The Columbus Dispatch
Helping the needy: Who’s doing what?
The Kasich administration hopes a study will find any overlaps or gaps in available social services
By  Joe Vardon

Thursday July 25, 2013 

The Kasich administration is seeking information from thousands of Ohio’s nonprofit and religion-based organizations to learn what services are being provided to the needy and where there are coverage gaps. 

The project’s working title is Mapping Ohio’s Compassion, and it is being led by the Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. It ultimately will include an interactive website showing where nonprofits are in Ohio and what services they provide, as well as recommendations of best practices. 

The administration is paying the Indianapolis-based Sagamore Institute, a conservative-leaning research group, $124,000 to do most of the study, which includes an online survey being circulated to more than 3,000 nonprofit or religious groups in Ohio. 

The survey asks the groups to disclose what services they provide, such as emergency food and clothing, housing, job training and others; how many people they serve; and how many volunteers are in their organizations. 

The survey also asks for total income in 2011 and how much of that came from private donations and grants versus public-sector contracts and grants… 

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