Charitable choice

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Charitable choice refers to direct United States government funding of religious organizations to provide social services.

Contents

Created in 1996, charitable choice allows government officials to purchase services from religious providers using Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Welfare-to-Work, and Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) funds. In late 2000, charitable choice was included in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) block grant. [1]

Principles

Charitable Choice has gained support from policymakers due to its unique approach to social services. In this faith-based model or the so-called holistic relief (also known as whole-person ministry), a religious organization addresses the needs of the poor both on the material and spiritual levels. The element of faith in the social service framework does not necessarily mean a focus on specific religious programs or initiatives based on a specific religious denomination. [2] Proponents of the concept explain that instead, it pertains to a broad religious framework wherein all religious forms are included in providing social support. [3]

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, [4] Charitable Choice rests on four major principles:

A Level Playing Field

Faith-based providers are eligible to provide federally-funded social services on the same basis as any other providers, neither excluded nor included because they are religious, too religious or of a different religion. [5]

Respect for Allies

The religious character of faith-based providers is protected by allowing them to retain control over the definition, development, practice, and expression of their religious beliefs. Neither federal nor state government can require a religious provider to alter its form of internal governance or remove religious art, icons, scripture or other symbols in order to be a program participant.

Protecting Clients

In regard to rendering assistance, religious organization shall not discriminate against an individual on the basis of religion, a religious belief, or refusal to actively participate in a religious practice. If an individual objects to the religious character of a program, a secular alternative must be provided.

Church-State Separation

All government funds must be used to fulfill the public social service goals, and no direct government funding can be diverted to inherently religious activities such as worship, sectarian instruction, and proselytization.

Controversy

Some are concerned that charitable choice blurs the separation of church and state and argue that federal financial support of faith-based organizations creates an opportunity for abuse and potential for funds to flow in a biased way towards groups affiliated with one particular denomination or religious tradition. [6] Specifically, critics argue that it violates the religion clause of the First Amendment. Some examples of lawsuits that raised this issue were the cases that challenged the constitutionality of the Charitable Choice programs in Texas and Kentucky. [7]

In addition, some religious organizations such as the Interfaith Alliance are concerned about the impact of charitable choice "on the vitality of the prophetic voice of faith, the integrity of religious autonomy, excessive government entanglement in the affairs of religious institutions and the overarching temptation to abuse religion and manipulate faith to achieve political power."[ citation needed ]

On the other hand, the U.S. Supreme Court has increasingly taken a permissive position regarding the constitutionality of the Charitable Choice. In several decisions, it established a relaxation of the constraints imposed and assumptions made concerning public funding of the secular initiatives of religious organizations. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Department of Health and Human Services</span> Department of the US federal government

The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of the U.S. people and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America". Before the separate federal Department of Education was created in 1979, it was called the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedom From Religion Foundation</span> American nonprofit organization

The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for atheists, agnostics, and nontheists. Formed in 1976, FFRF promotes the separation of church and state, and challenges the legitimacy of many federal and state programs that are faith-based. It supports groups such as nonreligious students and clergy who want to leave their faith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charitable organization</span> Nonprofit organization with charitable purpose

A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships</span> U.S. office within the White House Office

The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, formerly the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) is an office within the White House Office that is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States.

Maximus Inc. is an American government services company, with global operations in countries including the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The company contracts with government agencies to provide services to manage and administer government-sponsored programs. Maximus provides administration and other services for Medicaid, Medicare, health care reform, welfare-to-work, and student loan servicing among other government programs. The company is based in Tysons, Virginia, has 34,300 employees and a reported annual revenue of $3.46 billion in fiscal year 2020.

A non-profit hospital is a hospital that does not make profits for owners of the hospital from the funds collected for patient services. The owners of non-profit hospitals are often a charitable organization or non-profit corporations. Fees for service above the cost of service are reinvested in the hospital. Other funding types for hospitals include public hospitals and for-profit hospitals.

Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. As of 2011, the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school system. In 2016, the church supported 43,800 secondary schools and 95,200 primary schools. The schools include religious education alongside secular subjects in their curriculum.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is a division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It is headed by the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Children and Families. It has a $49 billion budget for 60 programs that target children, youth and families. These programs include assistance with welfare, child support enforcement, adoption assistance, foster care, child care, and child abuse. The agency employs approximately 1,700 staff, including 1,200 federal employees and 500 contractors, where 60% are based in Washington, DC, with the remaining in regional offices located in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Denver, San Francisco, Missouri and Seattle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Secular Coalition for America</span>

The Secular Coalition for America is an advocacy group located in Washington D.C. It describes itself as "representing the interests of atheists, humanists, freethinkers, agnostics, and other nontheistic Americans."

A faith school is a school in the United Kingdom that teaches a general curriculum but which has a particular religious character or formal links with a religious or faith-based organisation. The term is most commonly applied to state-funded faith schools, although many independent schools also have religious characteristics.

Carl H. Esbeck is the R.B. Price Distinguished Professor and the Isabelle Wade & Paul C. Lyda Professor of Law at the University of Missouri School of Law. He joined the law faculty in 1981. He has published in the areas of church-state relations and civil rights. He has taken the lead in advancing a structural view of the establishment clause of the first amendment, and is also credited as the primary author of the original charitable choice language in the 1996 welfare reform bill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay Hein</span>

Jay F. Hein is a former Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI), and Deputy Assistant to U.S President George W. Bush. As director of the OFBCI, he was charged with the mission of expanding and strengthening the influence of faith based organizations in providing social welfare services. Hein resigned from the post in September 2008 to take a position with the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University, and to return to his former job as president of the Sagamore Institute for Policy Research, a non-profit Indianapolis, Indiana based think tank.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charity (practice)</span> Voluntary giving of help to those in need

The practice of charity is the voluntary giving of help to those in need, as a humanitarian act, unmotivated by self-interest. There are a number of philosophies about charity, often associated with religion.

Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, 551 U.S. 587 (2007), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court which ruled that taxpayers do not have the right to challenge the constitutionality of expenditures by the executive branch of the government. The issue was whether taxpayers have the right to challenge the existence of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. The case centered on three Supreme Court precedents: Flast v. Cohen, Bowen v. Kendrick, and Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church & State.

American Jewish Congress v. Bost is an establishment clause lawsuit concerning the separation of church and state in Brenham, Texas. The case is the first constitutional challenge to a charitable choice contract.

Faith in Action, formerly known as PICO National Network, is a national network of faith-based community organizations in the United States. The organization is headquartered in Oakland, California, with additional offices in San Diego and Washington, D.C. The organization believes in a society free of economic oppression, racism and discrimination. Its stated mission is "to increase access to health care, improve public schools, make neighborhoods safer, build affordable housing, redevelop communities and revitalize democracy."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Children's Healthcare is a Legal Duty</span> American nonprofit organization

Children's Healthcare Is a Legal Duty (CHILD) was from 1983-2017 an American nonprofit membership organization that worked to stop child abuse and neglect based on religious beliefs, cultural traditions, and quackery. CHILD opposed religious exemptions from child health and safety laws. These exemptions have been used as a defense in criminal cases when parents have withheld lifesaving medical care on religious grounds. These exemptions also have discouraged reporting and investigation of religion-based medical neglect of children and spawned many outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases and deaths. CHILD publicized the ideological abuse and neglect of children, lobbied for equal protection laws for children, and filed lawsuits and amicus curiae briefs in related cases.

Bowen v. Kendrick, 487 U.S. 589 (1988), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court upheld the constitutionality of the Adolescent Family Life Act.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wisconsin Department of Children and Families</span> Wisconsin state government agency responsible for state services for children and families.

The Wisconsin Department of Children and Families (DCF) is an agency of the Wisconsin state government responsible for providing services to assist children and families and to oversee county offices handling those services. This includes child protective services, adoption and foster care services, and juvenile justice services. It also manages the licensing and regulation of facilities involved in the foster care and day care systems, performs background investigations of child care providers, and investigates incidents of potential child abuse or neglect. It administers the Wisconsin Works (W-2) program, the child care subsidy program, child support enforcement and paternity establishment services, and programs related to the federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) income support program.

Sunrise Children's Services is a nonprofit organization based in Kentucky. It is the state's largest provider of services to children in crisis. Its services include providing homes to abused, abandoned, or neglected children. Sunrise is owned and operated by the Kentucky Baptist Convention. Sunrise has previously been known as Louisville Baptist Orphan's Home, Baptist Children's Homes, and Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children.

References

  1. "Faith-Based and Community Initiatives: Guidance - Charitable Choice". georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  2. Bartkowski, John; Regis, Helen (2003). Charitable Choices: Religion, Race, and Poverty in the Post-Welfare Era. New York: New York University Press. pp.  162. ISBN   0814799019.
  3. Bartkowski & Regis, p. 162.
  4. "What is Charitable Choice?," Department of Health and Human Services, 2004-JUL-26, at: https://www.hhs.gov/fbci/choice.html
  5. "42 USC Section 604a". Legal Information Institute. Cornell Law school. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  6. Ackerman, David; Burke, Vee (2001). Charitable Choice: Background and Issues. Huntington, NY: Novinka Books. p. 6. ISBN   1560729937.
  7. "Charitable choice: Governments funding religious groups". www.religioustolerance.org. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
  8. "Faith-Based Funding: Legal Issues Associated with Religious Organizations That Receive Public Funds". www.everycrsreport.com. Retrieved 2018-06-15.