Charitable Choice Guide - A Letter from Senator Ashcroft

United States Senate

Washington, DC 20510-250

December 1996

Dear Friend:

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act of 1996 presents an excellent opportunity
for achieving real success in the war on poverty and dependence.
A key feature of this landmark welfare reform law is the
Charitable Choice provision (section 104), which encourages
states to utilize charitable and faith-based organizations
in serving the poor and needy.

In the past, many successful faith-based
organizations have not participated in government programs
for fear of having to compromise their religious integrity
or being hobbled by excessive government regulation and
intrusion. The confusing array of legal precedents has often
led government officials to conclude mistakenly that constitutional
law requires that faith-based organizations be excluded
from the mix of private service providers, or that entities
accepting government funds must forego their religious character.

One of my goals in proposing the charitable
choice provision was to encourage faith-based organizations
to expand their involvement in the welfare reform effort
by providing assurances that their religious integrity would
be protected. The charitable choice provision embodies U.S.
Supreme Court case precedents to clarify what is constitutionally
permissible when states and local governments cooperate
with the religious and charitable sector of society. The
provision protects the rights of faith-based providers as
well as the religious liberty of the individuals they may
serve.

Many states have already experienced positive
results from partnering with charitable and faith-based
organizations in working with the poor and less fortunate.
These institutions have proven to be efficient and effective
while serving the poor with dignity and compassion. Congress
passed the charitable choice provision with the hope that
such cooperative efforts between states and faith-based
and private charities would flourish.

The following materials are intended as a
preliminary guide for utilizing this innovative principle
for welfare cooperation. The materials are meant to: (1)
assist state and local officials in implementing the principles
of charitable choice; and (2) help faith-based organizations
understand and act upon this opportunity for expanding their
service to the public now that specific protections for
their religious integrity and mission are anchored by law.

I invite and encourage both government officials
and faith-based providers to use this guide to understand
the overall design as well as the details of the charitable
choice provision. We should all explore the potential for
government and private and religious communities to cooperate
more fully and fruitfully in serving the poor and needy
to the maximum extent possible. The nation will benefit
if we do.

Sincerely yours,

John Ashcroft

United States Senator