Obama likely to retool Bush's faith-based initiative
January 5, 2009
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January 4, 2009
President-elect Obama has promised to build on the faith-based initiative of President Bush and, by adding key reforms, to make it “the foundation of a new project of American renewal.” But to do that, his administration will need to resolve constitutional and other tangles that have made Mr. Bush’s effort so controversial.
If Mr. Obama succeeds, an initiative that at times has provoked sharp division over how best to provide needy people with social services could become, rather, a unifying force in helping to address needs amid a period of severe economic duress. Faith-based groups, after all, won the most kudos for effectiveness from survivors of hurricane Katrina, and they are helping thousands now during the economy’s travails
“It’s important for the new administration to say, ‘We are going to reconcile two fundamental values: our commitment to meet pressing needs and to respect constitutional guarantees [preventing government establishment of religion],’ ” says Melissa Rogers, coauthor of a Brookings Institution report that recommends “a new path” for the endeavor.
Tackling the church-state issue head on, the Obama transition team has engaged a large advisory committee – involving people with differing perspectives on the most contentious issues – to help it design a government-neighborhood partnership.
The broad outreach “is a matter of great credit to [Obama],” says Stanley Carlson-Thies, who served in the Bush faith-based office and is participating in the discussions.
For eight years, the Bush administration sought to open the door wide to funding religious groups that offer social services of all kinds – among them job training, drug treatment, prisoner reentry, and after-school programs. It brought unprecedented visibility to their efforts and boosted the number funded by federal programs. (Overall federal funding for social services decreased under Bush.)
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