Gov. Sanders launches faith-based crisis support pilot
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Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announces the 10:33 Initiative. Screenshot: Sanders administration
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced a pilot program designed to connect some Arkansans in crisis with local faith and community partners.
The big picture: Named the 10:33 Initiative for the parable of the good Samaritan in the Bible's Luke 10:33, it will use Restore Hope's HopeHub online platform, which links people in need with community partners who can coordinate housing, health care and job assistance.
- It also will direct them to the Arkansas LAUNCH job portal, which uses skills assessments to align seekers with employers.
State of play: The 12-month pilot will focus on residents in Pulaski, Union and Pope counties and will serve an estimated 300 to 500 Arkansans.
- The program was developed through the governor's Faith-Based Initiatives office, the White House Faith Office, the Arkansas Department of Human Services, and the Arkansas Department of Commerce.
Arkansas "spends billions of dollars" overseeing federal programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Sanders said during an announcement Monday.
- "We do a pretty good job of putting a temporary Band-Aid on problems, but we need to be doing more to move Arkansans from crisis to career and to let them know that they are loved and that there is hope for a better future," she said.
Follow the money: No new state funding will be needed. The initiative will use Restore Hope's existing funding, which is a mix of federal and state money, and charitable donations, Sanders spokesperson Sam Dubke told Axios in an email.
What they're saying: "Every day, in my [adviser] position up in D.C. — you have to drive things by data — and data shows us that faith-based programs and people of faith have an almost 80-plus percent success rate," Pastor Paula White-Cain, senior adviser to the White House Faith Office, said at the announcement.
- "Purely humanism and secular tend to have under 20%" success rates, while faith-based methods work "because they care and they have great programs," she said.
The bottom line: Anyone who'd like to learn about contributing to the 10:33 Initiative can download a one-page fact sheet.