Purpose Examine how religious congregations engage in social entrepreneurship as they strive to meet health-related needs in their communities. Design Multiple case studies. Setting Los Angeles County, California. Participants Purposive sample of 14 congregations representing diverse races-ethnicities (African American, Latino, and white) and faith traditions (Jewish and various Christian). Method Congregations were recruited based on screening data and consultation of a community advisory board. In each congregation, researchers conducted interviews with clergy and lay leaders (n=57); administered a congregational questionnaire; observed health activities, worship services, and neighborhood context; and reviewed archival information. Interviews were analyzed using a qualitative, code-based approach. Results Congregations’ health-related activities tended to be episodic, small in scale, and local in scope. Trust and social capital played important roles in congregations’ health initiatives, providing a safe, confidential environment and leveraging resources from – and for – faith-based and secular organizations in their community networks. Congregations also served as “incubators” for members to engage in social entrepreneurship. Conclusion Although the small scale of congregations’ health initiatives suggest they may not have the capacity to provide the main infrastructure for service provision, congregations can complement the efforts of health and social providers with their unique strengths. Specifically, congregations are distinctive in their ability to identify unmet local needs, and congregations’ position in their communities permit them to network in productive ways.

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This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest.RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RR1783Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this publication.ISBN: 978-0-8330-9731-6 Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2017 RAND CorporationR® is a registered trademark.iii PrefaceIn August 2015, René Thomas-Rizzo, director, Human Capital Initiatives, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (OUSD) for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (AT&L), asked the RAND Corporation to undertake a study to accomplish the fiscal year (FY) 2016 Civilian Acquisition Workforce Personnel Demonstration Project (AcqDemo) assessment mandated in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of FY 2011. The assessment used multiple data sources-both quantitative and qualitative, both objective-and perception-based-to evaluate AcqDemo using the original 12 criteria enumerated in the NDAA, as well as five new criteria specified by the AcqDemo Program Office. These criteria call for a look at the following:• AcqDemo's key features pertaining to hiring, appointments, and performance appraisal • the adequacy of its guidance, protections for diversity, efforts to ensure fairness and transparency, and means used to involve employees in improving AcqDemo • AcqDemo's impact on career outcomes, such as compensation, promotion, and retention, particularly with respect to similar outcomes for the General Schedule workforce • AcqDemo's ability to support the acquisition mission.This research should be of interest to U.S. Department of Defense personnel involved with civilian manpower and personnel policy issues and to congressional representatives and staff responsible for AcqDemo project oversight. Some expertise about government civilian personnel management and performance-based personnel systems is presumed.This research was sponsored by Human Capital Initiatives, OUSD for AT&L, and conducted within the Forces and Resources Policy Center of the RAND National Defense Research Institute, a federally funded re...

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This paper examines facilitators and barriers to HIV activities within religious congregations, the relative internal or external sources of these influences, and suggestive differences across congregational types. Results are based on in-depth interviews with clergy and lay leaders (n = 57) from 14 congregations in Los Angeles County, California, purposively selected to reflect diversity in racial-ethnic composition, denomination, size, and HIV activity level. Many common facilitators and barriers were related to norms and attitudes, only a few of which appeared overtly associated with theological orientations. Clergy support was a facilitator particularly prevalent among congregations having higher HIV activity levels, indicating its importance in sustaining and expanding HIV programs. Resource issues were also prominent, with material resource barriers more frequently mentioned by smaller congregations and human resource barriers more among larger congregations. Organizational structure issues were mostly centered on external linkages with various social service, public health, and faith-based entities. Analysis of internal versus external sources highlights the roles of different stakeholders within and outside congregations in promoting HIV activities. Potential differences across congregational types represent fruitful areas for future research.