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February 2, 2001/Shevet 8, 5761, Vol. 53, No.18
Jews question faith-based initiative
SHARON SAMBER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
WASHINGTON - A Jewish drug addict needs treatment but the only program available is run by the Nation of Islam, so he is forced to accept Allah before he can receive counseling help.
A Jewish homeless family goes to a church-run shelter where they must attend a Christian prayer session in order to receive services.
Some Jewish activists envision such horror stories as they take stock of President Bush's new initiative to increase the partnership between the federal government and religious institutions in delivering social services.
But while some fear that the Bush administration is setting down a dangerous path that will erode the separation of church and state, others, primarily in the Orthodox community, want faith-based institutions to play a greater role in providing social services, as long as minority religions are protected.
Bush's initiative, launched last week, marks a potentially dramatic shift in the way federal money will be used to help people in need. It has sparked a national debate about whether religious institutions that do charitable work should receive government funding.
In the Jewish community, the debate about church-state separation is accompanied by another significant issue: how such a program will affect the social service landscape that has been a hallmark of Jewish communal work.
For decades, local, state and federal money have been going to Jewish organizations, most notably the Jewish federation system, to run such programs as nursing homes, drug treatment programs, family counseling and services for the homeless.
But, the Jewish federations say, there is a difference between their services and ones that might be run by a synagogue or church.
Federations take great care to follow guidelines that ensure quality control and ensure that safeguards are in place so that there is no blurring of church-state separation, no religious coercion and they have the ability to deliver services in a non-religious fashion.
There is concern whether the same safeguards would apply to religious institutions charged with delivering the same services under Bush's plan.
Since the introduction of "charitable choice" in 1996, religious institutions have been able to bid for government contracts to provide services to welfare recipients.
Over the past several years charitable choice supporters have attempted to incrementally expand the approach adopted by welfare programs to other social services.
Now Bush has begun to make good on his campaign promise to increase the role of faith-based organizations in social service programming.
Signing an executive order Jan. 29, Bush established a new federal office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives as well as centers in five federal agencies to address how the government can fund religious institutions.
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