Source: Cleveland Jewish News
http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/articles/2008/08/08/news/local/bcover0808.txt
Bellefaire Jewish Children’s Bureau in Shaker Heights will receive $219,000 in taxpayer funds to mentor at-risk teens in foster care.
It is the only Jewish nonprofit to obtain funding this year through the Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (GOFBCI).
Bellefaire was one of 12 nonprofits that together received up to $2.7 million to provide one-on-one mentoring for vulnerable youth, including those who have been homeless or are ex-offenders.
GOFBCI is Ohio’s response to the federal push for government partnerships with religious charities. Both presumptive presidential candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama, have voiced their support for this faith-based funding of social welfare services, also called charitable choice. The concept became law in a little-noticed provision of the 1996 welfare reform legislation.
The faith-based initiative, high on President Bush’s agenda when he first took office, has generated much controversy. Critics say granting public funds to religious groups breaches the constitutional wall dividing church and state. They worry, for example, that a hungry person will feel pressured to pray before he gets a free meal. Or that churches and synagogues will only hire those who share their faith to staff government-funded programs.
Proponents counter that excluding faith-based charities from delivering publicly financed social services discriminates against religion. It ignores the success that churches have had in feeding the poor, aiding the homeless, and assisting former prisoners re-entering the workforce.
GOFBCI, which the Ohio Legislature authorized in 2003, will grant $11 million to community and religious groups for fiscal year 2009. In fiscal year 2008, the office spent about $5.5 million, says Greg Landsman, GOFBCI director. Most of the money comes from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a federally funded, state-supervised, and county-administered program.