For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 23, 2004
Fact Sheet: Seeking Fair Treatment for Faith-Based and Community Charities
Presidential Action:
In his State of the Union Address, President Bush called on Congress
to codify the principle of equal treatment for faith-based organizations
in the Federal grants process, putting an end to discrimination
against these charities. This legislation would ensure that more
Americans in need would be able to get vital social services from
the country's most effective charities, whether they are secular
or faith-based organizations.
Background:
During his first week in office, President Bush directed the White
House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) and
faith-based offices in five Cabinet agencies to identify barriers
that kept effective faith-based programs from serving Americans
in need. OFBCI issued an August 2001 report, entitled "Unlevel Playing
Field," detailing the barriers faced by these groups. In December
2002, the President issued an Executive Order directing agencies
to take steps to ensure that all policies are consistent with the
"equal treatment" principles enunciated in the Executive Order.
In response to the President's Executive Order, Federal agencies
have issued six final regulations and three proposed regulations,
along with numerous other policy changes, to implement the equal
treatment principles. As a result of these regulatory changes, faith-based
organizations will be ensured equal treatment when they compete
for approximately $10 billion in grant funds.
Many faith-based organizations that had been effective in serving
the poor faced discrimination in their efforts to partner with the
Federal government. The regulatory reforms instituted by President
Bush have remedied some of these problems, but without the permanence
of Federal statute, these reforms could be short-lived. These examples
illustrate the need for Congress to enact "equal treatment" provisions
and end discrimination in all programs against faith-based charities:
- Under HUD regulations in effect when the President came into
office, the faith-based organization Safe House for Battered Women
and Their Children was told that it was ineligible for funding
because it wanted to hold religious activities on-site. (Old HUD
regulations had said that religious organizations must provide
services in a manner free from "religious influences.") When Safe
House learned about the new HUD regulations finalized in September
2003, it reapplied, and in January 2004, the City of Baton Rouge
awarded Safe House a $60,000 grant.
- Several years ago, the Loving Hands Community Development Corporation
(part of the Bethel Baptist Church of Barnesville, Georgia) found
some of its funding for its after-school program cut off under
a new state policy that prohibited school systems from subcontracting
with faith-based organizations. The Supplemental Educational Services
(SES) program, part of President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act
of 2001, directs States to allow faith-based organizations to
participate fully. In September 2003, Loving Hands became an approved
provider of SES services and now receives fee-for-service payments
to provide after-school services to 25 children.
- When the Orange County Rescue Mission in California applied
for a grant under HUD's Supportive Housing Program, they were
awarded the grant but were told they would need to ban all religious
activities from their facilities, create a secular nonprofit organization,
and begin calling their chapel an "auditorium." Rather than compromise
their religious identity, the Orange County Rescue Mission forfeited
the $1.1 million grant. Since the HUD regulations finalized in
September 2003 would not require them to form a secular entity
to receive HUD funds, and inherently religious activities would
still be allowed as long as they are separated in time or location
from HUD-funded activities, the Orange County Rescue Mission recently
applied for a new HUD grant.
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