IN THE CAPITAL

'Faith-Based' Programs Get Little Oversight, Says Study

The Bush administration's aggressive push for funding of "faith-based" groups is significantly altering the way states and localities are offering social services, a study from the Urban Institute finds.

In late July, the nonpartisan think tank released an expansive report, "Federal Policy on the Ground: Faith-Based Organizations Delivering Local Services," on the major block grant programs in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the federal funds provided via the Compassion Capital Fund (CCF).

The 95-page analysis studied grant recipients in Birmingham, Ala., Boston and Denver. A July 28 statement regarding the report noted several key findings, including that "many state and local policies lack effective oversight of such dimensions as religious content and program participants' ability to choose alternatives to faith-based service providers."

According to the Institute, the percentage of HHS grants to religious groups has not changed significantly since the enactment of the 1996 federal welfare reform law, which contained a "charitable choice" provision encouraging faith-based subsidies. Conversely, the Institute reports, 50 to 70 percent of the newer CCF grants - funds controlled by the Bush administration - were awarded to Boston and Denver religious groups, "many of which were congregation based."

President George W. Bush has made the "faith-based" initiative a major part of his domestic agenda, establishing a White House faith-based office early in his administration. Bush has often argued that religious groups have historically found it difficult to attain government funds for their social services. But the Urban Institute's study suggests otherwise.

"We found little indication that public officials were hostile to FBOs [faith-based organizations], and we heard few allegations from the FBOs about past or present ill treatment," the Urban Institute's report stated.

Frcdrica Kramer, one the report's authors, noted lack of oversight of faith-based operations as a key concern.

"Unless government agencies carefully monitor how faithbased programs use government funding," she said, "we can't know how religious content affects services or whether safeguards are in place to protect those who may not be able to speak for themselves, such as children and participants in courtordered treatment."

Most Bishops Wouldn't Deny Communion, Says Cardinal

A top Roman Catholic official has suggested that most American bishops would not deny communion to politicians who advocate policies not supported by the church.

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C., said in early July that "a majority" of U.S. bishops would not deny communion to Catholic politicians who dissent from church doctrine, the Religion News Service reported.

McCarrick is head of a church task force regarding the treatment of such politicians. Last year, a clutch of national and international bishops suggested that politicians who strayed from the church's teachings should be denied communion. Several American bishops criticized Democratic presidential challenger John F. Kerry for his support of reproductive rights and suggested he ought to be denied communion.

McCarrick's task force is soon expected to issue recommendations to the bishops on the subject matter, though no release date has been announced.

Congress Earmarks Money For Calif. Mission Repair

California lawmakers in Congress forced into an expansive spending bill thousands of dollars for repair of one of the state's Roman Catholic missions.

Senators Diane Feinstein (D) and Barbara Boxer (D) announced in late July that they had secured a $300,000 grant for the repair of the San Migucl Mission, one of the state's 21 Catholic missions.

Feinslein is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a proponent of the California Missions Preservation Act, which last year authorized $10 million for upkeep and repair of the missions, 19 of which are still owned by the Catholic Church.

The Sacramento Bee reported that the grant is the first to be issued since the law's enactment. Feinslcin, during a House-Senate conference committee on the Interior Appropriations spending bill, "insisted on money being" granted to the mission, the newspaper reported.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State is challenging the law in federal court as a violation of the First Amendment.

Copyright Americans United for Separation of Church and State Sep 2005
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