of Republicans, 230 votes for to 2 against (with three abstentions). The next day, it passed the Senate by again splitting the Democratic vote 25 for to 21 against (with one abstention) and claiming all 53 Republican votes. In replacement of AFDC and Title IV, it created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program which is still in effect today. Most significant among the changes to the welfare system, PRWORA replaced AFDC’s requirements for financial support with rules that are dollar amount and time-limited, based on the individual or family’s specific needs (Texas Health and Human Services Commission 2011). Families are required to demonstrate proof of need, to be below income and resource limits. Fur- 11 thermore, the “total amount of time the parent or relative can receive TANF ranges from 12 to 36 months and is based on his or her education, work experience, and personal or economic situation,” and children under 18 cannot be time-limited (Ibid). It sets requirements to receive assistance, including participation in job training, maintaining an active employment search, child support cooperation, abstinence from drug and alcohol abuse, parenting training, and continued attendance in school for all children (Ibid). FBOs and secular nonprofits benefited from a provision within PRWORA known as Charitable Choice, which sought to increase the number of religious and community organizations partnering with government agencies to provide social services (GAO 2002). This provision encourages religious institutions to operate services for the poor by allowing faith-based nonprofits to collaborate with government for financial assistance. Charitable Choice is implemented by laws and regulations designed to promote competition for grants and contracts among secular and religious nonprofits. In doing so, it seeks to increase the proportion of faith-based organizations receiving federal support (Owens 2007). In 2002, the U.S. General Accounting Office provided Congress with a report of research into the implementation of Charitable Choice (GAO 2002). Since its passage in 1996, 19 states reported contracting with FBOs for some social services funded by TANF (Meckler, c.f. GAO 2002). The report distinguishes between sectarian organizations (such as a church or synagogue) and non-sectarian organizations (“separate, secular organizations created by a religious organization, such as… the Salvation Army”). For both, the protections and provisions within Charitable Choice include the following: • Religious organizations do not have to separate activities of an inherently-religious nature from the provision of social services to be eligible for federal financial support; 12 • Organizations can display religious symbols and iconography on the premises; • Organizations can consider religious background as a qualification for hiring employees, but cannot when determining clients’ eligibility to receive services; • Religious organization cannot use public money on worship services, religious teaching, or preaching; and • Religious organizations may be audited. States and cities, in particular, must allow FBOs to equally compete for and be eligible to receive financial support to provide services, ensure that an alternative and secular organization is available if clients do not want to engage with religious organization, and protect freedom to display religious symbols as they so choose. Regime Theory: Building a Foundation A Question of Power In order to understand the role of nonprofits in the city, this study must begin with regime theory. Authors such as Clarence Stone and Stephen Elkin were instrumental in shaping this theory of local governance where nongovernmental interests, particularly businesses, are centrally involved in shaping local policy. Stone (1982) began to shape regime theory first by reflecting on community power (Hunter 1969), pluralism (Dahl 1961), and nondecision-making (Bachrach, and Baratz 1962). Dahl considers the problem of anticipated reactions, or the ability of one actor, A, to influence another actor, B, to act because B is afraid of A’s reaction or wants to gain the favor of A. Bachrach and Baratz considered that not all power is overtly exercised, but rather may also be a matter of nondecision-making, choosing not to act – not to make a new policy, not to deviate from the status quo, not to speak publicly on some issue. However, events that do not occur cannot be studied, Stone argues (1980). Regime theory is, at its heart, a matter 13 of power: who has it, how it is structured, and how it is attained. In local politics and the regime especially, power is systemic. To understand systemic power, it is necessary to first consider the forms that power can take. Stone (1980) models power through a series of important comparisons. Power occurs both interpersonally, between individual actors, and intergroup, between social strata and classes. Power involves not just the intention to get another to act in a desirable way, but also the situation and context. In other words, the strength of a relationship of power is not just about motivation, but also the vulnerability of someone to another’s influence, even if that influence is not sought out or consciously occurs. Finally Stone argues that power is not simply about direct coercion, or what he calls the “power over” another – but also the indirect “power to” induce another’s participation (1980). For example, two businesses may both wish to have the first time slot on the city council’s agenda to speak with council members, in order to avoid running out of time to discuss and vote on their concerns. In keeping with this model of power, there is an indirect “power to” influence the agenda of topics discussed. The council will give the larger and more prominent business primacy on the agenda over the smaller business, prohibiting the smaller one from having time to be heard. The preference for the first business occurs not because it made any coercive or threatening gestures, but simply because the council prefers to keep the larger business, and its potentially larger source of property tax revenue, happy. By the council’s preference for the larger over the smaller business, the larger exerts indirect power to get the council to act in their favor. When developing this understanding of power, Clarence Stone argued that he was describing a unique type of power, not captured by previous theories of anticipated reactions or nondecision-making. This power was pervasive and behind the process of decision-making, par- 14 ticularly locally. Local politics, and indeed society overall, is stratified into upper, middle and lower classes by income, education, privilege, and public perceptions. Interacting within this system, public officials are predisposed to favor the needs of wealthy and privileged elites. He termed this systemic power, and defines it as: [T]hat dimension of power in which durable features of the socioeconomic system (the situational element) confer advantages and disadvantages on groups (the intergroup element) in ways predisposing public officials to favor some interests at the expense of others (the indirect element). (Stone 1980; 980) In this way, power becomes more than just the fear or desire for an anticipated reaction or the choice not to act, but takes on a nature that is subtle, existing in society’s perceptions of the value of certain individuals over others. For example, an elected official may turn to former business associates for advice while in office, to understand the needs of the business community. This advice is born from a lifetime of associating positive feelings toward that strata, but ultimately predisposes the official to subconsciously value and so craft policy that favors the needs of others like himself over lower strata individuals (Stone 1980) – a concept often referred to as the mobilization of bias (Stone 1982). Development of Regime Theory Cities, Stone and Elkin argue, are governed by regimes of business and governing elites (“friends of the regime,” according to Elkin 1987) who work together to produce governance favorable to business interests. Neither local officials nor business interests can govern a city alone; they individually lack the resources necessary for complete control (Stone 1993), including institutional resources which are especially important to stabilize the regime (Stone 2008). Thus, the relationship becomes one of reciprocity among participants (Stone 1993; 1989; 2008). Regime theory is primarily concerned with the relationship between business and city officials, however. 15 Regime theory seeks to model the nature of interactions among players in the decisionmaking process. As Stone explains, it is “not only simply who makes up a governing coalition but also how the members are related to one another—the terms on which they cooperate and the resources they bring to bear,” (2001; 313). It is a question of setting the agenda in the city – determining what issues are relevant to discuss and who receives priority for the limited time and resources of elected officials (Stone 2005). Cooperation and resources are the keys. Voices heard in the regime bring something to the table, such as money to fund a successful public relations campaign, social networking to tap into a volunteer base, or fresh ideas coupled with the motivation to push for their success. When resources can be mobilized, a governing coalition can take action to make a policy more than simply a desire, but a reality (Stone 1993). Elements of the process of regime formation include the ability to bargain and so utilize the market and public perception (Kantor and Savitch 1993) as well as work within an intergovernmental system (Kantor et al. 1997). Furthermore, as Marion Orr (1992) explains, there is a need for the development of human capital as an important resource in the process of policy development. To complete the original picture of regime theory, this concept of the network of players in the governing regime must come full circle back to the question of power. Individuals with resources, with connections, and with institutional legitimacy are likely to be heard by the city’s governing elites. In keeping with the notion of systemic power, these upper-strata individuals (the situational element) are advantaged (intergroup), because officials are providing them with some benefits of time and attention to their needs (indirect power). It is important to keep in mind here and throughout this dissertation that this type of power is working behind the scenes to structure the regime. Thus later, when the evidence is presenting suggesting that an outside ele- 16 ment to the regime – the federal government – is actively shaping the structure of the regime, it will be useful to return to this definition of power and reconsider it in light of this new evidence. Regime Typologies: Seeking Greater Specificity? Because regime theory emphasizes the role of business and economic elites in city governance, it begs the question of why cities would develop networks of nonprofit groups at all. Yet citizen needs are often addressed by such groups. For example, recent research conducted on the nonprofit and faith-based service delivery networks in Grand Rapids and Detroit suggests that several faith-based organizations play a central role in the provision of services in the area (Jackson-Elmoore et. al 2011), working to implement housing services for low- to moderateincome families. These organizations are fulfilling a key policy implementation niche which business and city government cannot either by choice or by limited resources. In particular, faith-based nonprofits are balancing their religious identity against the local policymaking culture which may or may not be favorable toward them. Many authors have worked to try to model the variety of regimes which exist, under the assumption that the original definition of regime theory is insufficient to explain the many forms of networks of interaction that arise in different cities. For example, Mark DeSocio (2007) argues that it is the characteristics of corporations and organizations that affects the type of regime, which can be roughly divided into developmental, caretaker and progressive regimes (in keeping with typologies developed by authors including Dowding 2001, Kilburn 2004, and Ward 1996). Generally, these authors agree that developmental regimes focus on policies for economic development, caretaker regimes on the maintenance of the status quo rather than policy change, and progressive regimes on opportunities for lower- and working-class citizens (DeSocio 2007; 349). 17 Alternatively, Stoker and Mossberger (1994) argue that regimes can be classified as organic, instrumental or symbolic. Organic regimes are focused on the status quo; they argue that caretaker, maintenance, and exclusive regimes are subtypes of organic regimes. Instrumental regimes seek short-term project completion, in order to achieve realistic policy quickly; here, developmental regimes are a subcategory. Symbolic regimes care about the city’s image and so work on envisioning a future for the city with a positive face; progressive regimes and lowerclass expansion regimes are subtypes of the symbolic regime. Clarence Stone’s (1993) typology of regimes is also useful to explore, as it highlights 1 four contexts in which outside actors participate within the regime for differing purposes . • Maintenance regimes serve as Stone’s comparison case for all types of regimes; these are primarily concerned with maintaining the status quo. Resources are not mobilized, dramatic change is discouraged, and the focus is on meeting the bare minimum provision of basic services. • Other cities establish development regimes where the goal is improved land use, to promote growth or discourage decline. These cities are characterized by upheaval and controversy, and so need significant cooperation among elites. In exchange, the rapid changes create many small job opportunities and so, opportunities to repay supporters with jobs and contracts. This can come with a steep price tag, as these regimes often need significant financial backing from state and local governments to afford these development projects. • Focusing on the quality of life, middle class progressive regimes emphasize affordable housing opportunities, affirmative action, and environmental and historical preservation. 1 Stone is quick to point out that the use of these typologies should be restricted to the American context, and may have limited applicability to other nation’s governing coalitions. 18 These regimes are notable for the need to coerce elites into participation, more so than in the other types of cities, and so require significant public support and participation in decision-making. Because of the emphasis on the quality of the city, these often become even more desirable cities for new business investment than development regimes. • Finally, Stone describes hypothetical regimes devoted to lower class opportunity expansion. These would be cities that offer extensive opportunities for enriched education and job training, promote transportation opportunities, and create avenues for individuals to own their own businesses and homes. This in turn would need the private sector’s support to develop. In each of Stone’s four types of regimes, the emphasis is on the actions of the city’s regime, rather than the players. Yet, with some consideration, it becomes clear who must be active in each type. For maintenance regimes, the players are participants in those long-standing networks of reciprocity who benefit from the maintenance of the status quo – small, local businesses, central and important city agencies, and outsiders representing large and stable interests (such as congregations with large populations). Development regimes are promoted by the network of large businesses, along with city, state, and national officials offering financial backing to encourage growth. Progressive regimes, on the other hand, are led by community groups and activists who promote improvements to the city, but are not as likely to concern themselves with issues like curbing sprawl. Finally, in the hypothetical fourth regime, the players would likely be representatives of minority interests in the community – immigrant groups, smaller congregations, social service providers. 19 Alternative Explanations of the Regime Several authors call for a fundamental shift in the definition of a regime to incorporate characteristics that are not captured by either the traditional definition or by existing typologies. Rather than comparisons across cities, these alternative explanations define the nature of the governing regime by looking across the region, by considering the development of growth machines, or by distinguishing characteristics of non-regime cities, ones lacking a discernable regime of any kind. New regionalism argues that the interaction of elected officials and nongovernmental elites across the suburbs and central city is best modeled by those collaborations that supersede city boundaries. Hamilton (2004) explains that regional regimes depend up on the degree of government and private sector commitment, and so can be classified as high, medium, or low involvement for each dimension. In this study, for example, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is categorized as having a medium government structure, because the county government was active in shaping policy, and a high private sector because the civic sector was unified, the community was involved and there was a crisis event mobilizing regional cooperation. Proponents of the city as a growth machine argue that cities want to encourage growth, or land-use economic development policies, above all other forms of policy. Growth regimes can develop among individuals who seek out this policy goal (Logan et al. 1997). In a sense, this offers a criticism of regime theory, in that it focuses so heavily on how resources and institutional structures explain regime change that it neglects the importance of individual ideological preferences for growth (McGovern 2009). Some critics of growth regimes argue that research has not considered the mobilization of anti-growth coalitions to counteract growth machines 20 (Schneider and Teske 1993) or that growth politics may not benefit all recipients in the city alike (Troutman 2004). Finally, it could be argued that urban politics’ primary focus on regime theory has neglected those cities that simply do not have stable regime. For example, Burns and Thomas (2006) look to the city of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and argue that this disaster was exacerbated by the lack of a regime presence. In particular, the city did not have a clearly defined policy agenda, was mismanaging resources, and was structured around issue coalitions, rather than stable governing networks. External Influences on the Regime The passage of Charitable Choice in 1996 represents an example of the federal government actively trying to shape the nature of city regimes nationwide (Jensen, N.d.). Charitable Choice insists that city and state officials cannot discriminate against faith-based groups when allocating funds for services. Thus, the national government is essentially telling cities that they must incorporate faith-based groups into service delivery, or at a minimum, cannot actively try to avoid contracting with these groups for services. The federal government is simultaneously trying to force cities to take faith-based organizations seriously and to encourage faith-based groups to see themselves as equitable players in the service delivery process. In either case, the environment in which these nonprofits operate locally has changed as a result of this policy’s passage. Regime theory, as it stands currently, cannot adequately explain the role of nonprofit groups as political actors, and in particular, their movement into the regime and their role as players (although perhaps secondary ones) in the policy process. This weakness will be explored at length in the dissertation. How and when do faith-based nonprofits in particular become part 21 of the urban regime? Are they given a significant voice in making decisions or must they fight to get any attention at all? And, if part of the regime, is their influence limited to just a few policy areas? City Leadership and Business Elites City officials and business elites are the primary players in traditional regime theory analysis. Mayors, city councils, and city managers work to shape a consistent policy agenda during their time in office. Some, such as Chicago’s Mayor Harold Washington, are able to use their position of access and influence to shape policies that benefit their constituencies in progressive regimes (Bennett 1987), although they may face opposition from local coalitions. In Detroit, Mayor Coleman Young was elected in 1973 following the progrowth attempts of the early 1970s, the first African American to hold the job (DiGaetano and Lawless 1999). Young was unable to create an effective partnership between businesses and the city (Orr and Stoker 1994), despite efforts to form “quasi-public development corporations: the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC), the Downtown Development Authority (DDA), and the Economic Development Corporation (EDC),” (DiGaetano and Lawless 1999; 559). Dennis Archer, Young’s successor, emphasized the development of land-use policy, including the designation of Empowerment Zone status, and the creation of the Greater Downtown Partnership (GDP), a coalition of business and civic leaders who helped create significant development opportunities, including the construction of baseball and football stadiums downtown, Comerica Park and Ford Field, respectively (DiGaetano and Lawless 1999; 563). The Role of State Leadership The active intervention by the federal government in the activities of states and cities is reminiscent of the role of state governments intervening in issue areas including local public ed- 22 ucation. States have worked to maintain a measure of control over local school districts by such means as promoting charter schools (Haring and Hula 2011) or state takeover of city school districts (Burns 2003). Through this external influence, the internal nature of the public education regime must shift, adjusting to the influence of charter schools (Haring and Hula 2011). Peter Burns is critical of existing regime theory, arguing that it does not adequately understand or appreciate the influence of extra-local actors, and particularly the importance of the state government (2003). In his 2002 case study of Hartford, Connecticut, Burns makes the claim that the governor of Connecticut was influential in providing inducements to members of the city regime to garner political support; that Hartford’s regime included the governor at all is the result of losing city leadership from local elites in the face of managerial issues. Burns and Thomas (2004; 2008) consider the nature of the regime in New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina. They make the argument here, like in their 2006 article discussing the failure of the non-regime, that New Orleans’ history of conflict between state and local officials were exacerbated by the natural disaster that devastated so much of the city. Looking Outside the Regime: Other Players in the Process By nature, regime theory models the complex interplay of relationships among the network of actors in a local area, as a result of stratified power that develops systemically (Stone 1980). To model the actions of the city, regime theorists have necessarily simplified the model of this network of reciprocity to the most central players, and so neglected the role of organizations like FBOs and attempts by other actors, like the federal government, to incorporate greater activity of extra-local actors within the regime. For example, when considering the federal Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Communities Program, authors Gittell, Newman, Bockmeyer, and Lindsay (1998) focus on the im- 23 portance of community capacity for the successful implementation of federal policy. Enterprise Zones, so highly praised in the 1980s as a mechanism to encourage the free market to address social and economic development, have proven to be difficult to evaluate in terms of the tangible impact on job creation and economic growth (Bingham, in Pelissero 2003). Corporate philanthropists also play a role, in that the nature of which businesses partner with particular nonprofit groups and educational institutions alters the ability of other business elites to influence city politics (Nevarez 2000). Furthermore, there is an important role for the policy entrepreneur in the process, helping define issues on the table, setting the agenda, promoting policy alternatives, and encouraging the diffusion of policy innovations from other states (Mintrom 1997). Criticisms of Regime Theory Critics of regime theory have offered various reasons for their disagreement. Of value here, however, are several schools of thought to consider and refute. The first argues that publicprivate partnerships are a more appropriate model for city politics than traditional regime theory. Another argument claims that regime theory simply doesn’t explain local politics, but rather captures some other dimension of power dynamics or has stretched the theory too far beyond its original intentions to be meaningful. Finally, there is the question of whether or not urban economic development is driven politically, as typified in the classic debate between Clarence Stone and David Imbroscio. Public-Private Partnerships As Richard D. Bingham argues in his chapter in Pelissero (2003), there is a potentially beneficial criticism to be made of economic development policies. He argues that there are essentially two dimensions to this evaluation: political scientists emphasize policy output while economists are concerned with policy outcomes. The difference here, he writes, is that policy 24 output is a matter of determining ways to attract new businesses, grow the tax base, encourage growth through land-use policy, and encourage development (p. 240). On the other hand, policy outcomes are concerned with increasing jobs and revenue (p. 242), the ultimate goals of the policies. He also argues that American development policy has gone through four eras, including the rapid expansion of public-private partnerships in the 1960s and 1970s. (p. 239) Proponents of public-private partnerships argue that they are a distinct form of cooperation between business and city leaders focused on addressing specific programs, rather than building long-term stable networks as in a regime. As Austin and McCaffrey (2002) explain, there is a “greater heterogeneity and diversity of engagement and partnering types than is generally recognized in traditional regime typologies,” (p. 35) in these partnerships. The federal Urban Development Action Grant is an example whereby central cities were supposed to see revitalization through federal grants that encouraged private businesses to invest in real estate development programs. Although it was eventually shut down by Congress, its output included 3,000 projects in 1,200 cities and helped encourage cities to seriously consider public-private partnership mechanisms (Bingham, in Pelissero 2003; 245-246). Other supporters of public-private partnerships have argued that regimes cannot address the political nature of economic development. For example, Henig and co-authors (2003) claim that private-sector partners act in political ways, despite the encouragement of free-market capitalism, in the areas of charter schools in the District of Columbia. In Detroit, on the other hand, Orr and Stoker (1994) argue that the city under Coleman Young was unable to effectively coordinate a public-private partnership as a result of hostilities between public and private elites. This argument is related to the next which considers the failure of regime theory to explain local politics. 25 Failure to Explain Local Politics Some authors take issue with the inability of regime theory to convincingly explain local politics, for several reasons. First, Jonathan Davies has been openly critical of regime theory, particularly its inability to explain city politics outside of the United States (2002a; 2003). Davies views cities in the United Kingdom as urban regeneration partnerships, rather than regimes, because they were cultivated through direct intervention of the central government where participation of businesses was induced by incentives, rather than arising organically (2003). This criticism merits consideration, because if the central government produces some reward for participation in an American regime, can that partnership truly be called a regime here? Building on this criticism, Sites (1997) argues that policy shifts in New York City are a matter of market and community action in addition to the existing regime. Sites comments that the emphasis on networks and elite activity is unable to adequately explain the problems faced by policymakers seeking progressive policies for community and housing development. Others have made the point that regime theory, in its original form, is not supposed to be an all-encompassing theory of all policy actions at the city level. In particular, Mossberger and Stoker (2001) are sharp critics of the problem of “concept-stretching”, where elements of the theory are removed in order to make it applicable to additional examples (p. 817). In particular, they continue, The term regime has been used to describe partnerships with no private-sector role…. To call this an urban regime is stretching the concept beyond the original meaning to include development coalitions with no private-sector participation. The appropriate strategy in this case is to rise to a higher level of abstraction— perhaps the concept of networks—that lacks the more specific connotation of urban regimes as government-business partnerships. (Mossberger and Stoker 2001; 817) 26 This criticism is useful for refuting Davies’s claim that regimes are not applicable in the UK. Indeed, they make the point that applications to any and all cities were never intended by Stone or Elkin, who were quick to specify that the theory cannot be assumed to exist in all cases (Ibid, p. 813). Furthermore, the authors consider that cross-national comparisons may be a case of “family resemblance,” (p. 818), wherein observations about international cities’ regimes can share similarities to U.S. cities but the political context is too different to call the U.S. examples an “ideal type” for comparison. Determinants of Urban Economic Development Arguably one of the most famous regime theory debates centers on the conflicting opinions expressed by Clarence Stone and David Imbroscio. The roots of the debate lie with the degree to which a regime is responsible for furthering a city’s economic success (Rast 2005) and whether the alternative economic development strategies put forth by Imbroscio represent a unique theoretical advancement of regime theory. Imbroscio draws upon a theory of the city (not based on regime theory), where it is in the unitary interest of cities to pursue economic development policy, based on work by Paul E. Peterson (1981). Peterson argued that the imperative of the city is to pursue economic development at all costs. Imbroscio (2003) expanded this, by arguing that regime theory cannot explain economic questions of the city in a meaningful and systematic way. Stone’s (2004a) critique of Imbroscio suggests that he treats the economic imperative as essential and thus, subordinates the role of politics in the city’s governance. Imbroscio (2004) responds by suggesting that a better interpretation of his point would be to consider the function of the city as in Elkin (1987), a commercial public interest where the determinants of economic policy are both ideology and raw political power. Stone (2004b) takes issue with Im- 27 broscio and here argues that, by rejecting a unitary interest, he is no longer putting forth a unique perspective on regime development. In the same series of articles in the debate, Stone takes up the work of Jonathan Davies (2002a; 2002b; 2003). Stone (2004a) responds to these pieces by arguing that Davies is too focused on producing a tight definition of a regime, when the field would be better served by exploring the characteristics which define the nature of regimes, through the alignment of agenda and resources. In response, Davies (2004) specifies that regimes need to be understood in geopolitical context because this context is essential to understanding their output. Unlike in the disagreement with Imbroscio, Stone (2004b) concedes that state and federal contexts are imperative to understanding the nature of the regime. Reactions to Literature Regime theory has also been tested and rejected by some authors in the discipline. Their criticisms are important to consider before wholly accepting an updated theory of nontraditional actors in the regime as I am suggesting here. Several authors have made the claim that not all cities are regime cities; some are organized by issue-based coalitions (Burns and Thomas 2006), others have fragmented power which is independent of the city government (Judd and Simpson 2003), while others should have the same regime type, given their similar formal and informal structures, but are governed very differently, indicating that another model would be more appropriate (Reese and Rosenfeld 2002). Bargaining models of local politics suggest that government influence is tied to business interests, as in the regime, but market conditions, publicprivate coordination, and competition for capital affect decisions made by the city (Kantor and Savitch 1993; Kantor et. al 1997; Kantor and Savitch 2008). Regionalism and new regionalism arguments are centered on relationships among cities or a central city and its surrounding sub- 28 urbs; this research suggests that a region is better able to address urban problems by enhancing competition for services (Owens 1998; Hamilton 2000; Dreier et. al 2001; Swanstrom 2001; Hamilton 2002; Hamilton 2004; Orfield 2008). As these criticisms have shown, a formal model of city policymaking cannot simply rely on the workings of a traditional regime. Other players seem to be active in many cities which go beyond the business-government informal partnership evinced in cities like Atlanta. Thus, I suggest that a model of local policymaking needs to consider both the nontraditional regime actors and the process of formal and informal policy debate that shapes the ultimate decisionmaking process. In the next section, I consider some relevant literature on the political activity of nonprofits. Potential Roles for Nonprofits within the Governing Regime Nonprofits serve several important functions within the city. They are most often policy implementers, carrying out the distribution of goods and services or acting as a liaison between groups and clients in the city. They can also advocate for policy change. For example, Ferris (1998) classifies four types of nonprofits: civic nonprofits, or watchdog organizations; policy advocates, offering new policy options; policy implementers who provide services to the community; or governing nonprofits, independent and alternative means for collective action. Faithbased organizations, in particular, serve as a stopgap in the service delivery system, often providing emergency resources that include food and shelter (Stritt 2008). One key, albeit less well understood, role that nonprofits can play in the regime is to assist in policy formulation. As implementers of policy, they institute social services and produce necessary and important collaborations between clients and government entities. However, they also have a role to play in the development of new policies. They can create new policies inter- 29 nally, and so act as innovators for a new approach that is later adopted by government agencies (Covey 1992). They also mediate among groups and strata in society, helping the disadvantaged to become more civically engaged (Berger and Neuhaus 1977; Miller 1994). Nonprofits can also expand government services, by bringing about new actions and policies that are related to, but go beyond the scope of existing policy (Laws 1997; Lowry 1995; Nyland 1995). Hula and Jackson-Elmoore (2001) have argued that faith-based organizations in particular provide a policy service that the market and public agencies cannot satisfy. They work from outside the regime to build economic capacity, promote social networks, reduce impediments to political engagement, and expand the issues and problems that the governing regime considers. As outsiders, they may become regime actors, because the relationship between churches and agencies is often more stable than other relationships and so is durable even in times of uncertainty (Wineberg 1996). The strength of these long-lasting partnerships produces what Hula, Jackson-Elmoore and Reese (2007) term a “social safety net” (p. 76). To be effective as a safety net, faith-based organizations require some flexibility from the governing regime (Ibid). These organizations must take on the nature of the regime and integrate themselves in to the existing agenda. Hula, Jackson-Elmoore and Reese (2007) further ask the important question about the nature of these relationships. Does the inclusion of faith-based groups significantly affect the nature of the regime overall? Perhaps some cities are more predisposed to favor morality-based issues or questions of social values that they would not have considered if not for the activity of faith-based groups. They ask if it is possible to restructure a regime, to actively attempt to change its structure in order to make it more likely to integrate the needs of the disadvantaged. 30 It is arguable that this kind of intervention is exactly what was intended by the passage of Charitable Choice. It provides an opportunity for faith-based groups to become active in a greater scope of local service areas, freed from some of the restrictions that had become prohibitive. However, it is less clear exactly what organizations would be included in this policy change and what the effects would or could potentially be for city governing structures as a result. The provision’s inclusion within PRWORA suggests that the role of faith-based actors in nonprofit service delivery was seen as a necessary, yet missing, component of the existing sector. By explicitly specifying that these faith-based organizations must be equal partners, even though they were already working independently of the regime, the national government was imposing some measure of control over the way that regimes develop. This, and subsequent public agencies coordinating faith-based organizations at the national and state level, reflect the nation-level perception that these organizations are necessary to the policy-making process, not just for policy implementation but for decision-making as well. 31 REFERENCES 32 REFERENCES Austin, J., and A. McCaffrey. 2002. “Business Leadership Coalitions and Public-Private Partnerships in American Cities: A Business Perspective on Regime Theory.” Journal of Urban Affairs 24 (1): 35-54. 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Charitable Choice, it is argued, is a concrete example of a quasi-experiment in service delivery. Supplementing the content analysis, interview data from Michigan policymakers serve to illustrate how these changes have taken place in various agencies across the state. Framing the Service Delivery Discourse The service delivery sector can be understood by looking to the relevant public policy discourse. To explain those choices, controversies, and compromises, it is useful to consider how mass media contextualizes the discourse by the use of frames. Frames are the categorization of ideas into meaningful and symbolic relationships to convey meaning to one’s audience (Radaelli 1999). Schon and Rein (1994) argued that policy positions develop out of frames, which they describe as an individual’s underlying beliefs and perceptions that inform the way new information is assimilated. Elites attempt to influence the development of policy frames (Abolafia 2004), by building upon existing myths, or stories in the culture (DeNeufville and Barton 1987) to provide simplified versions of reality which is tacitly understood by elites and the masses alike. Thus, the coverage of particular groups and activities affects perceptions about them in the community and among lawmakers. 40 When multiple frames are analyzed together, some authors argue that they should develop into a logical narrative, or a primary story that arises from the collections of fragmented points of view. Rochefort and Cobb (1994) argue that narratives can conflict because policy actors view the policy through unlike frames. Thus, a dominant metanarrative should resolve the conflict, “when one narrative more than any other becomes the way we best articulate our ‘real’ feelings or make sense of the uncertainties and ambiguities around us,” (Roe 1994; 51). While the actors on opposite sides may not agree, the readers select which perspective offers the most logical argument to resolve the ambiguity (Ibid; 12). For example, Stephenson and Chaves (2006) content analyzed newspaper coverage of a scandal involving The Nature Conservancy, a secular environmental organization. They found that coverage was biased against the organization and because of this, argue that it damaged the organization’s political reputation. Another important example is a piece by Matthew Hale (2007), who analyzed 1,034 articles in nine prominent newspapers across two time periods in 2003 that included one of these keywords in the headline or lead paragraph: philanthropy, nonprofit, charity, and foundation. Hale found that the majority of coverage was focused on local nonprofit activity, with fundraising efforts as the central theme of most articles. These articles highlighted individual organizations in a positive and predominant manner. In both examples, the authors were able to demonstrate the utility of content analysis as an approach for understanding nonprofit activity. Finally, value coding is the use of specific ideas to suggest an overall value, or idea that structures a story. As Corrigan (1990) explains, news copy includes encoded values that suggest the presence of an underlying theme. News stories have a natural rhythm of values, following familiar patterns of conflict over a power struggle and proximity, the local relevance of an issue. 41 For example, proximity is one of the most common value codes in newspaper copy (Corrigan 1990; Martens 1996; Gibelman and Gelman 2001); journalists like to sell stories of local human interest, especially ones related to the publication’s hometown. Content cues are bits of information that cue the reader on ways to follow up on a story (Rossow and Dunwoody 1991). It enables political participation and encourages engagement from the audience in the larger political discourse. In the text of the article, cues are certain keywords, stock phrases, stereotypes, sources of information and reinforcement of facts and opinions (Entman 1993). When the cues are made obvious and explicit by the journalist, the implied frame becomes more meaningful and visible. A Natural Experiment in Service Delivery The dissertation compares regimes in Grand Rapids and Detroit, Michigan before and after a natural experiment – the passage of Charitable Choice. This was a national policy which was intended to create significant local policy change, by trying to level the playing field between faith-based and secular service delivery nonprofits. Throughout, this dissertation assumes media coverage is an appropriate proxy measure of nonprofit activity, and activity implies participation in the regime. To understand the impact of Charitable Choice, content analysis of news stories infers the changing nature of regimes. In particular, the news stories are compared by frames of related keywords, in order to see how those changes, the frames within each sector (such as Emergency aid, under Social Services), have developed over time. Thus, changes in media frames imply changes in the nature of regimes. The research serves to explore whether Charitable Choice was a unique and isolated incident in the process of welfare reform or if it created a serious restructuring of local service deliv- 42 ery systems. It asks if this policy represented a change in the national discourse over service delivery, specifically through its emphasis on funding equality for faith-based groups. In turn, this will demonstrate the impact of Charitable Choice at the local level, affecting the role of nonprofits in local regimes. By using frames within relevant news stories as an indicator of political activity, the dissertation asks if the passage of Charitable Choice represented a significant turning point in the policy discourse for faith-based organizations working in three policy arenas: Housing, Social Services, and Development. These particular areas were selected to represent a broad cross-sampling of issues within the service delivery sector and account for variations over time. Charitable Choice is a natural experiment because the federal government made an overt policy change with the explicit intention of affecting local decision-making. In other local policy areas, such as public education, this kind of intervention did not occur within the comprehensive package of welfare reform. Researchers cannot change the nature of the political system and observe the effects of their manipulations, as they could in a true experiment, but rather must take the policy’s existence as a given and try to determine why it was chosen. Why this area of reform from among the many potential approaches that the federal government could have taken to impact local decision-making? The resulting, intangible changes to regime partnerships cannot be directly observed. Thus, the research here instead relies on the secondary, but tangible effects on how frames of service delivery options changed – namely, those keywords coded for within the dataset that focus on Housing, Social Services, and Development issues. Data Collection: Content Analysis and Interviews There are two separate methods of data collection employed in this project. These two approaches are complementary. First, a content analysis of news stories has been conducted. This data collection effort follows the nontraditional approach of considering trends in news 43 coverage as indicators of changes in the policy patterns. Second, a series of interviews were conducted with prominent policymakers in Michigan. Content analysis is the study of the text of documents in order to gain insight into patterns which arise. In this particular research approach, it is used to trace the changes in local regimes by understanding how various service agencies and organizations interact with government agents over time. This approach was selected because other methods of analysis, such as case studies of individual cities, cannot systematically explain how and when national level policymaking intervened in local policymaking, specifically in the nonprofit service delivery sector. As was explained in the previous chapter, the efforts of national policymakers to shape local policymaking are significant and not well-understood in the context of faith-based service delivery. To supplement the content analysis, a series of interviews were conducted with nonprofit representatives, and city and state officials. These interviews highlight key features of the regimes in Detroit and Grand Rapids. They serve to clarify how the framing changes reflect concrete changes in partnerships among agencies and faith-based organizations. Interviews give a voice to the theoretical concept of regime theory and help explain how these ideas translate into reality. The methodological approach to the interview process is discussed following the section on content analysis of news stories. News Stories News stories were collected to understand changing trends in salience of nonprofit activity in three service delivery areas over time: housing, social services, and development. Four newspapers were analyzed: New York Times, U.S. News and World Report, Detroit News, and Grand Rapids Press. These papers were selected to represent national and local media. The papers represent roughly the same time frame, although the number of years available for thorough 44 analysis varied somewhat from paper to paper. Articles span the time frame prior to and following the passage of Charitable Choice at the national level and the years following it at the local level. There is some precedent for this approach to analysis of faith-based nonprofits, but research has not occurred systematically in order to compare local politics to national-level policy change, (see for example Gibelman and Gelman 2002). The New York Times and U.S. News and World Report, were selected for their national focus and broad scope of coverage as well as their large circulation and readership, and the Detroit News and Grand Rapids Press, are the primary papers in their respective cities, offering the greatest possibility of reflecting the service sector accurately. The selection of two local Michigan newspapers, rather than a different set of cities, allows the cases to focus on the nature of regimes in Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan. This approach is preferable to a comparison of two cities from different states which may be affected not only by this national policy intervention via Charitable Choice but also by the differences between the two states’ policy environments, including government leadership, economic health, and civic culture. The total range of available data varies by newspaper. Both national papers are searchable prior to the passage of Charitable Choice, beginning in 1994, while the two local papers are not. However, local papers demonstrate more recent changes to the Housing, Social Services, and Development sectors. The number of articles available per year is as follows: 45 TABLE 3-1: Total Number of Articles per Newspaper 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Total US News New York and World Times Report 148,924 2,368 140,457 2,606 137,382 2,575 148,805 2,674 163,013 1,887 166,737 1,812 277,544 1,952 249,322 2,145 159,910 2,039 200,633 1,925 177,983 1,967 147,393 1,840 128,507 1,627 124,419 1,690 1,258 2,371,029 30,365 2 2 Detroit News 17,032 18,738 17,419 24,764 26,288 27,356 31,855 24,296 29,973 29,088 30,087 16,853 293,749 Grand Rapids Press 28,197 64,374 67,997 68,100 70,704 81,184 76,652 65,266 51,105 43,446 40,052 657,077 Data was obtained from the following online search engines: New York Times – Proquest Historical; U.S. News and World Report - Business Source Complete; Detroit News and Grand Rapids Press – NewsBank. 46 FIGURE 3-1: Total Number of Articles per Newspaper New York Times - Total Articles 300,000 Number of Articles 250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 50,000 0 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Year US News and World Report - Total Articles 3,000 Number of Articles 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Year 47 FIGURE 3-1 (cont’d) Detroit News - Total Articles 35,000 Number of Articles 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Year Grand Rapids Press - Total Articles 90,000 80,000 Number of Articles 70,000 60,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Year 48 As the previous table and figures demonstrate, the data range covers both pre- and postCharitable Choice coverage. This will be used as an indicator of changes in the service delivery discourse both nationally and locally in the test case cities. Although there are many more articles in the New York Times for the data range available, the use of proportions of coverage will demonstrate patterns in coverage that correspond to greater activity of these groups. TABLE 3-2: Keywords for Nonprofit Activity 3 Housing Public assistance for housing: Affordable housing Low income housing MSHDA Public housing Rental assistance Section 8 housing Subsidized housing Social Services Addressing food insecurity: Development Community development: Bridge card Electronic Bank Transfer (EBT) Food bank Food insecurity Food pantry Food stamps Hunger Starvation Business district Commercial development Community participation Community development Economic Development Micro enterprise Financial assistance for families: Affordable home loan Affordable housing loan Home buyer program Low income home loan Low income housing loan Departments, programs, and policies: Aid to Families with Dependent Children Crime prevention Department of Human Services Drug counseling Medicaid Temporary Aid to Needy Families Welfare Youth program Access and engagement: 3 Disability Empowerment Handicap access Ministry Outreach Volunteer As this table indicates, there was a considerable amount of overlap in the kinds of keywords within each area of nonprofit activity. For example, “homeless” and “homelessness” were both searched for in this dataset. The reasoning for including both here is that certain keywords indicate the same concepts but, because both are not necessarily present in all of the same articles, can produce additional search results. In order to be as thorough in collecting news stories, some overlap is necessary to systematically observe the changing policy arenas over time. 49 TABLE 3-2 (cont’d) Housing Homelessness and substandard housing: Homeless Homelessness Home repair Housing renovation Landlord tenant mediation Temporary shelter Social Services Medical care and intervention: Free clinic Intervention Medical aid Medical care Mental health Mentally ill Referral Development Departments, programs, and policies: Adult education Basic skills Job training Literacy Michigan Economic Development Corporation Voter access Emergency aid: Emergency aid Emergency relief Articles from these four papers were collected using keyword searches for relevant areas of nonprofit activity. There are three areas of service delivery: Housing, Social Services, and Development. Table 3-2 above demonstrates the relevant keywords to each policy arena. The frames group similar keywords together based on shared characteristics; this allows the analysis to visualize nuanced changes in each sector instead of just the changes in overall proportion of Housing, Social Services, or Development attention per year. Both content analysis and interviews have some weaknesses, but the two complement one another. The number of years available varies somewhat from paper to paper, although all demonstrate a satisfactory span of time to track changes. Most significantly, there is not cover4 age in the Michigan newspapers prior to the passage of Charitable Choice . By itself, this would make it difficult to understand whether the policy changed the nature of the existing service de- 4 Local newspapers were not available for electronic public access prior to these dates. While this is a limitation of the results, interview content will supplement the lack of information from the papers. 50 livery sector in Michigan. This limitation is addressed by the interviews with Michigan policymakers from a variety of agencies relevant to these three policy arenas. Yet, interviews alone cannot adequately demonstrate changes in policy over time. They are excellent in-depth resources to understand the individual experience of policymakers at these agencies but are limited, by the individual’s personal experiences and by which agencies were selected. However together, the two sources provide a relatively complete picture of the development of policy prior to and following Charitable Choice. It is possible to trace how policy arose at the national level and affected Michigan’s service sector. The interview process and analysis will be discussed next. Michigan Policymaker Interviews 5 The purpose of these interviews was to speak directly with representatives of Michigan agencies to understand their interaction with local groups over time. A list of subjects to contact regarding their activity was compiled in advance. 6 These subjects were asked the same ques- tions to maintain consistency; interviews were recorded and transcribed with the subjects’ full consent and knowledge. Table 3-3 at the end of the chapter lists the represented agencies; individuals interviewed, and the dates of interviews. As it demonstrates, there was a wide variety of sectors represented in these conversations. 5 Interviews were conducted with full exemption from the Institutional Review Board (IRB), with their consent and under the supervision of Dr. Richard Hula, dissertation chair and primary investigator. IRB exemption was granted on February 24, 2011. 6 Michigan policymakers were selected to represent three areas in the cities: faith-based nonprofits, secular nonprofits, and government agencies. In each interview, respondents were asked to recommend contacts at their partner organizations and other agencies in the city; these individuals were contacted. Of the original nineteen agencies contacted, the fourteen agencies in Table 2.3 were available and willing to be interviewed. 51 Interview subjects were selected to represent the three primary arenas of service delivery. These interviews are illustrative, helping demonstrate how these areas experienced changes to their partnerships in the post-Charitable Choice era. For each city, there are representatives from several areas of interest: actively faith-based organizations (Central Detroit Christian and Inner City Christian Federation), formerly faith-based organizations (JVS and Dwelling Place), secular nonprofits and community membership organizations (Midtown Detroit; Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision; U-Snap-Bac; and Home Repair Services), and private development contractors (Detroit Economic Growth Corporation and Neighborhood Ventures). Additionally, attempts were made to speak with city and state officials, with several agreeing to be interviewed. Where possible, interviews were conducted with the executive director or similar contact person at each location. Questions were grouped around seven categories, along with a final prompt for additional information. First, interview subjects were asked to identify themselves and their position at the agency. Next, they were asked to identify the types of clients served by that agency and what services they provide. Third, subjects were asked about the agency’s partner organizations and the service delivery network in the area. Then, this topic was narrowed to ask specifically about partnerships with religious organizations, if not yet identified. Following these sections, the interview transitioned to ask about the operations of the agency itself. First, the subjects were asked about the agency’s sources of financial support as well as how, if at all, they provide financial support to local nonprofit organizations. Then, they were asked about their role in city policymaking. Finally, subjects were asked to identify challenges regularly faced by the agency, particularly those relevant to client services. As a final check, interview subjects were prompted 52 to provide any other information not yet given and recommendations of contacts to interview at partner organizations. The analysis of these interviews is very different from the content analysis of news stories. It is not designed to be a systematic and comprehensive data source, but rather a supplemental avenue for additional information which is not gleaned purely through content analysis. Interviews were reviewed for common themes and are utilized in the following chapters by comparing the responses to similar questions. The discussion of interview results will be paired with historical context to complete the case studies of each city. Beyond looking for similarities across question areas, each interview was analyzed separately to determine what kind of experience the agency has had over time. Agencies and organizations are roughly grouped together based on their work in the Housing, social service, or Development sector, and also compared among faith-based and secular nonprofits as well as government agencies. This analysis asks if agencies experience changes in their ability to serve clients over time, particularly if Charitable Choice impacts the religious organizations. These data provide a wealth of complex information that the news stories could not provide. They serve to supplement the content analysis to understand the pre-Charitable Choice policy environment in Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan. This is the most beneficial part of conducting interviews – they provide insight into the complicated worlds within agencies that cannot be viewed simply through multiple choice survey instruments or analysis of patterns over time in news stories. In the following chapters, patterns of policy implementation pre- and post-Charitable Choice at the national and then local levels will be analyzed. In both chapters, content analysis will identify patterns in the post-Charitable Choice environment. The national level analysis will 53 also identify the pre-Charitable Choice context. In the local level analysis, this context will be considered more thoroughly through the use of interview questions. 54 TABLE 3-3: Interview Subjects 7 11/18/2011 10/28/2011 City Agency Department / Type of Agency Central Detroit Christian Community Development Corporation (Est. 1994) Michigan State Housing Development Authority (Est. 1966) Date of Interview DETROIT 2/13/2012 U-Snap-Bac, Inc. (Est. 1987) Service Delivery Area Type of Agency Housing Housing Housing Representative, Title Service Delivery Area Faith-based organization (without particular church affiliation) Lisa Johanon, Executive Director and Founder (Since 1994) Youth education; Employment training and placement; Housing rehabilitation; Homeownership counseling; Business counseling State agency Anonymous, Homeownership Counseling Specialist for Wayne County (Since 2008) Oversee homeownership counseling agencies; Technical assistance to local agencies; Grant management Anonymous, Executive Director (Since 1994) Nonprofit housing corporation providing low- to moderate-income housing and rental properties; Nonprofit community development corporation Secular nonprofit; Community membership organization 7 Some interview subjects are anonymous, where permission was not given during tape-recorded portion of interview. Dwelling Place is listed as a Social Services area, because of supportive services provided to residents of the special needs rental housing tenants in conjunction with supportive services for the residents, such as substance abuse or domestic violence victim counseling. 55 TABLE 3-3 (cont’d) Agency Date of Department / Type City Interview of Agency JVS Career Initiative Center DETROIT (Est. 1941 as Jewish Vocational 11/30/2011 Service) Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision 11/18/2011 (Est. 1993) 11/6/2011 Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (Est. 1978) Midtown Detroit, Inc. (Est. 1976; Merged with New Center 11/23/2011 Council in 2011) Service Delivery Area Type of Agency Social Services Founded as faithbased organization (no longer actively faith-based) Social Services Community membership organization Representative, Title Diane Bonds, Program Manager of CIC (Since 2001) Anonymous, Interim Executive Director (Term length unknown) Private development contractor for city Development of Detroit Malik Goodwin, Vice President of Project Management (Since 2002) Development Secular nonprofit Elise Fields, Senior Community Planner (Since 2008) 56 Service Delivery Area Job training for homeless; Outreach for developmentally disabled and veterans; Assessments for Michigan Rehabilitation Services Collect and dissemination information on issues to improve environment and quality of life for residents Coordination with private developers for public infrastructure; Developing public land around private developments Planning and development; Physical maintenance and revitalization of Midtown / New Center neighborhoods TABLE 3-3 (cont’d) City GRAND RAPIDS Date of Interview Agency Department / Type of Agency 12/6/2011 City of Grand Rapids Community Development (Incorporated 1838) Home Repair Services 11/18/2011 (Est. 1979) Inner City Christian Federation 11/28/2011 (Est. 1977) Michigan State Housing Development Authority 10/28/2011 (Est. 1966) Service Delivery Area Type of Agency Housing City agency Housing Secular nonprofit Housing Faith-based organization (founder: Eastern Avenue Christian Reformed Church) Housing State agency 57 Representative, Title Erin Banchoff, Administrative Services Officer II (Community Development Manager, Since 1999) Stan Greene, Resource Development Manager (Since 2008) Jonathan Bradford, President and Chief Executive Officer (Since 1981) Anonymous, Homeownership Counseling Specialist for Western Michigan (Since 2005) Service Delivery Area Homebuyer assistance; Housing rehabilitation; Rental rehabilitation DIY home repairs training; Emergency repairs; Financial counseling; Foreclosure intervention Housing development; Housing rehabilitation; Rental rehabilitation; Homeownership counseling; Commercial development; Emergency shelter; For-profit mortgage company Oversee homeownership counseling agencies; Technical assistance to local agencies; Grant management TABLE 3-3 (cont’d) City Date of Interview Agency Department / Type of Agency Service Delivery Area GRAND RAPIDS Dwelling Place of Grand Rapids, Inc. 11/21/2011 (Est. 1980) Social Services Type of Agency Founded as faithbased organization (no longer actively faith-based) City of Grand Rapids Economic Development 10/27/2011 (Incorporated 1838) Development City agency Neighborhood Ventures 11/23/2011 (Est. 2006) Representative, Title Jarrett DeWyse, Director of Housing Development (Since 1996) Kara Wood, Director (Since 2007) Private development Mark Lewis, contractor for city of Executive Director Development Grand Rapids (Since 2009) 58 Service Delivery Area Provide affordable rental housing to special-needs populations (mental illness, homeless, domestic violence); Provide support services; Neighborhood revitalization Administration of tax incentives for developers; Recruitment and retention of businesses; Long-term publicprivate partnerships Neighborhood economic development; Business recruitment and retention; Business corridor organizing; Business financing; Event planning REFERENCES 59 REFERENCES Abolafia, M. Y. 2004. "Framing Moves: Interpretive Politics at the Federal Reserve." Journal of Public Administration Research And Theory 14 (3):349-70. Corrigan, D. M. 1990. “Value Coding Consensus In Front Page News Leads.” Journalism Quarterly 67(4):653-662. DeNeufville, J. I., and S. E. Barton. 1987. "Myths and the Definition of Policy Problems: An Exploration of Home Ownership and Public-Private Partnerships." Policy Sciences 20:181-206. Entman, R. M. 1993. “Framing: Toward Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm.” Journal of Communication 43(4):51-58. Gibelman, M., and S. R. Gelman. 2001. “Very Public Scandals: Nongovernmental Organizations in Trouble.” Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 12 (1): 49-66. __________. 2002. “Should We Have Faith in Faith-Based Social Services? Rhetoric Versus Realistic Expectations.” Nonprofit Management & Leadership 13 (1): 49-65. Hale, M. 2007. “Superficial Friends: A Content Analysis of Nonprofit and Philanthropy Coverage in Nine Major Newspapers.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 36 (3): 465486. Martens, T. A. 1996. “The News Value of Nonprofit Organizations and Issues.” Nonprofit Management and Leadership 7(2):181-192. Radaelli, C. M. 1999. "The Power of Policy Narratives in the European Union: The Case of Tax Policy." In Public Policy and Political Ideas, ed. D. Braun and A. Busch. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc. Rochefort, D. A., and R. W. Cobb. 1994. "Problem Definition: An Emerging Perspective." In The Politics of Problem Definition: Shaping the Policy Agenda. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. Roe, E. 1994. Narrative Policy Analysis: Theory and Practice. Durham: Duke University Press. Rossow, M. D., and S. Dunwoody. 1991. “Inclusion of "Useful" Detail in Newspaper Coverage of a High-Level Nuclear Waste Siting Controversy.” Journalism Quarterly 68 (Spring / Summer): 87-100. 60 Schon, D. A., and M. Rein. 1994. "Policy Controversies as Frame Conflicts." In Frame Reflection: Toward the Resolution of Intractable Policy Controversies. New York: BasicBooks. Stephenson Jr., M., and E. Chaves. 2006. "The Nature Conservancy, the Press, and Accountability." Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 35 (3):345-66. 61 NATIONAL EVIDENCE: CHARITABLE CHOICE AND THE CHANGING DISCOURSE AROUND SERVICE DELIVERY Introduction In this chapter, descriptive statistics from national coverage are analyzed, in order to better understand the changes in the national discourse. This information will inform the following chapters, which analyze local implementation in Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan and then compare from national to local changes. In this chapter, these hypotheses are tested using the dataset of articles from the New York Times and U.S. News and World Report: Hypothesis 1: Changes in federal policy preferences targeted to nonprofits expanded the scope of national discourse around nonprofits over time. Hypothesis 2: Specific federal policy interventions targeted to nonprofits expanded the scope of national discourse around nonprofits during years of intervention. For both, it is argued that it is possible to infer the nature of activities that occur in society from public discourse, as reported by the media. In particular, inferences are made about the nature of activity of local nonprofits within local regimes. Hypothesis 1 tests whether the activity of nonprofits increased over time, to understand if this change is caused by increased national attention to these specific service areas after the passage of Charitable Choice in 1996. Here, scope of activity is defined by increased coverage of the frames given for each service area: housing, social services, and development. Hypothesis 2 further refines the first hypothesis, to consider the impact of specific policy interventions, rather than changes overall. It tests if national attention is at its greatest in 1996, after the passage of Charitable Choice, and in 2001, when the White House Office of FaithBased and Community Initiatives opened. Spikes in coverage indicate greater salience of the 62 service delivery sector in the policy discourse. This rests on the premise that, biased or not, newspapers are reporting on issues that get the most political attention at any given time. Politicians and the public look to the media to stay informed and use the media as a means to inform one another. Coverage reflects the political environment; thus, years of greater coverage or increasing trends of coverage over time reflect greater political attention and interest to these issues. As a reminder, the following service delivery areas are examined within this analysis: Housing, Social Services, and Development. For each service delivery area, the results are compared by frames, which are comprised of the keywords given in Table 3-2. These frames were selected to organize the information into similar concepts that simplify and organize related words and phrases from each service delivery area. Tracking changes in these frames gives greater depth of information regarding regime change. It is not useful to compare the total number of articles per frames, as these numbers can vary considerably from one paper to the next, based on the number of articles that the paper writes in a given year. Thus, proportions of coverage per year are used, because these can be compared across newspapers without confusion. Frames are calculated as follows: percentage per frame is equal to the total number of occurrences of all keywords fitting that frame, divided by the total number of all articles published in a given year. 63 National Housing Discourse 8 For the New York Times and U.S. News and World Report , there was greatest coverage of Housing issues during the years of 1994 to 1999. In Figure 4-2, Housing articles are categorized by the following frames: • Homelessness and substandard housing: Homeless, Homelessness, Housing renovation, Home repair, Landlord tenant mediation, Temporary shelter • Financial assistance for families: Affordable home loan, Affordable housing loan, Low income home loan, Low income housing loan, Home buyer program • Public assistance for housing: Subsidized housing, Public housing, Rental assistance, Section 8 housing, MSHDA , Low income housing, Affordable housing Categorically, there are two different trends. First, in the New York Times, the greatest attention over time is framed as Homelessness and substandard housing issues. For example, one article in the search was focused on New York policy, beginning: “The state's top court ordered New York City today to pay more than $3.5 million in fines to 5,000 homeless families that have been forced to spend nights on tables, chairs and floors in city offices rather than in suitable shelters.” 9 8 Search results from the New York Times are drawn by entering keywords into the “abstract” search field in the ProQuest Historical search engine. Search results from U.S. News and World Report are drawn by entering keywords into the “abstract or author-supplied abstract” search field in the Business Source Complete search engine. 9 New York Times. 1994. “Albany Court Backs Ruling On Homeless: New York Told to Pay Families $3.5 Million Albany Court Backs Ruling On Homeless in New York.” May 11: B1. Please note, this and all subsequent quotes from the New York Times are taken from the abstract of the story; this is the unit observed in the original keyword search. 64 FIGURE 4-1: Proportions of National Housing Frames per Year 65 On the other hand, U.S. News and World Report emphasizes Public assistance for housing. For instance, one search returned the following: “Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros has long talked passionately, if generally, about the need to help publichousing residents escape neighborhoods of ‘concentrated poverty.’” 10 For both, Financial assis- tance for families is the least salient frame, with almost no coverage of low-income loans or homebuyer assistance. Issues of homelessness and the need for improved housing circumstances are the highest priority in the national housing service delivery discussion during this time span. The national service delivery discourse was centered on housing issues in general, rather than the more technically complicated and potentially politically-charged issues of loan and mortgage assistance. Second, in both papers, interest in housing services is elevated prior to 1999, and reduced from 2000 and after. The average proportion of coverage per year from 1994 to 1999 is 0.15% for the New York Times and 0.25% for U.S. News and World Report. After 2000, the averages are 0.08% and 0.16%, respectively. Similar trends are observed among the three Housing frames. Financial assistance issues are not very salient in the national discourse, even when controlling for paper to paper variation, while stories of homelessness issues are widely addressed by the New York Times and public housing assistance by U.S. News and World Report. Thus, Hypothesis 1 is rejected for housing, because the scope of activity does not increase in either newspaper’s coverage, indicating no change in the scope of activity. Furthermore, coverage is elevated through 1999, and decreased afterwards, which suggests that the time frame in Hypothesis 2 cannot be supported as it is. 10 U.S. News & World Report. 1994. “A new city-suburbs hookup.” July 18: 117 (3). Please note, this and all subsequent quotes from U.S. News and World Report are from the story lead, the first sentences of the story. 66 National Social Services Discourse Social Services encompass food insecurity, emergency assistance, medical care for the poor, and relevant programs and policies. The following frames are included within the category of Social Services: • Addressing food insecurity: Bridge card, Electronic Bank Transfer (EBT), Food bank, Food insecurity, Food pantry, Food stamps, Hunger, Starvation • Emergency aid: Emergency aid, Emergency relief • Medical care and intervention: Intervention, Free clinic, Medical aid, Medical care, Mental health, Mentally ill, Referral • Departments, programs, and policies: Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Crime prevention, Department of Human Services, Drug counseling, Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Welfare, Youth program For the New York Times, there is a dramatic difference before and after the year 2000. On average, 0.93% of all coverage in those years related to Housing issues, while from 2000 and after, the average drops to 0.45% of stories. One story from 2002, for example, discussed unique food bank offerings: “It could easily cost $250 to outfit a child for school with sneakers, binders and notebooks, consuming the pay of a parent who makes $8 an hour. With that in mind, New Jersey's largest food bank, the Community FoodBank in Hillside, has begun offering supplies for needy students in time for the first day of classes.” 11 Additionally, the average proportion of Social Services coverage is much higher for all years in the U.S. News and World Report than in the New York Times (1.97% and 0.66%, respectively). One such story discussed policy changes, asking “What should the government do about the spiraling growth of out-of-wedlock births? 11 New York Times. 2002. “Supplies for Needy Students.” Aug 21: B8. 67 That question last week bitterly split lawmakers … [over] the nation's main welfare program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children.” 12 Nationally, the Social Services policy discourse was concerned with improving welfare laws and medical coverage, particularly for the indigent, over time. Logically, they both highlight Medical care and intervention issues, over the other three frames, as a result of the high number of “medical care” keywords within that category. As in the Housing sector, Hypothesis 1 is rejected for Social Services; Hypothesis 2 is somewhat supported by the New York Times which again has elevated coverage through 1999 but rejected in the U.S. News and World Report entirely. FIGURE 4-2: Proportions of National Social Services Frames per Year 12 U.S. News & World Report. 1995. “The untidy task of reforming welfare.” Sept 25: 16. 68 FIGURE 4-2 (cont’d) National Development Discourse Development issues reflect the same trends as in Social Services. The New York Times is elevated before and reduced after 2000, but there is not such a strong division in the other paper. Development is divided by these frames: • Community development: Business district, Commercial development, Community participation, Community development, Economic development, Micro enterprise • Access and engagement: Disability, Empowerment, Handicap access, Outreach, Ministry, Volunteer • Departments, programs, and policies: Adult education, Basic skills, Job training, Literacy , Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Voter access 69 In both national papers, coverage primarily focuses on Access and engagement. This category particularly is dominated by coverage of the keywords “volunteer” and “ministry.” For example, in the New York Times, one such quote reads, “The employees of 30 agencies are taking part in volunteer activities and other pro bono work this week to counter what they consider a problem: New York City's reputation for cynicism.” 13 This suggests that community engagement is most primarily an issue of getting people to participate. Similarly, the U.S. News and World Report, the same search term returns hits such as: “John McGrath looks forward to the four hours he spends every Tuesday morning in the emergency department at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City. As a volunteer, the former homicide detective and private investigator offers warm blankets or juice to patients in the 27-bed unit.” 14 As in previous service delivery areas, the overall proportion of coverage per year for the U.S. News and World Report is much higher than in the New York Times. The average U.S. News and World Report proportion per year is 1.16%, as opposed to 0.21% for the New York Times. Development peaks in several key years (1994, 1997, 2000, and 2004) followed by small declines in coverage. Finally, Hypothesis 1 can be completely rejected because neither paper’s coverage increased over time. Hypothesis 2 reflects a similar trend to Social Services for Development, in that New York Times coverage is elevated through 1999 and diminished afterwards, somewhat different from the predicted pattern and completely rejected by the U.S. News and World Report. 13 New York Times. 1996. “ADDENDA: AN EFFORT TO COUNTER NEW YORK CYNICISM.” Mar 28: D9. 14 U.S. News & World Report. 2006. “Wisdom of the Ages.” July 17: 141 (2). 70 FIGURE 4-3: Proportions of National Development Frames per Year 71 Final Analysis of National Data After analyzing these three service areas, the following conclusions can be made about the hypotheses. First, Hypothesis 1 expected that coverage would increase over time, reflecting greater attention to these issues. This hypothesis is rejected by national data; instead, there was much greater attention to these issues prior to the year 2000 and decreasing national attention from that point on. Next, Hypothesis 2 predicted that the years of 1996 and 2001 would produce higher salience for these areas as well. This hypothesis not supported by the data either. Rather, the data is elevated through 1999, and reduced afterwards. These trends indicate that the opening of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives occurred simultaneously with some degree of devolution of responsibility to states and localities. The national debate does not continue to grow over time, as predicted, but drops off, implying that these issues were replaced with other pressing questions at the national level. In the next two chapters, data from two Michigan cities are considered to see if Michigan picked up the issues of nonprofit activity after 2000 and it became a priority for states from then onward. 72 ARISE FROM THE ASHES: A CASE STUDY OF DETROIT, MI City Motto: “Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus.” (We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes.) Michigan’s first and second largest cities, Detroit and Grand Rapids, are very different from one another, despite their shared history. In recent decades, Detroit has suffered severe political and social upheaval, lost population, and declined economically. At the same time, Grand Rapids has become a thriving, if smaller, urban environment attracting commerce and residents alike. Detroit’s population has fell by almost 800,000 residents since the 1970s while the population of Grand Rapids has remained fairly stable over these same years (Census.gov). In comparing the two cities, it is important to consider several facets of their histories: historical and modern context, development of the social services sector, the history of religion and faith-based organizations, characteristics of the nonprofit sectors in each city, and changing nonprofit activity in the areas of housing, social services, and development over time. This chapter and the next, on Grand Rapids, examine each city’s service sector. However, to understand how these sectors developed, it is important to recognize that the cities are not complete opposites. Popular perceptions suggest that Detroit is a politically liberal, African American, poor and economically depressed city, while Grand Rapids is conservative, white, wealthier and economically healthier. However, the differences between these cities are more complicated than popular perception suggests. Indeed, there are examples of conservative preferences in the city of Detroit (such as attitudes towards gay marriage) and progressive ones in the city of Grand Rapids (such as support for the arts community). Case studies of these cities showcase the range of differences between the two in order to understand how they have changed over time – for Detroit, perception is not necessarily reality. 73 History of Detroit Foundations and Early Political Culture Detroit, Michigan traces its history to the earliest French settlers in the country, who sought out the area for fur-trapping and convenient access to French Canada through the Great Lakes. In 1669, Adrien Jolliet became the first recorded white man to visit the Detroit area; he subsequently explored the state from Sault Ste. Marie to Lake Erie, traveling through Lakes Huron and St. Clair (Woodford and Woodford 1969). After his exploration, fur-trapping became an important business, drawing a rising population to the area, to supply a growing European demand for fur. By 1701, Sieur Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac, established Fort Pontchartrain and the settlement La Ville d’Étroit, later christened Detroit (Catton 1984). Cadillac is credited with developing the French settlement into a prosperous frontier village, and has been colorfully described as such: He was hard-boiled, imaginative, ruthless, capable, and not overburdened by conscience. He was a blend of empire builder, idealist, and bravo. He was a soldier, explorer, possibly a pirate, politician, and able administrator. He was, in short, a man of parts and a successful one. (Woodford and Woodford 1969; 32) Under Cadillac’s control, the village developed around the French fort, to include a stockade surrounding the homes for protection, several streets, and a few buildings – only the area of about a city block today (Catton 1984; Woodford and Woodford 1969). French control of the area was maintained for several decades, before the British seized Detroit in 1760. They retained control until 1796, despite rapidly increasing conflict with native populations who repeatedly fought to drive the British away. Americans, like the native people, had also grown weary of the British control and were infuriated when Britain passed the Quebec Act, annexing land from Ohio to the Mississippi River to Quebec and essentially returning the British territory to the French. American troops marched on the village of Detroit and began occupying it on July 11, 1796. In 1805, 74 the territory of Michigan was created and Detroit was named the first seat of government. Michigan became a state in 1837, naming Detroit as its first capital; Detroit remained the seat of government until 1847, when the capital was relocated to Lansing. Throughout the early 1800s, Detroit grew with the influx of New England settlers, attracted by the convenience of steamboat travel through the Great Lakes from Buffalo, New York. Improvement of the public face of Michigan, once seen as a dangerous frontier, is credited to Lewis Cass (Woodford and Woodford 1969). Cass crafted treaties with native people to gain access to more land for farming settlements and encouraged citizens to write their families, praising the virtues of Michigan. In 1819, the city’s population was about 1,100; by 1860, it was over 45,600 – requiring municipal services to grow. By 1802, the city was officially incorporated, with a board of five trustees, secretary, assessor, tax collector, and marshal to serve the small population. The first order of business for the board was fire protection. They required all homeowners to, “keep a ladder on his roof, to have fire buckets, and to cover his hearth fire every night,” (Woodford 2001; 37). This proved to be insufficient, and in 1805 the village was devastated by a fire which left only a warehouse, blockhouse and a few chimneys standing among the ashes. After the fire, the city officials chose not to rebuild the same, small community, but expanded city boundaries by ten thousand acres. The redevelopment plan called for a grid of city streets that gave significant, large parcels of land to all who lost their homes in the fire – marking the historical preference for single-family homes in the city (Woodford 2001). With the new plan for city development, services were needed for those who chose to remain in Detroit rather than travel west to the unsettled frontier land. Waterworks were privately owned in 1827, and sold to the city in 1836; gas lighting was available by 1851 and electricity 75 by 1882. Streetcar lines were built in 1863, first along Jefferson, Woodward, Gratiot and Michigan Avenue, and later spanning much of the city (Woodford 2001). The automotive industry began in the city in 1899, with the founding of the first Olds automotive factory. By 1903, Ford Motor Company, Cadillac Automobile Company, and Buick Motor Car Company were organized and operational. Five years later, General Motors Company opened its doors and Ford produced the first of 15 million Model T cars (Woodford and Woodford 1969). This particular industry has shaped the face of Detroit, with prominent businessmen from the various companies involved with city politics for more than a century, the rise of automotive unions and employment of many city and suburban residents in the car companies and their subsidiary suppliers. Current Demographics As of 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau (Census.gov) set the population of Detroit at approximately 714,000 residents, which accounts for about 7 percent of the total population of Michigan (9,900,000). The city has lost population significantly, dropping 25 percent from 2000 to 2010, and overall, losing about 1,136,000 people from 1950-2010. Of this total population in 2010, 27 percent of residents were under 18 years old and 12 percent were over 65 years. About 83 percent of city residents are African American, about 11 percent of the population are white, and about 7 percent are Hispanic or Latino origin. College education is a rarity in the city, with only 12 percent of the population over the age of 25 achieving a bachelor’s degree or higher education status, in comparison to 25 percent of the total population of the state. The median household income for the city from 2006 to 2010 was $28,357; this is slightly more than $20,000 less than the state median of $48,432. For the city, 35 percent of residents were below poverty level; 76 only 15 percent of the state’s residents fall below this marker. In area, the city of Detroit currently includes 138.75 square miles, a population density of 5,144.3 people per square mile. TABLE 5-1: Detroit Population Change, 1950 - 2010 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 15 Detroit 1,849,568 1,670,144 1,511,482 1,203,339 1,027,974 951,270 713,777 Change from Previous Decade 226,116 -179,424 -158,662 -308,143 -175,365 -76,704 -237,493 Development of the Social Services Sector History of Private and Public Social Services In Michigan, social services can be traced to the earliest settlements. Before the 1930s, there was no public system of welfare delivery; rather, the vast majority of aid came from private, religiously motivated benevolent societies and organizations. 16 In the 1800s, public assis- tance existed only for emergency relief, and on an ad hoc basis in response to disasters (Suppalla et. al 1974). Private charities were booming, as individuals sought companionship through service and felt a moral imperative to assist in salvation. These benevolent societies emphasized upright living while discouraged idleness, drinking, and debauchery. They offered advice and guidance, but shunned material assistance because it was contrary to the value of self-reliance (Fugate 1997). For example, in Detroit, the Moral and Humane Society was founded in the 15 th US Census Bureau. 2002. "Demographic Trends in the 20 Century: Census 2000 Special Reports." November. Available at http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/censr-4.pdf 16 th th Religious charities in the 18 and 19 centuries are an important, but not well-understood, forerunner to modern nonprofit behavior in the United States. The inclusion of historical context here and in the following chapter serves to underscore the primary point that faith-based organizations are not a new player in the service delivery process, but indeed have worked in these service areas for centuries without much public assistance. 77 1800s to provide encouragement and counsel, and they refused to give away money. Under the Gospel of Wealth, wealthy individuals accepted that one’s status as rich or poor was part of the natural order, and so, “the rich were rich so that they could guide the poor; the poor were poor so that they could be guided,” (Ibid, p. 11). Attitudes towards “deserving” and “undeserving” poor can be traced to this time, because individuals made destitute by emergency circumstances were more worthy of material assistance. Henry Ford’s empire was notable for its great success, as well as Ford’s controversial nature. In particular, he began many different charities but believed that “Endowment is an opiate to imagination, a drug to initiative,” (Greenleaf 1964: 5; c.f. Detroit Times, Feb. 15, 1927); his belief was that charity decreased productivity. Despite this attitude, among Ford’s contributions to metro-Detroit include trade schools and institutes, the Henry Ford Hospital, Valley Farm boys’ orphanage, and museums. In the 1800s, Michigan experienced several periods of economic depression that led to increased unemployment and crime. Slums expanded around Detroit, with dozens of people living in spaces intended for single families (Fugate 1997). Charities began to move away from religious organizations and became distinct and secular, and in the process, began offering more material assistance rather than moral guidance, in the form of clothing, furniture, and housewares. In Detroit, organizations like the Young Men’s Benevolent Society were founded in order to assist with employment training. Animal welfare organizations also started to organize in Detroit: the Animal Welfare Society, Detroit Humane Society, and Michigan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals were formed and later merged into the Michigan Humane Society in 1925 (Michigan Humane Society 2002). Relief agencies were founded to assist with veterans’ and their widows and orphans. In Detroit, one organization that opened its doors in 78 1929, the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, is still operating today, serving meals to 55,000 people on average each month (Province of St. Joseph 2007). Techniques began shifting, and “charity workers had a more vigorous sense of practicality and businesslike efficiency. They didn’t simply drop in to instruct the poor on morals as they had earlier in the century,” (Fugate 1997: 40); they worked to separate charity work from spiritual outreach. By the turn of the century, social work had developed into a profession and social services continued to evolve from private charities. A new generation of university trained social workers rejected earlier attitudes toward the poor and wanted to help as many people as possible, but struggled to find work in the public sector – only in private charities (Stein-Roggenbuck 2008). For example, in Detroit the Hannah Schools Settlement was organized as a community center for the city’s many Jewish immigrants. Similarly, child guidance clinics and mental health facilities were opened to address the needs of the mentally ill and incapacitated children and adults (Tharp 1946). Even before the Depression, Detroit and Grand Rapids struggled from the downturn in the automotive and furniture industries. During the Depression, the scope of services no longer could be adequately addressed by small charities. At this time, many public works projects and large philanthropic organizations were founded (Fugate 1997; Stein-Roggenbuck 2008). Cities opened large drop-off centers for donations of needed items and organized drives to collect food, clothing, and school books. Works projects put residents to work in various trades. At the same time, successful Michigan business tycoons like Ford, Kresge, and Kellogg began philanthropic organizations; the wealth and power behind these groups allowed them to offer more services at a much larger private scope (Fugate 1997). Later, these groups would make the transition from direct services to grant-making institutions, which is the primary role that many still play. 79 Meanwhile, changes at the federal level to address the Great Depression brought many programs to Michigan to offer poverty assistance. Early state assistance programs included Michigan Mother’s Pension Law (1913) followed by the Social Welfare Act (1939) which included Aid to the Blind; Old Age Assistance (1933) followed by Social Security (1935); and the Michigan Soldiers’ Relief Association (1941). The scope of services provided by the Mother’s Pension Law, to assist single mothers, was so large that Wayne and Kent Counties dedicated departments of staff to monitor and implement (Stein-Roggenbuck 2008). Aid to Dependent Children (ADC), later Aid to Families of Dependent Children (AFDC) and then Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), brought millions in matching state and federal funds. In 1937, federal ADC payments to Michigan residents were approximately $1.2 million, state funds were about $1.8 million, and local funds about $240,000. By 1972, AFDC was matched by Michigan and federal funds, each $196.9 million, and localities no longer contributed (Tharp 1946; Suppalla et. al 1974). Across the state, it has been argued that increases of AFDC payments did not positively improve conditions for recipients, in part due to changes in eligibility requirements in the 1960s and 1970s (Spall and McGoughran 1974). Race and Poverty in Detroit The city of Detroit has experienced significant racial turmoil affecting its ability to address poverty needs, particularly as whites and blacks became more segregated in the early 1900s. For example, housing options for poor African Americans in Detroit were atrocious. In the 1940s, the city decided to build its first housing project, named for Sojourner Truth, to serve this population. At the last minute, the project was moved from its planned location on the lower east side, a predominately black area, to the northeast, to a white neighborhood. The poor blacks who moved into the housing complex in 1942 faced violence from angry white neighbors. Ra- 80 cial tension continued to mount until June 1943, when the city exploded into a full week of rioting. Police and federal intervention increased to the point of declaring martial law to quell the violence and looting. After the riot, “thirty-four persons, twenty-three of them blacks, were killed… Hundreds were injured, eighteen hundred arrests were made, and property damage ran into the millions of dollars,” (Woodford 2001; 158-9) Through the 1950s and into the early 1960s, the city was relatively peaceful and prosperous, but racial tensions were slowly mounting. Conflict between African Americans and the police escalated as the Civil Rights movement grew nationwide. Detroit, with its rising population of black residents, was poised to become the center of racial conflict once again. Following a raid on a blind pig in an African American neighborhood on July 23, 1967, a mob of black residents began taunting the raiding police officers; they claimed police harassment, brutality, and that they were making many unnecessary arrests (Poremba 1999). Rather than calming the mob, the police stepped aside and allowed it to swell into a city-wide riot of looting, violence, and arson. Federal intervention was requested by the city, but it was another week of violence that exceeded the city’s fire and police capacity before federal troops could calm the citizens’ fury. At week’s end, 7,331 were arrested; this riot marked a change to “a new type of rioting, a battle against authority, whatever its skin color,” (Woodford 2001; 181) – more than only a conflict between whites and blacks, it was a conflict between rich and poor as well. In the wake of the second major riot, the city convened a new “urban coalition,” the Board of Trustees of New Detroit. The Board was charged with representing businesses and citizens of the area, to create programs for “education, employment and economic action, housing and neighborhood stabilization, health, drug abuse, community self-determination, minority economic development, public safety and justice, anti-racism, and the arts,” (Woodford 2001; 183). 81 Over time, the city saw its first black mayor, Coleman Young (1973), its first black chief of police, William Hart (1976), and increasing affirmative action policies. For example, in 1974, a district court ordered the city to desegregate the public school system; the resulting plan involved busing children into and out of the surrounding, mostly white, suburbs. The plan was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, but overturned by the Supreme Court, who ruled in Milliken vs. Bradley (418 U.S. 717 1974) that Detroit must find a desegregation solution that remained within city boundaries (Poremba 1999). Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, city population fell off dramatically, leaving the poorest of the poor behind as suburbs grew in size. “By 1980 more than 20 percent of Detroit’s largely black population lived below the nation’s poverty line,” (Woodford 2001; 221). In part, this increase in poverty was due to white flight to the suburbs as well as massive national recessions, marked by industries moving south to non-unionized areas, gas crises, and increased foreign competition which all severely impacted the automotive industry and consequently, citizens of Detroit. Attempts to combat the loss in population included the riverfront revitalization projects of Henry Ford II, who helped build the Renaissance Center, Detroit Plaza hotel, Hart Plaza, and Joe Louis Arena. Modern Service Delivery Sector In the city of Detroit, the service delivery sector includes a wide range of organizations and institutions. To serve the high proportion of homeless and working poor, there are many organizations which provide meals, offer shelter, and train unemployed workers for reentry into the job market, among many other goals. As of May, 2012, there are approximately 4,288 registered tax-exempt organizations operating within the city of Detroit (SOI Tax Stats). Below, these organizations can be grouped by similar work into the following categories of Table 5-2. For ex- 82 ample, organizations like Central Detroit Christian are categorized under Charitable organization. This list does not include all organizations that were interviewed due to variations in their tax reporting but can serve as a baseline of information about many tax-exempt organizations here. TABLE 5-2: Tax-Exempt Organizations in Detroit, MI (2012) 17 Business and Commerce Organizations 137 Charitable Organizations 2522 Educational or Scientific Organizations 326 Fraternal Organizations, Civic Leagues, and Public Advocates Government Instrumentality 160 1 Labor Organizations 167 Private Foundations 29 Religious Organizations 946 Total Tax-Exempt Organizations in Detroit 4288 17 Categories are organized by the author, where Business and Commerce Organizations - Agricultural Organization, Board of Trade, Business League, Credit Union, Horticultural Organization, Real Estate Board, Supplemental Unemployment Compensation Trust or Plan, Title Holding Co. for Pensions, etc., and Title-Holding Corporation; Charitable Organizations - Charitable Organization, Non-exempt charitable trust (Public Charity), Non-exempt charitable trust 4947(a)(2) (Split Interest), and Social Welfare Organization; Educational or Scientific Organizations - Educational Organization and Scientific Organization; Fraternal Organizations, Civic Leagues, and Public Advocates - Burial Association, Cemetery Company, Civic League, Domestic Fraternal Societies and Associations, Fraternal Beneficiary Society, Order or Association, Literary Organization, Organization for Public Safety Testing, Organization to Prevent Cruelty to Animals, Organization to Prevent Cruelty to Children, Pleasure, Recreational, or Social Club, Post or Organization of War Veterans; Government Instrumentality - Government Instrumentality; Labor Organizations - Labor Organization; Local Association of Employees, and Voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Association (Government and Non-government Employees); Private foundations - 4947(a)(1) designees and Private Operating Foundations; and Religious Organizations - Apostolic and Religious Organization - 501(d) and Religious Organization. 83 The range of clients serves varies widely among organizations. For the three areas of interest, Housing organizations are often involved in activities beyond the construction or rehabilitation of homes; consequently, their clients vary from individuals who are near mortgage foreclosure, homeless (including special needs populations – veterans, mentally ill, domestic violence survivors, and the developmentally disabled), and both low and moderate income families. Social Services assist in finding employment, substance abuse rehabilitation, and public education, to a variety of related clients. Development organizations serve the city itself, through infrastructure improvements, as well as help local businesses and neighborhoods to organize. Of the interviewed organizations, faith-based groups are involved in Housing and Social Services, but are not represented among the Development organizations. In recent years, the relationship between the social services sector and the government of Detroit has grown. Housing organizations have a political action role beyond services, such as assisting with amendments to mortgage foreclosure laws, participation in mayoral redevelopment task forces, and policy advocacy. Similarly, Social Service organizations participate in task forces, both locally and at the state level, testify before committee hearings, and organize letterwriting campaigns. Development groups serve on committees for planning as well as act as liaisons between the city and private developers. One notable difference between faith-based and secular groups active in Housing is the reticence of FBOs to participate in policymaking. Faithbased organizations’ representatives expressed fear that lobbying could cause them to lose their nonprofit status, and a desire to protect that status was more important than pursuing any particular policy aim. Representatives from agencies and nonprofits agree that the working relationship with the city is, for the most part, kept professional and that agents of the city currently value and seek out 84 the organizations’ input. One representative, however, was careful to explain that this relationship is greatly affected by the changing of city leadership. As the Executive Director of U-SnapBac, explains: “[It] depends on who’s the mayor…. I’ve known all the changes of the guard. Most recently, they’re changing a home repair grant, we talked about a new program [the mayor] wants to implement, but his staff is opposing it.” For some nonprofits, changes in city leadership have affected their ability to qualify for city resources or work smoothly with local bureaucrats. Religion and the City of Detroit From its earliest inception, Detroit’s religious culture has shaped the city. Catholic priests were among the first French settlers and explorers to the area, including Jesuit missionaries who may have visited the area even before Jolliet, by about 1610 (Woodford and Woodford 1969). Ste. Anne, the village of Detroit’s Catholic Church, is the second-oldest continuously operating church in the country and was the first building erected. Fr. Gabriel Richard was one of the most prominent early statesmen for the area, working on various projects to organize the area, build community and attain statehood for Michigan (Woodford and Woodford 1969). A century later, another prominent Catholic priest and Detroiter, Fr. Charles Coughlin, would become the most popular radio commentator during the Great Depression with millions of listeners weekly. Coughlin began by preaching on religious matters but later, he began to discuss social and economic commentary with increasingly anti-Semitic and isolationist rhetoric – his extremism lead to his censure by church superiors (Woodford 2001). Many early Detroiters were Roman Catholics, especially immigrants from France, Ireland, and Germany. They organized behind Fr. Richard, forming specialized churches in the language of the immigrants (Woodford and Woodford 1969). After the fire of 1805, Catholics struggled to rebuild, using the remaining warehouse and nearby farms to hold services until Ste. 85 Anne’s Church could be rebuilt. Michigan became a separate Catholic diocese in 1832, and as the population grew, Detroit became an archdiocese in 1937. Protestant churches had a more difficult time getting organized in Michigan than Catholics (Woodford and Woodford 1969). Early settlers shared services conducted by British chaplains before a minister could be sent to the area, Rev. John Montieth, who began preaching in 1816. Methodists were the first to organize, building a church in 1818. They were followed by Presbyterians, the largest Protestant denomination, who began operating the First Presbyterian Church in 1825. Episcopalians began organizing at the same time, building the first church in 1827 and establishing the diocese of Michigan in 1832, with Detroit as the see. German Lutherans and Baptists became established in the city in the 1830s. German Jews came to Michigan with the same wave of immigrants, and opened the first synagogues in the mid-1800s, Congregation Beth El in 1850 and Shaarey Zedek in 1861. Historically, churches have played a significant role in addressing poverty in the city (Woodford and Woodford 1969). The first organized charity group can be traced to Protestant women, who formed the Moral and Humane Society in 1817 to assist local poor children; the Society lasted only three years. Catholics provided many forms of poverty relief to early settlers; in particular, the Catholic Female Association founded an orphanage near the county poor farm, operated by Fr. Kundig, in 1836. The Ladies’ Protestant Orphan Asylum was built in 1836 as well, as an off-shoot of the First Presbyterian Church. St. Andrew’s Society worked to assist new immigrants, particularly from Scotland. As the population has grown, the number of religious charities has multiplied. To address this multiplicity, the United Foundation was created in 1949 to make charitable giving to many organizations more centralized, reducing overhead costs 86 of operating many different fund drives, where area citizens are encouraged to donate through payroll deductions. Characteristics of Nonprofits in Detroit Partnerships Partnerships are the key to the work of many faith-based and secular nonprofits in the city (see list of interview subjects in Chapter 3 as Table 3-3). Collaboration allows the groups to divide responsibilities, develop ideas and strategic plans for services, and share referrals for clients. Housing organizations report involvement with other community nonprofits, churches, and business organizations. For example, Central Detroit Christian partners with the Great Start Collaborative Wayne, which assists parents of young children to prepare them for school. Social service groups in particular work with other groups for referrals, such as sending their clients from one shelter for housing, to a clothing closet. As Diane Bonds, from JVS described: “NSO [Neighborhood Service Organization] is also a shelter but they’ve got a huge clothing closet and we have two interns working in their clothing closet…. We provide staff for their clothing closet and then we can take our clients over there for clothing, even if they’re not in the NSO shelter.” As many representatives explained, including Diane Bonds, finding and retaining funding sources is necessary to maintain operations but often extremely difficult; collaboration helps defray some of these costs. Finally, spokesmen from Development organizations also report working collaboratively, yet unlike the other areas, these groups tend to work with the city itself and businesses; for example, Midtown Detroit collaborates with the Henry Ford Health System, Detroit Medical Center, and Wayne State University in the Anchor Strategy, to improve the Woodward Avenue corridor. When asked if the organization partners with faith-based or religious organizations, as well as secular groups, some of the respondents were able to identify specific relevant partners, 87 or knew that they had no such partners. Interestingly, some were unaware of what constituted a “faith-based” organization and could not say if they had any such partners; upon prompting with an explanation, most were able to answer definitively. All of the Housing and Social Service organizations have partnered with FBOs in some capacity in the past; one of the two Development groups has some relationship with them for occasional events. Partnerships include events where church members volunteer, provision of material resources (like bus tickets for JVS from an area church), and occasionally, positions on governing boards reserved for church representatives. Following this, the representatives were asked about familiarity and applicability of Charitable Choice and the Michigan and White House Offices of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Of the seven groups represented, only one interview subject was aware of Charitable Choice, but said that it had no impact on her organization’s operations. When asked why not, Central Detroit Christian’s Lisa Johanon (Executive Director) offered the following explanation: [Government agencies] want to come into your place where you’re located, and all of our programs are located in churches, and tell us, ‘You have to remove this picture. You have to remove this icon.’ And like I said, it’s just not worth it…. You know, it becomes more of a nuisance…. Now in housing – in housing, it’s totally different. We do use government funding, we do have governmental relationships, because we utilize federal money to subsidize many of our housing projects…. So, if it were less – and this is, I think, a more [of a] city of Detroit issue then a government as a whole issue – but if they could get a contract out the door more expeditiously and it could be less cumbersome in terms of getting reimbursement, we’d strongly consider, you know, being more engaged with our government. But, that’s where that’s at…. We once had summer workers – this was a long time ago – we had summer workers removed from our summer program because in the church we were in, there was a group of women praying in the corner of the lunchroom who were part of the church…. They weren’t engaging the kids. They weren’t talking to them… they were just in the corner praying on their own. We had our summer workers removed because that was such a threat to them.… [T]hrough Charitable Choice, [I] fought that all the way to Washington, D.C…. I think they used our story, 88 even as they were looking at the whole law, [to see] as [if] there was a need for any changes in the Charitable Choice law…. [O]ur U.S. senator asked me to write it all down and send it to his office…. This was probably 10 years ago. Her explanation implies that, to her and her organization, Charitable Choice was not implemented appropriately by the various government agencies which had sent representatives to oversee operations. Johanon’s response suggests that street-level bureaucrats who implementing this policy may have made mistakes with implementation that reflect personal beliefs or values over the actual provisions of Charitable Choice. In her experience, the right to display religious iconography was ignored, as were protections for the use of church facilities for providing secular services, in this case young adults getting work experience. Furthermore, the hoops that she had to jump through to receive financial support were overly burdensome, to the point that they became undesirable sources of revenue. On the other hand, four of the seven interview subjects were familiar with the Michigan Office of Community and Faith-Based Initiatives and White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, but none believe that these offices impact their functioning. When prompted to explain why it did not have an effect, many explained that these offices do not affect their ability to receive funding or change their day-to-day operations. For example, U-SnapBac’s Executive Director commented that: “They don’t have an impact, really. We go after different funding… [I]t’s not something we can take advantage of.” This particular comment reflects a common misconception that Charitable Choice is itself a source of funding support, rather than protections against discrimination when various agencies choose groups to grant funds. Financial Dependence Funding sources range widely among the three service sectors surveyed. For Housing, private donations and the federal government are the main sources of financial support. Private 89 donations include individuals, foundations, and businesses; some federal funds are sourced through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and MSHDA. Social Services organizations are supported through federal, state, and local grants, partner organization contributions, and some fees for services. Development organizations, like the other areas, are also supported through private, government, and foundation grants, as well as tax credits. For example, Midtown Detroit receives support from the Ford Foundation, Anchor Strategy partners, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and Historic Preservation Tax Credits. In turn, the type of financial services provided and clients receiving that support from these agencies vary widely. Housing organization offer assistance with one-time needs, such as home repair grants for necessary health and safety renovations provided by U-Snap-Bac; for example, a family may need a small grant to afford to change the flooring from carpeting in an asthmatic child’s bedroom. The social service representatives interviewed were unable to give any examples of when they provide financial resources. In the Development sector, the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation does not provide financial resources, but relays money received from Detroit’s public development authorities to pay the contractors who construct the infrastructure projects. Midtown Detroit, on the other hand, directs money received from foundation grants to individuals for improvements to building façades, a few small rental subsidies, and 50/50 matching grants for security upgrades. MSHDA Homeownership Counseling Specialists presented an alternative view from Executive Director Johanon, to explain why agencies may find it difficult to continue to financially support faith-based organizations. In the interview, the Homeownership Counseling Specialist for Wayne County explained that faith-based groups have, in the past, only wanted to provide services to their own congregation – making it difficult for MSHDA to fund them, since they 90 were not in compliance with regulations. However, noncompliance has not been an issue in recent years, presumably as more organizations have become aware of MSHDA’s guidelines. Challenges Faced Most interview subjects could provide concrete ways in which they would improve their organization, if they had the resources and ability to do so. Housing organizations were divided, with one expressing a desire to expand into employment assistance and another wanting to be an advocate for those in need of a voice. One representative of a Social Service organization explained that money is the most pressing concern, in order to increase neighborhood activities. Development organizations, on the other hand, were less focused on their ability to address client needs and more concerned with improving internal processes. Malik Goodwin, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation further explained that, “[We want to] be more supportive of the city… without sacrificing our core mission.” For example, Midtown Detroit’s recent merger has allowed them to increase staffing capacity and so, the reach of the organization in the neighborhood. It is notable that respondents from Housing and Social Services reacted to this question as a matter of how to assist clients, but the Development representatives, while still concerned with helping the city (the primary client for both), were first interested in discussing their organizations’ operations. Changing Nature of Service Delivery over Time After considering the historical and modern context of the city of Detroit, the following section analyzes changes in the relative importance of three service areas: Housing, Social Services, and Development. After testing Hypotheses 1 and 2 in the previous chapter, this and the following chapter test the validity of Hypothesis 3, here in the case study city of Detroit: 91 Hypothesis 3 (Detroit): Changes in federal policy preferences expanded the scope of participation of local nonprofits over time. Here again, a wider scope of activity is indicated by the presence of more frames over time, in local media coverage (Detroit News). The frames are the same as in the discussion of faithbased organizations above. However, these figures are the result of the following calculation, using the keywords and frames from Table 3-2: percentage per frame is equal to the total number of occurrences of all keywords fitting that frame, divided by the total number of all articles published in a given year. This discussion begins with the first substantive area of interest, Housing services. Local Housing Sector Local coverage from the Detroit News considers the same Housing services and frames as in the national newspapers over time. As a reminder, Housing frames (in italics) were compiled as article counts containing at least one of the following keywords in the lead or first paragraph of the story: • Homelessness and substandard housing: Homeless, Homelessness, Housing renovation, Home repair, Landlord tenant mediation, Temporary shelter • Financial assistance for families: Affordable home loan, Affordable housing loan, Low income home loan, Low income housing loan, Home buyer program • Public assistance for housing: Subsidized housing, Public housing, Rental assistance, Section 8 housing, MSHDA , Low income housing, Affordable housing 92 FIGURE 5-1: Proportions of Detroit Housing Frames per Year One immediate observation of the local Housing services is that coverage decreases somewhat over time. This evidence suggests that the predicted devolution from the national discourse to local policymaking did occur in the Housing sector initially, but Detroit loses interest in housing from 2007 to 2010. The Detroit News reduces the total number of Housing articles per year from 0.22% (n = 37) in 1999 to only 0.04% (n = 6) in 2010; it peaks in 2006 (0.26% or n = 64). Homelessness and substandard housing issues are the most prevalent over time. As the Detroit News coverage decreases over time, there is minimal coverage of Financial assistance for families here between 2002 to 2005, and no coverage afterwards. The overall decrease in coverage for Housing issues rejects Hypothesis 3 in part; further examination of the next two services sectors is necessary to determine if this applies to all sectors. 93 Local Social Services Sector Next, the Social Services sector will be compared by frames. As a reminder, the following frames (italicized) are comprised of these keywords: • Addressing food insecurity: Bridge card, Electronic Bank Transfer (EBT), Food bank, Food insecurity, Food pantry, Food stamps, Hunger, Starvation • Emergency aid: Emergency aid, Emergency relief • Medical care and intervention: Intervention, Free clinic, Medical aid, Medical care, Mental health, Mentally ill, Referral • Departments, programs, and policies: Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Crime prevention, Department of Human Services, Drug counseling, Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Welfare, Youth program FIGURE 5-2: Proportions of Detroit Social Services Frames per Year 94 In Detroit, there are peaks of Social Service salience in both 2003 (0.64%, n = 167) and 2006 (0.56%, n = 137). Here, the predominant frames are Departments, programs, and policies and Medical care and intervention. The coverage of both is about equal over time and contributes to the overall increase for these areas in the spike years. Much of this coverage is attributed to “Medicaid,” “medical care,” and “mental health” service keywords. This suggests that, of all of the areas of Social Services, Michigan’s cities are impacted most strongly by issues related to medical care for the poor. In particular, there is likely some significant event in Michigan which coincides with the coverage, such as the closing of state-run mental health hospitals. The spike years suggest that the players in the regime were taking issues of Social Services very seriously for a time during the mid-2000s. However, in Detroit, interest in Social Services declines sharply over time. Once again, Hypothesis 3 is rejected in part, because social service coverage declines, rather than increases, over time. Local Development Sector Finally, Development keywords and keyword categories are considered for the work of faith-based groups. The following frames (italicized) are comprised of these Development keywords: • Community development: Business district, Commercial development, Community participation, Community development, Economic development, Micro enterprise • Access and engagement: Disability, Empowerment, Handicap access, Outreach, Ministry, Volunteer • Departments, programs, and policies: Adult education, Basic skills, Job training, Literacy , Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Voter access 95 FIGURE 5-3: Proportions of Detroit Development Frames per Year For these years, the interest is greatest from 2003 through 2005, with increasing coverage up to those years, and decreasing coverage afterwards. This suggests that the mid-2000s were a time period of greatest interest in Michigan development opportunities and assistance. Here, there is a clear area of greatest interest: the Access and engagement frame is especially substantial, especially the “ministry” and “volunteer” references – this is the same area of significance as in national Development coverage. Attention to Development in the city of Detroit decreases sharply over time. Finally, with the decline in Development articles over time, we can reject Hypothesis 3 entirely for the city of Detroit. Faith-Based Organizations in Detroit Faith-based organizations have a unique role in the community, beyond what is understood about nonprofits generally. It is now useful to compare changes in the scope of activity of the special case of faith-based groups over time in the three service areas to understand their par96 ticular impact on the community. There are two hypotheses that are specific to faith-based organizations, as follows: Hypothesis 4 (Detroit): Changes in federal policy preferences expanded participation of local faith-based nonprofits over time. Hypothesis 5 (Detroit): Specific federal policy interventions targeted to faith-based nonprofits expanded the participation of local faith-based nonprofits during years of intervention. These hypotheses will be tested using the case cities of Detroit and Grand Rapids, using the indicators of local newspaper coverage. The wideness of scope of activity is defined by changes in the frames under each service delivery area. Years of policy intervention are years when local, state, or federal changes related to faith-based organizations occurred; these years should encourage more groups to participate due to a greater awareness of opportunities available to them. In the next three figures, the same frames are analyzed, as in the national data analysis, but the search narrows to faith-based nonprofits. To do so, it considers articles with a headline or lead paragraph containing each particular service and the additional keyword “faith-based” in any of the article’s text. The calculation for this section is as follows: percentages per frame are equal to the total number of occurrences of all keywords fitting that frame where “faith-based” is also present, divided by the total number of all articles containing “faith-based” published in a given year. This helps to determine how the faith-based community is impacted by the changes in these sectors. Local Faith-Based Community’s Involvement in Housing First, the same three Housing frames are analyzed by Figure 5-4, to see the proportion of faith-based activity within each city. Figure 5-4 demonstrates that coverage of “faith-based” and Housing services is generally very low. However, the areas that are covered are quite striking 97 and consistent. In Detroit, all coordination between the faith-based community and Housing related services occurs in the realm of Homelessness and substandard housing. Particularly, these results suggest that the media is covering faith-based groups working on addressing homelessness, and to a lesser degree, home repair assistance. These results support Hypothesis 4; coverage of FBOs in Housing increases in Detroit through 2006. Hypothesis 5 is rejected; significant years of nonprofit activity do not correspond to years of policy intervention, either 2001 or 2005 when the national and state offices supporting faith-based organizations were opened. These results suggest that there are specific areas where faith-based groups are prominent in this city’s governing regime; and that they are not active in all areas. It will be important to consider the other two service areas before drawing conclusions. FIGURE 5-4: Proportion of Detroit Housing Frames Containing “Faith-Based” 98 Local Faith-Based Community’s Involvement in Social Services In Detroit’s Social Services sector, Departments, programs, and policies and Medical care and intervention are found in conjunction with faith-based groups, while the other two are not. Departments, programs, and policies are salient during a few of the years. For Social Services, Hypothesis 4 is rejected because Detroit does not demonstrate greater scope of activity over time, through the indicator of more attention paid in local media. Hypothesis 5 is also rejected for the case of Detroit because, when the Michigan Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Initiatives opened in 2005, there was not a corresponding increase in faith-based organizations. FIGURE 5-5: Proportion of Detroit Social Service Frames Containing “Faith-Based” Local Faith-Based Community’s Involvement in Development In Detroit, Development is a more diverse service delivery area than Housing or Social Services. More striking here are the differences in frames of coverage, indicating the broader 99 areas of activity within the governing regime for faith-based groups. Work is centered on Access and engagement, with a secondary but significant focus on Community development. This suggests that the development work of these groups occurs primarily in getting the community engaged and improving community life, rather than working with city officials to affect policy change. Additionally, this data explains that regime change has occurred in both cities, particularly favoring Development interests over Housing or Social Services. For Development, Hypothesis 4 is not conclusively supported – coverage increase over time but the growth is erratic. Hypothesis 5 is also rejected in the Development sector because years of growth in the nonprofit sector do not correspond to years of policy interventions (2001 or 2005). FIGURE 5-6: Proportion of Detroit Development Frames Containing “Faith-Based” Comparison of All Nonprofits to Special Case of Faith-Based Nonprofits Finally, it is important to consider how the special case of faith-based nonprofits in Detroit differs from the characteristics of all Housing, Social Services, and Development nonprofits. 100 In Housing, both faith-based groups and sector as a whole emphasize issues of Homeless and substandard housing and salience for these issues peak in 2006. This suggests that the faithbased Housing sector is remarkably similar to the nonprofit sector overall. Second, for Social Services both emphasize Medical care and intervention. However, there is little emphasis in the nonprofits sector after 2006 and no coverage of any faith-based groups engaged in Social Service issues from that point on. This suggests that changes to the nonprofit Social Services sector had an even more significant negative impact on the faith-based community active in those issues. Third, in the Development sector over time, all nonprofits have become very insignificant in Detroit. However, as interest has declined overall, faith-based groups have begun to focus on Access and engagement. Recall that this frame includes important keywords of empowerment, outreach, and volunteer – suggesting that the faith-based groups, in response to decreased support for nonprofit Development activity overall, have turned to working with the community groups to encourage community participation. Finally, both the general nonprofit sector and faith-based nonprofits in particular have experienced a dramatic decline in salience. This suggests that the special case of faith-based nonprofits were similarly hard hit over time. 101 REFERENCES 102 REFERENCES Bettlelheim, B. Child Guidance… A Community Responsibility. East Lansing: Michigan State University. Catton, B. 1984. Michigan: A History. New York: W.W. Norton and Company. Fugate, S. 1997. For the Benefit of All: A History of Philanthropy in Michigan. Battle Creek, MI: W.K Kellogg Foundation. Greenleaf, W. 1964. From these Beginnings: The Early Philanthropies of Henry and Edsel Ford, 1911-1936. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. Michigan Humane Society. 2002. Michigan Human Society: Animal Welfare in Detroit, 18772002. Chicago: Arcadia. Poremba, D. L. 1999. Images of America: Detroit, 1930-1969. Chicago: Arcadia Publishing. Province of St. Joseph. 2007. “My Name Is… Portraits and Table Stories from the Capuchin Soup Kitchen.” Detroit: Capuchin Soup Kitchen. "SOI Tax Stats - Exempt Organizations Business Master File Extract (EO BMF)." 2012. http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/charitablestats/article/0,,id=97186,00.html. Last updated data posting date: May 14, 2012. Total number of records 1,566,776 (all states). Spall, H., and E. McGoughran. 1974. “AFDC in Michigan during the Twentieth Century.” Review of Social Economy 32 (1): 70-85. Stein-Roggenbuck, S. 2008. Negotiating Relief: The Development of Social Welfare Programs in Depression-Era Michigan, 1930-1940. Columbus: The Ohio State University Press. Suppalla, R.J., M.S. Patrick, and A.A. Schmid. 1974. “The Role of County Government in the Development and Administration of Michigan’s Welfare System: How it Works and Who Decides.” Center for Rural Manpower and Public Affairs. Special Paper No. 18 (Feb.). Tharp, C.R. 1946. Social Security and Related Services in Michigan, Their Administration and Financing. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. U.S. Census Bureau. 31 January 2012. “Detroit (city), Michigan.” http://quickfacts.census.gov/ qfd/states/26/2622000.html. Accessed from the World Wide Web on 10 April 2012. Woodford, A. M. 2001. This is Detroit, 1701-2001. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. 103 Woodford, F. B. and A. M. Woodford. 1969. All Our Yesterdays: A Brief History of Detroit. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. 104 STRENGTH IN ACTIVITY: A CASE STUDY OF GRAND RAPIDS, MI City Motto: “Moto Viget” (Strength in Activity) History of Grand Rapids Foundations and Early Political Culture Grand Rapids, Michigan traces its history to 1826, with the settlement of Louis Campau, a French Canadian born in Detroit. Campau was hailed as a savvy businessman who traveled throughout Michigan negotiating with Native Americans for land settlements. In 1831, he bought 72 acres in what is now Grand Rapids (Dunbar and May 1995). Settlement and the resulting population boom were encouraged by the sale of inexpensive tracts of land in the upper and lower peninsulas, negotiated by Lewis Cass. Frontier expansion brought new citizens to Michigan from steamboats traveling from Buffalo, New York (Woodford and Woodford 1969). Grand Rapids was incorporated as a village in 1838, with a seven-member Board of Trustees. The first formal census puts the city size at 1,510 residents in 1845 (Lydens 1966). In 1850, the city’s trustees voted to incorporate as a city. Early settlers were drawn from New England, bringing Protestant revivalism to the frontier (Watkins 1987), and helping establish many of the dominant churches of the area. As city population grew, it transformed from a frontier city at the end of several railway lines to a major city in central Michigan, and the home of many furniture manufacturers who employed large numbers of residents. Furniture manufacturing was the dominant industry through the Great Depression; but businesses struggled to continue operation as southern manufacturing grew. By the end of the Depression, the number of furniture companies had shrunk, but those remaining held “the top 5 percent of the market,” (Olson 1996; 19). In addition to furniture manufacturing, General Motors was the largest single employer in the area by the 1950s. 105 From the 1850s through the 1890s, Grand Rapids continued to grow in population but lacked stable city offices and established public policy. The first city government after incorporation in 1850 was subdivided into five wards, represented by an elected alderman from each, as well as a mayor and recorder comprising the City Council (Lydens 1966). Municipal services grew, including streets, fire and sewer services, public library, court house and city hall; over time the city processes became more routine and politically organized. The population grew from about 87,500 in 1900 to more than 164,000 by 1940 (Lydens 1966; 48). In 1917, the city government changed to a commissioner-manager system (similar to a council-manager). Under the new system, the city was subdivided into three wards with two commissioners from each, another at-large commissioner, and the mayor, with a city manager appointed by the Commission. City borders of Grand Rapids grew larger through annexation of other towns and villages. The geographic area doubled in size from 1927 to the mid-1960s, increasing to 44.07 square miles (Lydens 1966). Annexation efforts occurred in the 1890s and 1920s; but by the 1950s and 1960s, surrounding suburbs were no longer willing to be annexed. It became difficult for the city to continue to expand its borders as desired (Olson 1996). The city wanted to centralize services for water, sewers, and electrical, as well as expand tax revenue, but the suburbs overwhelmingly rejected the plan. The city began focusing on improving infrastructure instead; for example, there were downtown redevelopment efforts of the 1960s to replace buildings from the late 1800s that had begun to decay. 106 Current Demographics The population of Grand Rapids in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, was approximately 188,000, representing about 2 percent of the total population of Michigan (Census.gov). The city has held steady between about 180,000 and about 198,000 residents since the 1970s. Of the 2010 population, approximately 25 percent of residents were children under 18 and 11 percent were over 65. Unlike the city of Detroit, the population is about 65 percent white, 21 percent African American, and 16 percent Hispanic or Latino origin. Again, differing from Detroit, the population of college educated adults over 25 is higher than the state average – about 28 percent of Grand Rapids citizens have at least a bachelor’s degree, compared to the state average of 25 percent. Geographically, the city’s current boundaries encompass 44.4 square miles; this is a population density of 4,235.6 people per square mile. As mentioned at the beginning of the last chapter, Detroit and Grand Rapids share similarities too. The median household income in Grand Rapids from 2006 to 2010 is slightly less than the state average: $38,344 compared to a statewide average of $48,432 – a difference of about $10,000. As in Detroit, the proportion of individuals living below the poverty line in Grand Rapids is higher than the state average. About 24 percent are below poverty level in Grand Rapids while 15 percent are below in Michigan. This high poverty level is another reason why the city was selected: widespread poverty has been addressed by the development of an extensive network of nonprofit organizations. 107 TABLE 6-1: Grand Rapids Population Change, 1970 - 2010 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Grand Rapids 197,534 181,843 189,126 197,800 188,040 18 Change from Previous Decade (X) -15,691 7,283 8,674 -9,760 Development of Social Services Sector History of Private and Public Social Services As discussed in the previous chapter, the history of public and private social services in Michigan begins with the rise of benevolent societies. The Grand Rapids Union Benevolent Association was founded in 1846 to help women and children, by providing clothing, books, furniture, linens, and appliances to mothers who were “‘abandoned’ by husbands, ‘destitute,’ ‘unemployed’ and sick” (Fugate 1997: 25, quoting from books kept by Association). Later, the Association was the first in the state to fight for and gain the right to remove children from extreme poverty before they would have to go to the poorhouse with their parents. Workhouses for the poor were meant to encourage the poor to find better employment and move up in the world – they were purposely kept filthy and unsafe, and some were even whipped as punishment. Public assistance programs began in 1838. When still only Kent Township, the township appropriated $200 for public welfare purposes. Before 1917 and the change in city governance, it maintained a “poor office” which issued “poor orders” and distributed groceries to the needy as well as operated several poorhouses for the elderly, disabled and mentally ill poor (Lydens 1966). In 1891, a free bed hospital was funded through the women’s board of the Union Benev- 18 HUD: State of the Cities Data Systems. "SOCDS Census Data: Output for Grand Rapids city, MI" Available at http://socds.huduser.org/quicklink/screen3.odb?citystring=2634000 108 olent Association, which became a clinic for poor children with disabilities as well as a free store providing orthopedic braces. During the Great Depression, assistance was coordinated through the city’s government. City manager George Welsh (1929-1932) instituted public works projects for unemployed men in the city, giving them housing and work for a meager wage. They were paid in “scrips,” or certificates redeemable for goods at the city store. These public works projects included infrastructure establishment and repair (flood prevention, grading streets, and building playgrounds and parks) and local services, such as shoe repair and arts projects. The city was hailed nationally as a place “where everyone had a job,” (cf. The American City, Lydens 1966; 80) and Welsh was honored on several occasions for his role in promoting the public works projects. There were some allegations of corruption in these various projects, but formal charges were not issued and Welsh later went on to be elected as city mayor. Several notable federal policies affected the distribution of aid to the city’s poor in early Twentieth Century. First, the Federal Emergency Relief Act of 1933 assigned more responsibility for the poor to federal and state governments. In Grand Rapids, the city struggled to pay welfare costs from the public works “scrips,” and had to borrow $1.5 million in 1932 (Lydens 1966). Federal funding allowed the public works projects to expand to sewer and school repairs, as well as training for restaurant staff, maids, salesmen, musicians and writers. As well, the state of Michigan took over control of county relief offices operating Aid to Dependent Children and Aid to the Blind. Finally, the Kent County Emergency Welfare Committee closed several homeless shelters in 1941 as employment levels rose. 109 Race and Poverty in Grand Rapids Tensions between white and black citizens did occur in Grand Rapids during the Civil Rights Movement, but the results were not as extreme as in Detroit. Following Detroit’s riots, Grand Rapids also experienced two days of rioting on July 24 and 25, 1967. There was not the same level of violence and looting as in Detroit, due in part to “the work of African American ministers and other community leaders, and by a task force of 12 African Americans and three whites who, before the outbreak, had been working with young people,” (Olson 1996; 51) to defray tensions. A second smaller riot began in July 1968, but the city’s police, unlike in Detroit, were able to keep control of the city before the violence could spread. Efforts to improve conditions for black citizens were fairly well-organized in Grand Rapids. The city sought to desegregate public schools by integrating black students into two previously all-white high schools in 1968. The black students faced discrimination and violence from their peers and their parents boycotted the school district. In addition to the efforts which reduced violence and rioting, the city launched “Project 1,003” in 1967 (Olson 1966). This program was an extensive city-wide effort by the Chamber of Commerce to find employment for over 1,000 African American and poor city residents. After six months, the project had found work for 1,053 people and of those, two-thirds had retained employment. Modern Service Delivery Sector Grand Rapids has fewer tax-exempt organizations than the city of Detroit but there are still many charitable organizations and religious organizations represented. Table 6-2 below describes the various categories of organizations; again, the number does not reflect all interviewed organizations due to variations in tax reporting requirements but should be considered a baseline for describing most of the city’s nonprofits. 110 TABLE 6-2: Tax-Exempt Organizations in Grand Rapids, MI (2012) 19 Business and Commerce Organizations 127 Charitable Organization 1404 Educational or Scientific Organizations 206 Fraternal Organizations, Civic Leagues, and Public Advocates Labor Organizations 134 53 Private Foundations 11 Religious Organizations 324 Unknown 1 Total Tax-Exempt Organizations in Grand Rapids 2260 Clients of organizations in Grand Rapids vary from individual homeowners to other nonprofits to the city itself. For example, Home Repair Services restricts its work to emergency home repairs and home maintenance – not new construction or rehabilitation. Inner City Chris- tian Federation (ICCF), on the other hand, has a somewhat wider perspective – its wide-ranging 19 Categories are organized by the author, where Business and Commerce Organizations - Agricultural Organization, Board of Trade, Business League, Chamber of Commerce, Credit Union, Horticultural Organization, Mutual Insurance Company or Association Other Than Life or Marine, Supplemental Unemployment Compensation Trust or Plan, and Title-Holding Corporation; Charitable Organizations - Charitable Organization, Non-exempt charitable trust (Public Charity), Non-exempt charitable trust 4947(a)(2) (Split Interest), and Social Welfare Organization; Educational or Scientific Organizations - Educational Organization and Scientific Organization; Fraternal Organizations, Civic Leagues, and Public Advocates - Civic League, Domestic Fraternal Societies and Associations, Fraternal Beneficiary Society, Order or Association, Literary Organization, Organization for Public Safety Testing, Organization to Prevent Cruelty to Animals, Organization to Prevent Cruelty to Children, Pleasure, Recreational, or Social Club, Post or Organization of War Veterans; Labor Organizations - Labor Organization; Local Association of Employees, and Voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Association (Non-government Employees); Private foundations - 4947(a)(1) designees, Private Non-operating Foundations, and Private Operating Foundations; and Religious Organizations - Religious Organization. No classification data was available for one organization, listed here as “unknown.” 111 work includes operation of a temporary shelter, mortgage and foreclosure assistance, and financial counseling. There are also two government agencies in the Housing category, MSHDA and the city’s Community Development department; both provide financial assistance to other local groups. Dwelling Place provides complete socialization and community life for special needs populations – particularly offering supportive services for mental illness, substance abuse, domestic violence victims, returning military veterans, and the disabled. There are two Development organizations, one being the Economic Development department for the city and the other, Neighborhood Ventures. Clients of the Economic Development department include local and state organizations while Neighborhood Ventures gives local businesses short- and long-term financing. Of all of these organizations, ICCF is a Christian, faith-based organization and Dwelling Place was formerly an FBO, but is now entirely secular. Policy-making efforts of the organizations in Grand Rapids vary widely; only two of the groups are not involved in political action through policy-making. Of the Housing providers, both Home Repair Services and ICCF often serve as information sources for lawmakers by testifying or providing public comment as requested. There is a reluctance of faith-based organization ICCF to be a funding advocate because, as Jonathan Bradford describes, “We will pay particular attention to advocacy needs as it affects policy, program direction. We’re careful about advocacy on funding matters.” Unlike the organizations, representatives from the Housing agencies both remarked that their supervisors were much more likely to work with elected officials and provide public comment than they were themselves. Dwelling Place has had a long and positive relationship with the city, regularly networking with officials at various committees. For Development, Economic Development regularly sets policy by making recommendations; 112 but has “just one staff person that works on legislative issues part-time,” (Kara Wood, Director), while Neighborhood Ventures works to endorse ballot proposals. As described in the city history above, Grand Rapids has experienced considerable growth and change over time. Similarly, representatives expressed that their ability to work with city officials has been affected by who is in office; their willingness to service delivery is affected by their own backgrounds – more support from those with a social work background than those with a business background. Most of the organizations reported that their work is generally well-received by city bureaucrats and they feel comfortable and welcome to speak with those individuals about their needs and concerns. For example, Mark Lewis, Executive Director of Neighborhood Ventures, expressed that, “I can walk down to City Hall and I can talk to the city manager or the mayor at any given time if I want to. An in fact, we are providing the city a very valuable resource.” This suggests that there are differences in perception from how elected officials and bureaucrats are viewed among these organizations. Religion and the City of Grand Rapids The city’s earliest settlers included Dutch Calvinists and Polish and Lithuanian Catholics (Lydens 1966). Early missionaries to the area came from several Christian denominations, establishing Baptist (1820s) and Roman Catholic churches (1832) to preach to the native populations. The Roman Catholic diocese of Grand Rapids was founded in 1882, making it the second Catholic diocese in Michigan; churches served specific ethnic and language groups. Many other major Christian denominations also established congregations in the rapidly expanding area; the first Methodist, Episcopalian, Reformed Church in America, Presbyterian, and Lutheran area churches were founded between 1830 and 1880. Jewish immigrants opened the first synagogues 113 for Reformed Judaism in 1882 and Conservative Judaism in 1898. The first Islamic mosque was built in 1958, and emphasized preaching to African Americans in the area. From its earliest history, churches in Grand Rapids have worked to address the needs of poverty as well (Lydens 1966). In 1846, the Union Benevolent Association was formed to care for the impoverished sick, especially children. This was followed closely by the Charity Organization Society of Grand Rapids, which became the Family Service Association by 1925, addressing sanitation, and root causes of unemployment and mental and physical illnesses. “To reform society, Christians founded temperance societies and charitable organizations. These societies for individual and social reform were inseparable in the people’s minds from church membership,” (Watkins 1987; 164). In 1883, the first Salvation Army chapter in the area was opened, providing men with employment assistance, food, and recreation. The Mel Trotter Mission was a religious organization which addressed the needs of alcoholics, hunger, and homelessness. Volunteers of America began to work in the city in 1896, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society was organized in 1884. Care for the elderly included the Lutheran Home for the Aged, Brown Home which was operated by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, Pilgrim Manor, and Michigan Christian Home. Characteristics of Nonprofits in Grand Rapids Partnerships Almost all of the organizations in Grand Rapids work with both faith-based and secular partners. Both the two Housing organizations and two Housing agencies have wide-reaching associations; they also partner with local neighborhood associations, local and regional advocates, universities, and businesses. For example, assistance provided by the top three housing partners to Home Repair Services has included client home visits, offering space to hold classes 114 and training sessions, and referring clients as needed. For the social service organization, partners share information at regular meetings, provide medical care to residents, and refer clients as well. Additionally, the two Development groups often collaborate for project creation. The religious community in Grand Rapids is active in the three service delivery areas. Partner agencies include both local churches and local FBOs. In the Housing sector, both organizations receive support from churches, particularly in the form of volunteer hours. For example, about 200 churches send volunteers to assist Home Repair Services and about 75 send volunteers or provide financial assistance to ICCF projects. Furthermore, ICCF works with the Christian Community Development Association and makes church visits to educate parishioners about housing needs in the area. Both Housing agencies are also involved with local FBOs: the Community Development department works with Family Promise to provide emergency shelter and MSHDA supports the work of ICCF. Similarly, Dwelling Place, a social service organization, partners with ICCF for policy development in the city and with Habitat for Humanity Kent County to provide Habitat homeowners with mortgage assistance. However, neither Development organization works with any FBOs in the area. Knowledge of Charitable Choice and the Offices of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships is similar to that in Detroit. All but two of the respondents (ICCF and Dwelling Place) were unfamiliar with Charitable Choice. The two who were familiar were the current and former FBOs interviewed. Jonathan Bradford, President and CEO of ICCF has had a long involvement with Charitable Choice, which helps illustrate how they have learned to work with the city, without needing outside intervention. In 1978, ICCF was a fairly new organization, seeking Community Development Block Grant funds from the city’s Community Development department. [I]n April of 1978, this contract was proposed to the city commission, there was immediately a lot of controversy because of the name of our organization, the In115 ner City Christian Federation. Two of the city commissioners said, “Oh, we can’t be contracting with a religious organization to do this….” Well, two other members of the city commission … were connected with some of the churches that were supportive of ICCF in our early days. They were both committed Christians themselves, and one of them was a professor at a theological seminary in Grand Rapids and the other was a professor of history at Calvin College in Grand Rapids and both of them were city commissioners. In other words, they were two of the six city commissioners. When two of their colleagues protested this contract with this new organization, these two guys who knew us very, very indignantly stood up to the other two and said, “Hey, you watch – this will be the best contract the city of Grand Rapids entered into.” Well, over the protestations of these other two people, the city did approve this contract and we’ve had in place with the city of Grand Rapids between one and nine contracts at a time, constantly nonstop since April of 1978. Now, obviously that’s long before the Charitable Choice amendment. So we had quite a history of working with the public sector over the objections of some. After describing how ICCF had faced some discrimination when initially seeking city support, Bradford was quick to point out that was where the biases ended and that they have enjoyed close support of the city for funding and partnership ever since. Later, Bradford was a member of the Association for Public Justice and was actively involved in conversations with national policymakers during the creation of Charitable Choice policy. Once again, there is more familiarity with the Michigan and national offices, with all expressing that they have at least heard of them. Of the Housing organizations, both ICCF and Home Repair Services’ representatives were aware of these offices but do not believe that it impacts their work. Erin Banchoff, of Grand Rapids Community Development, explains that, [W]e haven’t received any inquiries recently, but when those [offices] first came out, we would receive inquiries on a fairly frequent basis, asking us how many faith-based organizations we support, how much we provide them, and so on. But I can’t say it really changes the way we operated because we were funding faithbased organizations before those things were established. Banchoff’s comment is interesting, because during the years that she has worked in the department, since 1999, she has seen both offices formed and yet neither has made a significant change for the choices that are made about how and when to partners with local groups. 116 Financial Dependence Financial dependencies, as in the city of Detroit, vary widely from one organization to the next. All have multiple revenue streams which provide them resources for operation and to fund other groups, where applicable. Both Housing organizations receive significant support from private donations, including businesses, churches, and foundations; additionally, Home Repair Services is supported by federal, state, and county funds as well as the sale of some goods while ICCF receives about half of its operating budget from public contracts. General funds were off the table for both Housing agencies; Community Development Department receives no city general operating funds and MSHDA, no state general funds; rather, they are supported by federal grants and, in the case of MSHDA, some tax revenue. The social service organization, Dwelling Place, receives some rent from the apartments as well as private donations from individuals and corporations. For Development, the department of Economic Development also does not receive city general funds, but rather is supported by tax increment financing and state and federal grants; Neighborhood Ventures is mostly supported by grants from foundations as well as some fees. Some of the organizations interviewed do serve as funders for others in the community. Of the Housing organizations and agencies, the Community Development department provides extensive support, in the millions of dollars per year, to community organizations as passthrough support from federal grants. Home Repair Services assists with mortgages, discussing opportunities with mortgage lenders to forgive some arrearage or delinquency for needy families. Dwelling Place, the Social Services organization, assists residents by writing grants for rent subsidies or referrals to other agencies. Economic Development does not provide financing; but 117 Neighborhood Ventures does offer some business improvement grants paying a proportion of the total cost of reconstruction. Challenges Faced Some challenges are faced by all of these organizations. Importantly, the challenges are similar to ones faced by the Detroit. Of the four Housing representatives, both from Housing nonprofits expressed that they were struggling to get enough funds to operate while both from Housing agencies wished for more time in the day, to improve partnerships with other agencies and citizens. The social service organization, Dwelling Place, struggles to support growing waiting lists of clients asking for assistance. Of the Development organizations, Neighborhood Ventures’ respondent reports that they are satisfied with their recently enacted changes, but the Economic Development department would like financial support and more appreciation from the city. Changing Nature of Service Delivery over Time Once again, a content analysis of news coverage provides insight into the changing service delivery sector in Grand Rapids. Here, the city’s main newspaper, the Grand Rapids Press, is analyzed for coverage trends from 2000 through 2010, roughly the same time frame as in the city of Detroit’s analysis. Recall that this chapter, as in the previous one, tests the validity of Hypothesis 3, here in the context of Grand Rapids: Hypothesis 3 (Grand Rapids): Changes in federal policy preferences expanded the scope of participation of local nonprofits over time. The three service areas – Housing, Social Services, and Development – are again analyzed by relevant frames. Recall that frame percentages are equal to the total number of occurrences of all 118 keywords fitting that frame, divided by the total number of all articles published in a given year. As in Detroit, Housing will be discussed first. Local Housing Sector As in Detroit, Grand Rapids is analyzed by frames in the service delivery discussion, occurring in the Grand Rapids Press over time. Here, stories were counted that contained the keyword at least once in either the lead or first paragraph. Housing frames are as follows: • Homelessness and substandard housing: Homeless, Homelessness, Housing renovation, Home repair, Landlord tenant mediation, Temporary shelter • Financial assistance for families: Affordable home loan, Affordable housing loan, Low income home loan, Low income housing loan, Home buyer program • Public assistance for housing: Subsidized housing, Public housing, Rental assistance, Section 8 housing, MSHDA , Low income housing, Affordable housing Figure 6-1 below examines how housing trends for the city of Grand Rapids have risen in importance over time. Coverage peaks in 2009 (0.32%, n = 140), unlike in the city of Detroit, which peaked in 2006 and declined after. While the importance of housing in Detroit declined, in Grand Rapids, there is a steady increase in housing attention over time. This presents an interesting question: why has interest in Housing issues declined sharply in Detroit while it has grown in Grand Rapids? Overall, Homelessness and substandard housing is consistently important while Public assistance for housing is less prominent. The greatest growth is in the category of Financial assistance for families. This implies that the city began investing more heavily in groups to address loan assistance for low income homeowners, while Detroit’s already low interest dropped off completely. The increased overall interest in Grand Rapids supports Hypothesis 3, indicating 119 that the city’s housing regime grew over time, while decreased interest in Detroit reflects the diminishment of this aspect of the regime. FIGURE 6-1: Proportions of Grand Rapids Housing Frames per Year Local Social Services Sector In Grand Rapids, the Social Services sector has changed its focus over time. As before, Social Services frames are comprise of these keywords: • Addressing food insecurity: Bridge card, Electronic Bank Transfer (EBT), Food bank, Food insecurity, Food pantry, Food stamps, Hunger, Starvation • Emergency aid: Emergency aid, Emergency relief • Medical care and intervention: Intervention, Free clinic, Medical aid, Medical care, Mental health, Mentally ill, Referral 120 • Departments, programs, and policies: Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Crime prevention, Department of Human Services, Drug counseling, Medicaid, Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF), Welfare, Youth program Social Service attention is more delayed, with rising interest beginning to climb in 2005 (0.58%, n = 469) to a peak proportion in 2009 (0.76%, n = 332). To understand what specifically is causing the spikes, the same Social Service frames are examined in Figure 6-2: Addressing food insecurity, Emergency aid, Medical care and intervention, and Departments, programs, and policies. Once again, the keywords for these frames are the same as were examined in the analysis of Detroit. Here, the predominant frames are Departments, programs, and policies and Medical care and intervention. In particular, this is reflective of increased attention to “mental health.” As in the Housing data, attention to Social Services in Grand Rapids steadily increases, suggesting that the various services in this category also experienced greater public support over time, contrary to the city of Detroit. Again, this supports Hypothesis 3 in part because coverage has increased for Social Services, as well as housing. 121 FIGURE 6-2: Proportions of Grand Rapids Social Services Frames per Year Local Development Sector Finally, the data for Development services are presented in Figure 6-3 to understand the relative importance of various areas: Community development, Access and engagement, and Departments, programs, and policies. Once again, these frames are comprised of the same keywords as were given in the Detroit content analysis. • Community development: Business district, Commercial development, Community participation, Community development, Economic development, Micro enterprise • Access and engagement: Disability, Empowerment, Handicap access, Outreach, Ministry, Volunteer • Departments, programs, and policies: Adult education, Basic skills, Job training, Literacy , Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Voter access 122 For these years, the interest increases over time to a proportional peak in 2009 (1.64%, n = 713) and 2010 (1.66%, n = 664). Here, the Access and engagement frame is especially substantial, especially the “ministry” and “volunteer” references – this is the same area of significance as in national Development coverage. It indicates that these particular concepts transcend the national discourse to local implementation. Finally, we can argue that Hypothesis 3 is fully supported in the city of Grand Rapids, because all three service areas - Housing, Social Services, and Development – have experienced growth over time. FIGURE 6-3: Proportions of Grand Rapids Development Frames per Year Faith-Based Organizations in Grand Rapids As in the previous chapter, there are two hypotheses to test regarding the faith-based sector in Grand Rapids: Hypothesis 4 (Grand Rapids): Changes in federal policy preferences expanded participation of local faith-based nonprofits over time. 123 Hypothesis 5 (Grand Rapids): Specific federal policy interventions targeted to faith-based nonprofits expanded the participation of local faith-based nonprofits during years of intervention. These hypotheses are designed to consider the previous hypothesis in light of the special case of faith-based organizations. Once again, Grand Rapids will serve as the test case for these hypotheses, as indicated by changes in local newspaper coverage. As before, the wideness of scope of activity is defined by changes in the service delivery frames and years of policy intervention occur when the local, state, or federal government makes policy related to faith-based organizations. Local Faith-Based Community’s Involvement in Housing The faith-based Housing sector in Grand Rapids emphasizes Homelessness and substandard housing, with the great amount of attention paid in 2003 and 2004. Public assistance for housing is also somewhat salient over time. Because the areas of concentration in Grand Rapids changed over time, this supports earlier predictions that the regime players have changed. These results reject Hypothesis 4 because the scope of Housing activity shrinks, rather than increases, in Grand Rapids over time. As in Detroit, Hypothesis 5 is not supported because 2001 and 2005, years of policy intervention, are not the years of greatest coverage. 124 FIGURE 6-4: Proportion of Grand Rapids Housing Frames Containing “Faith-Based” Local Faith-Based Community’s Involvement in Social Services The faith-based community has changed its Social Services focus over time. It was heavily invested in Addressing food insecurity until 2005 at which point the Medical care and intervention frame became more prominent. Issues of Departments, programs, and policies are present over time, with notable importance in 2009. For Social Services, Hypothesis 4 is again rejected, as there is not an increasing scope of activity, as would be indicated by more frames of activity over time. However, since 2005 is an important year for faith-based organizations in Grand Rapids, Hypothesis 5 is supported. 125 FIGURE 6-5: Proportion of Grand Rapids Social Service Frames Containing “Faith-Based” Local Faith-Based Community’s Involvement in Development Finally, Development keywords and keyword categories are considered for the work of faith-based groups. Like in Detroit, Development focuses on Access and engagement, with less focus on Community development and Departments, programs, and policies. Development work emphasizes community engagement and improvement, but in Grand Rapids, there is a greater presence of the faith-based Social Services sector in policy-making decisions. Furthermore, as was visible in Detroit, Development interests are more prominent that Housing or Social Services issues. For Development, Hypothesis 4 is not conclusively supported – the scope of activity does not increase over time consistently. Hypothesis 5 is also rejected because years of policy intervention, 2001 and 2005, are not important years of salience. 126 FIGURE 6-6: Proportion of Grand Rapids Development Frames Containing “Faith-Based” Comparison of All Nonprofits to Special Case of Faith-Based Nonprofits After considering the special case of faith-based organizations in Grand Rapids, some comparisons can be made between all nonprofits and those with a religious nature. Both the general nonprofit sector for Housing and faith-based organizations emphasize Homelessness and substandard housing, with secondary focus on Public assistance for housing. While the salience of the Housing sector grows over time, involvement of the faith-based community in housing peaks in 2003 and 2004. This suggests that the faith-based community in Grand Rapids is different from the sector overall. Second, Addressing food insecurity was a serious focus of faithbased Social Services groups through 2005, but was not a focus of nonprofits in general during these years. Thus, it appears that faith-based groups intervened to offer services that were lacking in the sector overall. After 2005, Medical care and intervention was the focus of these same faith-based groups, with steady and relatively unchanging salience for all nonprofits over time. 127 The change from 2005 to 2006 is important for Social Services, suggesting that the entire community, including faith-based groups, perceived a greater need for medical services than foodrelated issues from then on. Third, in the Development sector overall and the faith-based sector, Access and engagement is the main frame over time and some limited focus on Departments, programs and policies. Finally, the growth experienced by the general nonprofit sector in Grand Rapids over time was not necessarily experienced by faith-based groups. The salience of the special case has varied over time with some years of greater attention followed by lulls – unlike the city’s nonprofit sector overall, which has steadily risen in public salience. Differences between the faithbased sector and general nonprofit sector in Grand Rapids are more pronounced than differences in Detroit. Given the link between conservative politics and conservative religious identity in Grand Rapids, it is plausible that the city’s religious charitable community has preferred to remain more independent of changes to the nonprofit sector as a result of city intervention. 128 REFERENCES 129 REFERENCES rd Dunbar, W. F., and G. S. May. 1995. Michigan: A History of the Wolverine State, 3 Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Ed. Fugate, S. 1997. For the Benefit of All: A History of Philanthropy in Michigan. Battle Creek, MI: W.K Kellogg Foundation. Lydens, Z.Z. 1966. The Story of Grand Rapids: A Narrative History of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications. Olson, G. L. 1996. Grand Rapids A City Renewed: A History Since World War II. Grand Rapids: Grand Rapids Historical Commission. U.S. Census Bureau. 31 January 2012. “Grand Rapids (city), Michigan.” http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/26/2634000.html. Accessed from the World Wide Web on 10 April 2012. Watkins, M. P. 1987. “Civilizers of the West: Clergy and Laity in Michigan Frontier Churches, 1820-1840.” In Michigan: Explorations in its Social History. Eds. Francis X. Blouin, Jr. and Maris A. Vinovskis. Ann Arbor: Historical Society of Michigan. Woodford, F. B. and A. M. Woodford. 1969. All Our Yesterdays: A Brief History of Detroit. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. 130 COMPARISONS AND CONCLUSIONS Finally, it is important to return to the initial hypotheses tested in chapters 4, 5, and 6. These potential explanations were offered at the beginning of the previous chapters and examined throughout: Tested nationally, Chapter 4 Hypothesis 1: Changes in federal policy preferences targeted to nonprofits expanded the scope of national discourse around nonprofits over time. Hypothesis 2: Specific federal policy interventions targeted to nonprofits expanded the scope of national discourse around nonprofits during years of intervention. Tested separately for Detroit and Grand Rapids, Chapters 5 and 6 Hypothesis 3: Changes in federal policy preferences expanded the scope of participation of local nonprofits over time. Hypothesis 4: Changes in federal policy preferences expanded participation of local faith-based nonprofits over time. Hypothesis 5: Specific federal policy interventions targeted to faith-based nonprofits expanded the participation of local faith-based nonprofits during years of intervention. Summary of National Conclusions National policy attention towards service delivery includes both symbolic and concrete policy change, both specific policies and ideological preferences. In particular, it is focused on homelessness, medical assistance, and community engagement. National concerns take precedence over local ones; for example emphasizing Medicare and medical care over free clinic or food bank. 131 National Housing issues emphasize Homelessness and substandard housing issues, and then concerns of Public assistance for housing. National Social Services issues focus on the areas of Medical care and intervention, followed by Departments, programs, and policies. National Development, the most attention was paid to Access and engagement issues, with lesser attention paid to other two issue areas. Comparison of Detroit and Grand Rapids Table 7-1 summarizes the findings for the case studies regarding these hypotheses. Here, the clear interpretation is that attention to all three service delivery areas has increased in Grand Rapids but decreased in Detroit over time. These results are interpreted to mean that in Grand Rapids, more nonprofits are involved in more service delivery over time but the same is not true of Detroit. Several specific conclusions about services can be reached as well: In Detroit, more faith-based groups are involved in housing over time. Development groups in both cities have also expanded their reach. Finally, in Grand Rapids, Social Services was most prominent during 2005, the same year that the Michigan Governor's Office of Community and Faith-based Initiatives opened. Consider the striking difference in attention paid to service delivery areas between Grand Rapids and Detroit. The proportions of coverage indicate how much attention is paid to the issues relative to all attention paid in that paper in a given year in all articles. For Grand Rapids, attention to service delivery issues in all three areas increases steadily over time. For Detroit, the opposite is true: service delivery become much less important relative to other issues by the end of the 2000s. Specifically, both cities emphasized Homelessness and substandard housing, and to a lesser extent, Public assistance for housing. For the specific case of faith-based groups, the same pattern exists. 132 For Social Services, both are concerned with Medical care and intervention and Departments, programs, and policies. In the faith-based Social Services sector, Detroit mirrors the city’s nonprofit sector overall but Grand Rapids has seen a changing emphasis where Addressing food insecurity was the focus until 2005; afterwards, the emphasis aligned with the city overall to focus on Medical care and intervention, followed by Departments, programs, and policies. Both cities’ Development sectors focus on Access and engagement, followed by Community development. For the faith-based sectors in these cities, the secondary emphasis differs: in Detroit, the focus is on Community development while Grand Rapids has also focused on Departments, programs, and policies. Overall, some conclusions can be drawn about the two cities’ nonprofit sectors. The nonprofits sectors in Detroit and Grand Rapids are very similar to one another overall. Greater variety, however, exists within the faith-based sector. In Detroit, it is similar to the city overall but it is different in Grand Rapids. There is a different emphasis on Addressing food insecurity before 2005, an important year of policy intervention from the state when the Michigan Governor's Office of Community and Faith-based Initiatives opened. After that intervention, Grand Rapids Social Services aligned with state and national focus on Medical care and intervention. TABLE 7-1: Summary of Findings from Local Analysis Grand National Detroit Rapids Interpretation Hypothesis 1: Changes in federal policy preferences targeted to nonprofits expanded the scope of national discourse around nonprofits over time. Rejected Coverage decreased Housing Rejected Coverage decreased Social Services Rejected Coverage decreased Development 133 TABLE 7-1 (cont’d) Hypothesis 2: Specific federal policy interventions targeted to nonprofits expanded the scope of national discourse around nonprofits during years of intervention. Rejected Coverage decreased Housing Supported (tentative) Only true in one national source Social Services Supported (tentative) Only true in one national source Development Hypothesis 4: Changes in federal policy preferences expanded participation of local faith-based nonprofits over time. Supported Rejected Only true in Detroit Housing Rejected Rejected Coverage decreased Social Services Supported Supported (tentative) (tentative) Change over time is inconsistent Development Hypothesis 5: Specific federal policy interventions targeted to faith-based nonprofits expanded the participation of local faith-based nonprofits during years of intervention. Rejected Rejected Coverage decreased Housing Rejected Supported Only true in Grand Rapids Social Services Rejected Rejected Coverage decreased Development Comparison of National Evidence to Local Cases The following figures consider the differences between national and local data, by service area, to verify the conclusions of the previous chapters. Each of the three uses the total proportion of all keywords per year, rather than comparing frames within each service area. Figure 7-1 compares the four newspapers by Housing; Figure 7-2, by Social Services; and Figure 7-3, by Development. As the figures demonstrate, there is not a clear pattern of change from the national to local level, when considering only differences among service areas from the national to local level. Thus, it is important to turn to the differences within each service area, by considering the differences in important frames for each over time. 134 FIGURE 7-1: Comparison of National and Local Housing Data FIGURE 7-2: Comparison of National and Local Social Services Data 135 FIGURE 7-3: Comparison of National and Local Development Data At this point, it is important to return to the earlier findings to compare within each area, by frames, to make a final determination about if and how national-level policy intervention affects local decision-making. First, in the Housing sector at the national and local level, the main focus has been on Homelessness and substandard housing issues, followed by Public assistance for housing. The same is true both generally for local nonprofits and in the specific case of faithbased nonprofits. For Social Services, both nationally and locally, the main focus has been on Medical care and intervention, although one of the two cities (Grand Rapids) also focuses a considerable amount of its energy on Departments, programs, and policies. Faith-based nonprofits in Grand Rapids shifted focus from Addressing food insecurity to Medical care and intervention to bring the sector more in line with both local and national policy in 2006, the year after the Governor's Office of Community and Faith-based Initiatives opened in Michigan. 136 For Development, both the national and local sectors, for all nonprofits and the case of faith-based nonprofits, have focused on Access and engagement. One difference between cities’ faith-based communities is the importance of Departments, programs, and policies in Grand Rapids during some years, rather than Community development. This suggests that Development, unlike other sectors, has remained more locally controlled. Cities work closely with their Development partners in the nonprofit sector, and there is little impact from the national level on Development decisions. Implications for Regime Theory What role do nonprofits, particularly faith-based organizations, play within local governing regimes? Does national urban policymaking affect the development of regime partnerships, and if so, how? These questions have been the driving factor behind all of the choices of analysis throughout this dissertation. Recall that this dissertation assumes media coverage is an appropriate proxy measure of nonprofit activity, and activity implies participation in the regime. To answer the first question, it seems that nonprofits play different roles within the governing regime of the city. In Housing, the sectors overall and the nonprofit Housing sector are in line with national policy and issues of salience. Housing nonprofits did not have to shift priorities to meet national policy change. Social Services, on the other hand, did have to change their emphasis (in the city of Grand Rapids at least) in order to match up their goals with national priorities. This shift does not occur immediately after the passage of Charitable Choice, or even after the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives opens. Rather it occurs after the state of Michigan opens its relevant office in 2005. This evidence suggests that state-level and locallevel policy choices, rather than national policy-making, are greater influences over the types of 137 groups which were active in Grand Rapids. Finally, unlike the other areas, Development is relatively unaffected by these changes and continues to demonstrate a very close partnership between business interests and city decision-making. To answer the second question, national urban policy making does not affect the nature of regime development consistently. For Housing, the sector was already working on the same areas of priority and so the sector was not given greater prominence in the discourse. For Social Services, there is a clear link between the national policy change and the impact on what Grand Rapids Social Services sector has emphasized. Here, the national discourse around nonprofit activity clearly affected the state of Michigan, which in turn put pressure on its cities to conform to national priorities. For Development, national discourse was not able to change these cities’ consistently close relationship with community and economic development organizations. However, the specific policy of interest, Charitable Choice, has not had a concrete impact on the nature of local service delivery. The awareness of Charitable Choice among nonprofits is virtually nonexistent – only current or former faith-based organizations have heard of it. Of those who are familiar, they nevertheless do not believe that it currently impacts their funding or public support. Early on in its inception, some organizations, such as the example from Detroit, had faced discrimination from state bureaucrats who implemented policy. Some state officials recognized this problem but thought it was that some organizations that the state agency supported only wanted to serve their own population. Other faith-based organizations, such as the example from Grand Rapids, have been able to convince their city officials to work as partners without having to compromise their religious identity. However, this positive relationship developed because the nonprofit advocated on its own behalf and had the support of members of the city commission on its side, not because of federal intervention. 138 Because there is no direct evidence from the media to show a clear link between national policy priorities, but there is some evidence from local interviews, what is now left to consider is the role that faith-based organizations play within the city’s governing regime, even if their participation is not clearly linked to national-level policy discourse. First, it is clear from speaking to city nonprofit representatives that faith-based organizations play a consistent, important role as implementers of national, state, and local policy. They satisfy unmet policy needs, which government agencies cannot address. Furthermore, cities such as Grand Rapids have deviated in the past from national policy objectives, which suggests that there are qualitative differences between the two case study cities’ nonprofit sectors, both overall and for the specific case of faithbased groups. There are some characteristics of nonprofits in general and faith-based nonprofits which can be drawn from both the national and local analyses. At the local level, it is clear that some faith-based nonprofits are more reluctant to engage the city in shared policy-making. Many provide public input, serve on committees, lobby and assist with the development of policy. However, there is some fear that they will have to change their nature to adapt to regulations. Partnerships are a very important way that these organizations work. They tend to partner with other nonprofits in Housing and Social Services; and Development in particular works closely with the city’s departments. Thus, the service delivery area (Housing, Social Services, or Development) affects their working relationship with the city. These cities have closer working relationships with Development groups than the others, who may be involved in committees and task forces, but do not enjoy the same freedom to work as an “extension” of city services. 139 Final Conclusions and Directions for Future Research Overall, there is not sufficient evidence to link the policy of Charitable Choice to changes in local governing regime players and composition. In this example, national policy intervention did not produce changes in local governance. The strongest likelihood of connection is found with Social Services organizations, as there are examples of demonstrated change in reaction to policy change outside of the city. The other two areas, Housing and Development, are either too connected to national policy to be clearly affected by policy change, as in the case of Housing, or too tied to local policy to be affected by national policy, as in the case of Development. Future research should explore how Social Services are tied to regime change to determine if another policy has had the same impact on different governing regimes across the state of Michigan and elsewhere. This evidence suggests that Social Services nonprofits are active in the regime, but cannot say how powerful they are within that structure. This is an avenue for future research. Additionally, though this research was limited by the availability of certain years of data, other cities may not be as limited and may provide an interesting comparison to the Michigan cases. For example, public education as a service delivery arena was intentionally excluded from this analysis due to many substantive and policy differences between education and the other three areas. However, future research can look to this area and relevant policies to understand how public education and charter and private schools, essentially educational nonprofits, are impacted by national policy change. Other research to consider will look beyond the nonprofit sector to see if other national policies have impacted local governing regimes, in arenas such as health care, business and economics, and gender politics. When looking back on the research conducted here, one lesson emerges from this analysis: nonprofit studies are very complicated and messy. There are many factors and moving piec- 140 es to the process which impact results and make it difficult to assess change over time. This difficulty is also a challenge to future research. Because the literature has not always been systematic, there is a place for research approaches such as the one outlined here which use large n data to understand local policy change, in conjunction with qualitative data. It is possible to foresee future research that combines the techniques of content analysis with interview, focus group and survey data that is able to expand this proposed theory to additional arenas for testing. What is left now is simply to go out and begin new research, in light of these conclusions and lessons learned here. 141