HHS mobilizes faith-based groups for response to terrorism

Martin Davis — Fri, 16 Nov 2001 00:00:00 -0500

Thompson received plenty of internal and external criticism back in March when he launched the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, whose job is to make sure that religious groups get a fair shot at winning government contracts to deliver social services. Some career HHS insiders were nervous that the new center, which is based in the sprawling department and has, according to the White House, the President's full support, would upend current methods of delivering social services. The White House's release in August of a study pointing out where federal departments and agencies, including HHS, had failed to bring in faith-based groups to government programs only heightened these worries.

But Thompson--who as governor of Wisconsin in the mid-'90s led the charge, along with then-Gov. George W. Bush of Texas, for allying government with faith-based and community groups--dismissed the fears and vowed to move forward with his plan to get religious and community groups more involved in the alleviation of social ills. And on Wednesday in New York City, the HHS head coach put his unified team on display for the country to see.

Thompson convened this week's national summit--"When Terror Strikes: Responding to the Nation's Mental Health and Substance Abuse Needs"--to bring together health care professionals, government emergency preparedness agencies, and, significantly, members of the faith-based community. Its goal is to address the mental-health needs of people during the war on terrorism.

Until September 11, the Administration fought mainly to ensure that faith-based groups providing human services had equal access to government funds. At this summit, faith-based groups have become part of the national discussion on how to help the nation cope with the new war.

One plenary session at the summit is dedicated to discussing the ways state and local governments have already incorporated faith-based groups into their emergency response teams. Participants hope to devise mechanisms at the national level that will improve interaction among faith-based charities, government, and nonreligious charities when the next emergency arises.

Mark Weber, communications director for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which sponsored the summit, notes that the one thing his agency learned during the presummit discussions was that faith-based and community agencies had been "tripping all over each other," and all over other government agencies, when trying to help in times of crisis. The agenda for this conference, he said, was to make sure this doesn't happen again. "We're trying to get a little bit ahead of what's coming, and to prepare for any future terrorist attacks."

The summit is also looking at the long-term impact of terrorist attacks on individuals, communities, and the first-responders themselves. "A lot of the models we have are based on singular events," said Weber. "Oklahoma City was a day. Yet five years later, we still have firefighters showing up in mental health centers with problems." Multiply that effect by the vast number of people directly affected by the September 11 attacks, Weber says, and you can begin to understand the seriousness and scope of the problem.

Thompson has said that government can't handle this crisis alone. Long after the government's disaster teams and aid workers have left New York City and the Pentagon, the churches, synagogues, and mosques will be there to help people pick up and carry on with their lives. How government can help that assistance be more effective is one of the topics being discussed at the summit.

Sitting alongside the representatives from faith groups at the summit will be secular mental-health providers. In the past, many of these providers, such as the National Association of Social Workers Inc., have loudly and defiantly challenged the notion that faith-based groups should play a significant part in service delivery. But a lot has changed since September 11.

"This is a chance for faith-based groups to shine through in partnership," Weber said. Elizabeth Seale-Scott, head of the faith-based office in HHS, adds that the summit is an opportunity for the religious community to reach out to government within the context of September 11. This meeting, she says, "gives [religious groups] the platform to interact with public officials and agencies to address specific needs and concerns."

Vexing issues--such as church-state separation and the criteria for awarding government funds to faith-based agencies--will undoubtedly rear their heads again. But for now, those issues are of less importance than how faith-based programs can continue helping Americans bounce back from the events of 9/11.

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Bush's faith-based agenda alive and well in federal agencies

Martin Davis — Tue, 04 Sep 2001 00:00:00 -0400

August 16 report on barriers to faith-based groups' using government money. Stephen V. Monsma of Pepperdine University notes that the media have all but ignored these centers, and in so doing have missed an important fact. "The [faith-based] initiative has been operating on two tracks. The legislative initiative has received the most attention. These five centers have been on the other track." Veteran legislative watchers in Austin, Texas, note that as governor, Bush had a history of effectively using this two-track, legislative-administrative approach to get his way. And in implementing his faith-based initiatives, Bush as President already had a head start: He could use significant legislation already on the books to advance his cause.

Known as "charitable choice," the first provisions encouraging faith-based groups to bid for government social service contracts were enacted in 1996 as a part of welfare reform. Since that time, charitable choice has been expanded three times. In 1997, the provisions were extended to welfare-to-work programs; in 1998, language was written into the reauthorization of Community Services Block Grant legislation; and in 2000, the charitable choice option was added for federal substance abuse prevention and treatment programs. Bush's proposal before Congress calls for greatly expanding existing charitable choice legislation, but a source close to the administration said that by using current law, the White House felt it could get up to 80 percent of its faith-based agenda moving, even if the new legislation died in Congress. If you haven't heard much about these faith-based centers, don't be too surprised. The general telephone information operators at both the Education and Labor Departments weren't aware of them either. At the moment, these centers are but dots in their agencies' universes. Generally speaking, they are running on skeleton budgets. Seale-Scott's office, for example, has just three people. And another source familiar with the HHS center concedes that it has "practically no budget." Troy said that Labor's center had a staff of just four, and he wouldn't reveal budget numbers. But the five dwarf stars have the potential to become supernovas. Ross K. Baker, a professor of political science at Rutgers University, says that the centers more than make up for any shortage of funds by carrying the backing of the White House. "They may be a two-office suite now, but the potential for growth is huge" when the bureaucracy knows the President is fully supportive. Indeed, Seale-Scott is moving ahead under the assumption that her office will have a major role to play: "The White House put a face on the faith-based issue. The five centers, however, are going to be the muscle and sinew to this initiative." But how much muscle and sinew will the centers have, and what types of action will they attempt? These are the questions that make bureaucrats within these departments nervous. People who have the President's approval make their colleagues "edgy," according to Baker. But Seale-Scott insists there is no reason for bureaucrats to worry. "People here don't see us as the Gestapo or police." But she's blunt about the work to be done. Of the more than 300 programs in HHS, Seale-Scott's initial report to the President focused on only 11. She found that HHS has chosen to do very little with charitable choice legislation so far. "We will continue to look at HHS programs," she said. "There are changes we can make across the board." Monsma is confident these centers will be effective. "There's a great deal these centers can do. More can be accomplished here than through the legislation. A great deal can be done on the administrative level, as long as these agencies are persistent and insistent." He goes on to say, however, that the President must continue to support the faith-based centers. And Monsma believes that Bush will. "Some of the departments may feel this is Bush's `issue of the week.' But I think this is something Bush really believes in, and it will not go away."

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Government Executive - Authors - Martin Davis

HHS mobilizes faith-based groups for response to terrorism

Bush's faith-based agenda alive and well in federal agencies