President Bush’s new director of faith-based initiatives is vowing to redouble efforts to stop groups from engaging in overtly religious activities while administering government programs.
“They cannot use public dollars for inherently religious activities,” said Jay Hein, director of the White House Office on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, in an interview with The Examiner on Wednesday. “We need to respect the establishment clause in the Constitution.”
A June report by the Government Accountability Office said some religious groups that are administering government social programs don’t understand the separation of churchand state.
“One FBO [faith-based organization] official told us that she discusses religious issues while providing federally funded services if requested by a participant and no other participants object,” the GAO report said. “And a few told us that they pray with beneficiaries during program time if requested by the beneficiary.”
Hein, who was appointed by Bush earlier this month, defended his office, which employs 60 people and administers faith-based programs through 11 cabinet agencies.
Hein, 41, comes to Washington from Indianapolis, where he ran the Sagamore Institute for Policy Research, a think tank on community reform issues. He was also CEO of the Foundation for American Renewal, which gives grants to community organizations.
Previously, Hein was an adviser to former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson and is credited with helping design and implement the state’s landmark welfare reform.
“In any government program, you’re going to see those that get it right and those that miss some of the points,” Hein said. “And we need to be on top of that, we need to identify and correct.
“But I don’t think that’s a testament that there’s widespread abuse. The GAO report didn’t say that,” he added. “I’m not brushing it off; I think it’s important. But I want to put it in context that I don’t think it’s a prevalent problem.”
Hein replaces James Towey, who left the White House to run a college, and is the third faith-based leader of the Bush administration. His appointment was criticized by the Interfaith Alliance.
“Neither Mr. Hein nor anyone else can solve the inherent problems in this program,” the group said in a statement. “This office violates the First Amendment by creating government-sponsored religion, paid for by all taxpayers no matter what their faith and beliefs; and it violates civil rights laws by allowing religious discrimination in hiring and inproviding services to those in need.”
Hein was unfazed by the criticism.
“What’s unfortunate about that statement is that I suspect they’re serious people, but their point is so uninformed about what law says and what experience says,” he said. “That claim is just unfounded.”
Hein also responded to critics who call the faith-based effort a failure of the administration, since Congress has balked at passing any broad initiative directing the government to use religious groups to administer social programs to the poor.
“This office doesn’t have a lot of new legislation that it’s created,” Hein said. “But there are a lot of policy successes that it has created.”
