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GAO: Faith-based Initiative Lacks Safeguards Against Religious Discrimination and Shows Lack of Accountability Washington DC, July 18, 2006 - A new Government Accountability Office report released today by U.S. Representatives Pete Stark (D-CA) and George Miller (D-CA) finds that the Bush Administration offers inadequate safeguards against discrimination in federally funded social services programs carried out by faith-based organizations. The GAO also found that the White House has no way of knowing if its faith-based initiative is actually achieving its goals. Though the initiative resulted in the awarding of more than $2.1 billion in federal grants to faith-based organizations in fiscal year 2005 alone, the GAO found that few measurable standards have been developed or implemented to evaluate the program's effectiveness. "This report shows that the Bush administration has sent billions of taxpayer dollars to religious organizations without accountability for how that money is spent," said Stark, the senior Democrat on the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee. "The Bush administration has failed to develop standards to verify that faith-based organizations aren't using federal funds to pay for inherently religious activity or to provide services on the basis of religion. Taxpayers shouldn't have to take it on faith that programs without standards for success are having a measurable impact." "Faith-based organizations provide important services in communities across our country - that is not in doubt. What's in question is how the Bush administration manages the federal government's role in funding faith-based groups. The Bush Administration has a responsibility to make sure that federal taxpayer dollars are not being sent to organizations that discriminate, but it is failing to uphold that responsibility," said Miller, the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee. "As a result, we don't know if Americans who are eligible for services are missing out on them because of their religious beliefs. This has been a glaring problem from the beginning of this initiative and it must be corrected." Serious failures to prevent discrimination The GAO report found that federal agencies administering the faith-based initiative are not informing religious organizations of their anti-discrimination responsibilities under the law. Every organization that receives and uses federal grants to provide community services must provide those services to anyone who is eligible, regardless of factors like race or religion. For example, an afterschool program that receives federal funding may not refuse to accept an eligible student because of his or her religion. Yet in 60 percent of cases the GAO examined, federal agencies failed to provide to faith-based organizations a statement on nondiscrimination in program participation. The GAO report also found that 70 percent of the agencies it reviewed did not provide information on permissible hiring practices to grantees. Audits conducted by federal agencies of faith-based grantees, however, routinely fail to monitor whether grantees are adhering to equal treatment regulations. No assessment of whether initiative is achieving its goals When President Bush discussed the launch of the initiative in November of 2001, he said: "We ought to ask the question: Does the program work? If faith is the integral part of a program being successful, the government ought to say hallelujah. We ought to welcome the good work of faith in our society." Yet five years into the initiative, the GAO report finds that the government has not examined whether programs administered by religious organizations are improving participant outcomes. According to the study, agencies have not completed - or even begun - outcome-based evaluations of most of the faith-based programs they fund. Only one federal agency, the U.S. Department of Education, is planning to conduct a comparative analysis to examine whether participants of programs run by faith-based groups have better outcomes than do participants of programs run by secular organizations. "When President Bush said faith-based programs should be evaluated, I agreed. That's why I was disappointed to learn that his Administration is conducting almost no oversight of the faith-based initiative. Rather than embrace accountability, government agencies are resisting GAO recommendations to improve performance. The Bush Administration should practice what it preaches," concluded Stark. The GAO report is available at http://www.house.gov/stark/news/109th/pressreleases/GAO_faith.pdf
Firm Foundation Sued in Federal Court February 17, 2005 - A complaint was filed in federal court today on behalf of several Bradford County citizens, including a former prisoner of the Bradford County jail. The complaint charges that the Bradford County Commissioners and Firm Foundation of Bradford County, which supposedly operates a vocational training program for Bradford County prison inmates, have been violating the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. A BCAD report, Performance of Firm Foundation of Bradford County, published and distributed in July 2004, detailed the First Amendment violations committed by Firm Foundation as well as the fiscal mismanagement of Firm Foundation and the lack of required fiduciary oversight by the County Commissioners and PCCD. Follow this link to view the report, the complaint, and updates. Performance of Firm Foundation of Bradford County Satan's Critique of Church-State Separation Clark Moeller, January 28, 2005 - This is a talk presented in dramatic form by Clark Moeller that explores the deleterious effects of the Bush Administration’s faith-based funding on religious institutions and church-state separation. The presentation is followed by discussion. During 2004, this presentation has been given to church and secular groups in PA, NY, MD, and UT. click here for Satan's Critique Church-State Separation: A Keystone to Peace, 3rd Edition Criticisms of the ‘Church-State Separation' Concept Appendix to Church-State Separation: A Keystone to Peace, January 2004 - Three common criticisms of church-state separation include the complaints that the meaning of the Establishment Clause does not imply the concept of separation of church from state, none of the separation phrases such as ‘church-state separation' are found in the language of the First Amendment, and America has been and continues to be a Christian nation. These criticisms are not based on the revealed truths of religion, but rather rest on historical claims which either do or do not have documentation. Read more Visit Pennsylvania Alliance for Democracy for more resources: Re-establishing Church-State Integrity Related sites |