Religious Groups Receive 1/3 of Federal Drug Recovery Funds
DonByrd printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Fri Sep 28, 2007 at 12:03:03 PM EST
Health and Human Services reports that faith-based service providers receive 1/3 of the funds of a new federal voucher program. ATR (Access to Recovery) allows those in need of substance abuse programs to choose from a list of providers that includes religious groups (per President Bush's faith-based initiative), even if those groups don't meet licensing standards. More below...
Anne Farris at the Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy reports:
Under law, government money cannot be paid directly to faith-based organizations for inherently religious activities. But ATR allows clients to spend their government vouchers at their choice of rehabilitation programs, including those infused with religion, because there is no direct payment to the organization. Instead, the payments are considered "indirect" because the client - not the government - selects the recipient from a list of approved providers that also include secular organizations.
...
Critics of ATR have said the program improperly expands government-funded services to faith-based programs, many of which do not meet licensing requirements or medically-sanctioned standards of state-approved services. Faith-based organizations receiving government money through vouchers are allowed to use religiously-based curriculum in treatment, and that has raised concerns about church-state separation among civil liberties groups.
The Senate Appropriations Committee last year removed funding for the program, but the final HHS appropriations bill included the funding to continue for another 3-year stint.

My question is this: if providers are not necessarily required to meet licensing standards to qualify for federal funding, how do they wind up being included on (or excluded from) a state's list of acceptable providers? Hopefully the lists aren't compiled by the same crowd that brought us the list of acceptable religious literature in prisons?

How do they ensure that no religious discrimination occurs?




Display:
When I was digging into the "Faith Based Initiative" at the ground level (where grant money was going) late last year I concluded that few people were paying much attention at all except for the groups actually getting grants.

The statement "Under law, government money cannot be paid directly to faith-based organizations for inherently religious activities." is more or less meaningless if there is no monitoring mechanism, and there is not.

by Bruce Wilson on Fri Sep 28, 2007 at 01:22:06 PM EST


in theory requires procedures in place to safeguard against improper religious activity with the federal funds. But that has been lacking in execution - to put it mildly. Obviously - and sadly - that's not even a requirement for "indirect funding", but that wouldn't condone religious discrimination in determining acceptable providers. This is an unregulated system that's asking for religious preference and discrimination.

by DonByrd on Fri Sep 28, 2007 at 03:30:24 PM EST

with this is not that money goes to these rehabiliation centers, even if they do have components that are based in a specific faith.  The separation of church and state does not necessarily prohibit that if: 1) it is "fair game" that all such organizations are eligible for these payments (there can still be some sort of vetting process, but it cannot be based on religious beliefs) and 2) the client, not the government, gets to pick the center from a list that contains a variety of centers, including those not affiliated with any faith group.

The red flag for me is the lack of licensing and overview requirements.   Is this just for the faith-based centers or for all the centers that receive these funds?  In either case, it appears to me that if the larger issue licensing  is addressed.  Addressing this would also address the church-state issues and religous discrimination.  
God's grace and peace, Deb K
by Pastordeb on Sat Sep 29, 2007 at 11:21:23 AM EST

Religious groups receiving federal and state funds were required to maintain secular nonprofit entities to administer those funds.

No longer.

"Is this just for the faith-based centers or for all the centers that receive these funds?" - your question has been answered by a recent New York Times report, detailing the rise of a regulatory regime biased towards the provision of social services by religious entities :

In recent years, many politicians and commentators have cited what they consider a nationwide "war on religion" that exposes religious organizations to hostility and discrimination. But such organizations -- from mainline Presbyterian and Methodist churches to mosques to synagogues to Hindu temples -- enjoy an abundance of exemptions from regulations and taxes. And the number is multiplying rapidly.

Some of the exceptions have existed for much of the nation's history, originally devised for Christian churches but expanded to other faiths as the nation has become more religiously diverse. But many have been granted in just the last 15 years -- sometimes added to legislation, anonymously and with little attention, much as are the widely criticized "earmarks" benefiting other special interests.

An analysis by The New York Times of laws passed since 1989 shows that more than 200 special arrangements, protections or exemptions for religious groups or their adherents were tucked into Congressional legislation, covering topics ranging from pensions to immigration to land use. New breaks have also been provided by a host of pivotal court decisions at the state and federal level, and by numerous rule changes in almost every department and agency of the executive branch.

The special breaks amount to "a sort of religious affirmative action program," said John Witte Jr., director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at the Emory University law school.



by Bruce Wilson on Sun Sep 30, 2007 at 01:20:53 AM EST
Parent



WWW Talk To Action


Cognitive Dissonance & Dominionism Denial
There is new research on why people are averse to hearing or learning about the views of ideological opponents. Based on evaluation of five......
By Frederick Clarkson (374 comments)
Will the Air Force Do Anything To Rein In Its Dynamic Duo of Gay-Bashing, Misogynistic Bloggers?
"I always get nervous when I see female pastors/chaplains. Here is why everyone should as well: "First, women are not called to be pastors,......
By Chris Rodda (195 comments)
The Legacy of Big Oil
The media is ablaze with the upcoming publication of David Grann's book, Killers of the Flower Moon. The shocking non fiction account of the......
By wilkyjr (110 comments)
Gimme That Old Time Dominionism Denial
Over the years, I have written a great deal here and in other venues about the explicitly theocratic movement called dominionism -- which has......
By Frederick Clarkson (101 comments)
History Advisor to Members of Congress Completely Twists Jefferson's Words to Support Muslim Ban
Pseudo-historian David Barton, best known for his misquoting of our country's founders to promote the notion that America was founded as a Christian nation,......
By Chris Rodda (113 comments)
"Christian Fighter Pilot" Calls First Lesbian Air Force Academy Commandant a Liar
In a new post on his "Christian Fighter Pilot" blog titled "BGen Kristin Goodwin and the USAFA Honor Code," Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan......
By Chris Rodda (144 comments)
Catholic Right Leader Unapologetic about Call for 'Death to Liberal Professors' -- UPDATED
Today, Donald Trump appointed C-FAM Executive Vice President Lisa Correnti to the US Delegation To UN Commission On Status Of Women. (C-FAM is a......
By Frederick Clarkson (126 comments)
Controlling Information
     Yesterday I listened to Russ Limbaugh.  Rush advised listeners it would be best that they not listen to CNN,MSNBC, ABC, CBS and......
By wilkyjr (118 comments)
Is Bannon Fifth-Columning the Pope?
In December 2016 I wrote about how White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who likes to flash his Catholic credentials when it comes to......
By Frank Cocozzelli (250 comments)
Ross Douthat's Hackery on the Seemingly Incongruous Alliance of Bannon & Burke
Conservative Catholic writer Ross Douthat has dissembled again. This time, in a February 15, 2017 New York Times op-ed titled The Trump Era's Catholic......
By Frank Cocozzelli (64 comments)
`So-Called Patriots' Attack The Rule Of Law
Every so often, right-wing commentator Pat Buchanan lurches out of the far-right fever swamp where he has resided for the past 50 years to......
By Rob Boston (161 comments)
Bad Faith from Focus on the Family
Here is one from the archives, Feb 12, 2011, that serves as a reminder of how deeply disingenuous people can be. Appeals to seek......
By Frederick Clarkson (176 comments)
The Legacy of George Wallace
"One need not accept any of those views to agree that they had appealed to real concerns of real people, not to mindless, unreasoning......
By wilkyjr (70 comments)
Betsy DeVos's Mudsill View of Public Education
My Talk to Action colleague Rachel Tabachnick has been doing yeoman's work in explaining Betsy DeVos's long-term strategy for decimating universal public education. If......
By Frank Cocozzelli (80 comments)
Prince and DeVos Families at Intersection of Radical Free Market Privatizers and Religious Right
This post from 2011 surfaces important information about President-Elect Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. -- FC Erik Prince, Brother of Betsy......
By Rachel Tabachnick (218 comments)

Respect for Others? or Political Correctness?
The term "political correctness" as used by Conservatives and Republicans has often puzzled me: what exactly do they mean by it? After reading Chip Berlin's piece here-- http://www.talk2action.org/story/2016/7/21/04356/9417 I thought about what he explained......
MTOLincoln (253 comments)
Fear
What I'm feeling now is fear.  I swear that it seems my nightmares are coming true with this new "president".  I'm also frustrated because so many people are not connecting all the dots! I've......
ArchaeoBob (107 comments)
"America - love it or LEAVE!"
I've been hearing that and similar sentiments fairly frequently in the last few days - far FAR more often than ever before.  Hearing about "consequences for burning the flag (actions) from Trump is chilling!......
ArchaeoBob (211 comments)
"Faked!" Meme
Keep your eyes and ears open for a possible move to try to discredit the people openly opposing Trump and the bigots, especially people who have experienced terrorism from the "Right"  (Christian Terrorism is......
ArchaeoBob (165 comments)
More aggressive proselytizing
My wife told me today of an experience she had this last week, where she was proselytized by a McDonald's employee while in the store. ......
ArchaeoBob (163 comments)
See if you recognize names on this list
This comes from the local newspaper, which was conservative before and took a hard right turn after it was sold. Hint: Sarah Palin's name is on it!  (It's also connected to Trump.) ......
ArchaeoBob (169 comments)
Unions: A Labor Day Discussion
This is a revision of an article which I posted on my personal board and also on Dailykos. I had an interesting discussion on a discussion board concerning Unions. I tried to piece it......
Xulon (156 comments)
Extremely obnoxious protesters at WitchsFest NYC: connected to NAR?
In July of this year, some extremely loud, obnoxious Christian-identified protesters showed up at WitchsFest, an annual Pagan street fair here in NYC.  Here's an account of the protest by Pagan writer Heather Greene......
Diane Vera (130 comments)
Capitalism and the Attack on the Imago Dei
I joined this site today, having been linked here by Crooksandliars' Blog Roundup. I thought I'd put up something I put up previously on my Wordpress blog and also at the DailyKos. As will......
Xulon (330 comments)
History of attitudes towards poverty and the churches.
Jesus is said to have stated that "The Poor will always be with you" and some Christians have used that to refuse to try to help the poor, because "they will always be with......
ArchaeoBob (148 comments)
Alternate economy medical treatment
Dogemperor wrote several times about the alternate economy structure that dominionists have built.  Well, it's actually made the news.  Pretty good article, although it doesn't get into how bad people could be (have been)......
ArchaeoBob (90 comments)
Evidence violence is more common than believed
Think I've been making things up about experiencing Christian Terrorism or exaggerating, or that it was an isolated incident?  I suggest you read this article (linked below in body), which is about our great......
ArchaeoBob (214 comments)

More Diaries...




All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments, posts, stories, and all other content are owned by the authors. Everything else © 2005 Talk to Action, LLC.