American Jewish Committee Awarded $200,000 Grant To Explore Charitable Choice Debate

American Jewish Committee
Wednesday, 19 May 1999

The American Jewish Committee has received a $200,000 grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts to seek common ground on the circumstances under which faith-based groups may receive public funds to provide social services. "Charitable choice," one funding approach, raises major First Amendment concerns regarding government entanglement in church-related matters.

"While virtually everyone applauds the provision of community services by religious institutions -- indeed, it is religious institutions that have historically provided these important services to their communities -- government funding of these services without appropriate safeguards is very troubling," said Stephen Steinlight, AJC Director of National Affairs and a coordinator of the Pew-funded AJC project. "We are fearful that public funding will subsidize discrimination in hiring, result in religious coercion of employees and service recipients, fund extremist and racist groups, and will diminish the independence of religious institutions as they bow to increasing government interference in their affairs."

The AJC project will bring key representatives of religious and other interested groups together to discuss funding issues around church and state.

The 1996 Welfare Reform Act, in a significant departure from past practice, provided that a government agency cannot refuse to contract with a religious organization to provide social services solely because of its religious identity. Further, it prohibits the government from restricting the way religious institutions can operate with government funds.

"While consensus on this highly-charged issue is improbable, we can define shared values and positions, as well as delineate the differences that remain unbridgeable, in an attempt to find the greatest possible common ground on charitable choice," said Dr. Steinlight.

The grant, to be used by AJC in partnership with the Feinstein Center of American Jewish

History at Temple University, will support a series of consultations culminating in a major two-day conference in Washington, DC, and the publication of papers presented at the consultations and the conference.

Dr. Murray Friedman, Director of AJC's Philadelphia Chapter and Director of the Feinstein Center of American Jewish History, and Richard T. Foltin, AJC's Legislative Director and Counsel, together with Dr. Steinlight, are the principle AJC staff coordinating the project.

For more information, or to contact American Jewish Committee, see their website at: www.ajc.org