Freedoms, Restrictions, and Responsibilities

The new standards of the faith-based initiative stem either from Charitable Choice provisions, adopted into law several times during the Clinton administration to apply to a few federal program or from similar Equal Treatment rules applied to the other federal programs. These Equal Treatment rules were promulgated by President Bush in a 2002 Executive Order and have been incorporated into federal regulations. For details, go to Church-State Standards and Basics.

The changed federal standards apply not only to federal programs but also to state and local programs when they use federal money. In fact, many state and local programs use federal funds in addition to state or local money. Most federal money for social services is given to state and local governments, who then decide which private service providers will win the awards. Most organizations are more likely to win federal support by seeking funds from a state or local government program than by competing with other groups from across the country for the relatively small amount of federal money that is awarded directly from Washington, DC, by federal departments.

However, state and local officials sometimes don’t know about the new rules, or aren’t complying with them (sometimes federal officials don’t comply, either), but instead apply more restrictive standards from the past. For action you might take if you encounter such resistance, see What if officials refuse? Note this: If a program is operated by a state or local agency, then, even if the funds are from the federal government, the program may legitimately have additional restrictions beyond the federal standards.

Here are the basic features of the new church-state standards:

Eligibility. Faith-based organizations are eligible to receive government funds, neither discriminated against nor favored by officials simply because they are faith-based.  

Religious Characteristics. In order to be eligible, organizations do not need to set aside their religious character and motivation. “God talk” can stay in your mission statement, clergy can be on your board of directors, religious art can remain on your walls.

Religious Staffing.  In many cases and places, faith-based organizations can receive government money without losing their freedom to take religion into account in hiring and firing staff. But some federal programs, some states, and some cities restrict this freedom. However, if the money is covered by Charitable Choice, state and local officials should not restrict religious staffing.  And if the restriction is in federal law, you can appeal to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Go here for further information: Freedom to take account of religion in making staffing decisions.

Religious Activities. Even though your organization accepts government funds, it is still free to offer religious activities like prayer, scripture studies, and evangelism. However, there is a limitation if the government support is “direct”—a grant or contract is awarded to your organization to pay you to provide services to beneficiaries. When the government funds are “direct,” then activities like prayer and biblical instruction must be kept separated away from the government-funded services. By contrast, when the government funds are “indirect”—for example, the beneficiary brings a government-issued voucher or certificate to pay for the service, then religious activities can be mixed into the service the government supports. Go here for details:  Restrictions on religious activities and expression.

Responsibilities. Organizations that accept government money must agree to serve the needy without religious discrimination and not to force religious activities on them. Government funds have to be kept separate from private funds and be carefully accounted for.