Four years after the fact, a group of academics gets together and offers a solution to the fallout from the 1996 welfare reform? Hah! Where were these guys when the real work was being done? Where were their bright ideas when they were really needed? As is typical of academia, they prance in pretending to have answers when what they're really doing is pontificating, analyzing, and providing precious little in the way of useable ideas. Talk's cheap. Where were they when we needed them?

With the recent appointing of a faith-based alternatives advisor to the White House, Who Will Provide is essential reading for anyone who wants to have solid grounding on the important relevant issues. In this thoughtful, provocative book -- constructed after several years of discussion among some of the brightest people thinking on these issues -- the issue of how religion must take a more prominent role in American social welfare is tackled head on. The voices and stories of the contributors vary, but the underlying intent remains to find viable solutions in an environment that cries out more strongly for them than ever before.

A useful range of perspectives on the current debate over faith based organizations and the provision of social services. Helpful in terms of framing the issues broadly, and thought-provoking from a moral standpoint.