Congress Ponders Spur to Giving as Feds Rely More on Charities
Source: Anne Farris, The Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy, July 31, 2007
As Congress last week considered extending tax incentives for charitable giving, it received new information that the federal government is increasingly relying on charities to deliver health care, education and human services in America.
That increase was reflected in more federal money to nonprofit organizations and a growth in the number of public charities, according to testimony from the Government Accountability Office (.pdf) (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress.
....... The GAO study said the growing number of charities was the result of a decades-long shift away from government directly providing services, the elimination of large public care facilities in favor of smaller community-based organizations, and a trend in programs like welfare away from federal control and toward more local autonomy.