An update from the Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy, an independent research project
of the Rockefeller Institute of Government. The public policy research arm of the State University of New York.

New! White House Touts Faith-Based Achievements in Report

A report released by the White House Monday (Feb. 25) highlights the depth and scope of George W.
Bush's seven-year-old Faith-Based and Community Initiative, which has given religious organizations more
leeway to partner with government in providing services and altered the legal interpretations of the boundaries
separating church and state. In a letter accompanying the report, the President said the Initiative has been
"carried out with little fanfare," but that in 2006 alone it funded 18,000 faith-based and community organizations
that provide services to at-risk youth, disaster victims, recovering drug addicts, prisoners returning to society,
people with HIV/AIDS and the homeless.

Reactions to the report ranged from vindication from supporters to dismissal from critics, who considered the
findings incomplete or misleading.

Click here to read more by Roundtable Correspondents Anne Farris and Claire Hughes.

New! An Interview with Rabbi David Saperstein, Religious Action
Center of Reform Judaism

As director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Rabbi David Saperstein lobbies on behalf
of his faith before Congress and the Bush Administration. He also currently co-chairs the Coalition to
Preserve Religious Liberty, made up of more than 50 national religious denominations and educational
organizations, and serves on the boards of numerous national organizations including the NAACP and
People For the American Way. In 1999, Rabbi Saperstein was elected as the first Chair of the U.S.
Commission on International Religious Freedom created by a unanimous vote of Congress. Rabbi
Saperstein is also an attorney who teaches seminars in First Amendment church-state law and in
Jewish law at Georgetown University.

He spoke with the Roundtable about his perspective of the Bush Administration's Faith-Based and
Community Initiative over the last seven years.

Click here to read the interview.

"Pork" Funding to Faith Groups Questioned

Congressional earmarks to religious groups included in the fiscal year 2008 federal budget are the subject
of a letter from Americans United for Separation of Church and State to the heads of four federal government
departments - Justice, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, and Education. The
church-state separationist group is requesting that federal officials consider the constitutionality of the
specially designated funds to individual faith-based groups. It identifies 10 earmarks that "appear to run afoul
of the Constitution" and 16 others that it calls "troubling." "The bulk of these earmarks are highly suspect because
they are directed at groups or programs that include heavy doses of proselytization," said Rev. Barry Lynn,
executive director of Americans United. The group hopes to prevent the funds from being spent in violation of
constitutional protections, Americans United Legal Director Alex Luchenitser said.

Spokespeople for HUD and the Department of Education said it was premature to comment on the letter, which
was sent Feb. 25. Officials from Health and Human Services and the Justice Department did not return calls
for comment.

The issue draws renewed attention to the problems surrounding earmarks to religious groups. With such
specially designated funds apparently on the rise, they may also be undergoing increased scrutiny. As
the Roundtable's legal experts Ira C. Lupu and Robert W. Tuttle have noted, it's not clear whether earmarks
meet the criteria required for faith groups to receive government funding - including that objective, neutral
criteria were used to determine the allocation of funds.

Click here to read Americans United's letter.

Click here for a previous Roundtable story on earmarks for religious groups.

Click here for the Roundtable's 2007 State of the Law report, which includes a discussion of such
earmarks on pages 23-35.

Christian Prison Program to Cease Operation in Iowa

Prison Fellowship, which has operated a residential pre-release program in an Iowa prison since 1999,
will cease operating there next month. The Iowa Department of Corrections has notified Prison Fellowship
that its InnerChange Freedom Initiative program will be terminated in mid-March, according to department
spokesman Fred Scaletta. The decision comes after a federal appeals court in December affirmed that
InnerChange, an evangelical Christian program, operated unconstitutionally in Iowa.

The state decided to pull public funding from the program last June and let Prison Fellowship continue its
in-prison programming with private donations. But it would not allow any new inmates to join InnerChange,
pending the appeals court's decision. With an InnerChange graduation ceremony scheduled for next month,
there will be only 38 men participating in a Prison Fellowship program there, Scaletta said. The state will
consider allowing Prison Fellowship to continue to offer other volunteer services to inmates, as other nonprofits
do, he added, though such services would not require the program to have a designated space within the
prison as it now does.

Prison Fellowship is continuing to consider whether to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its arguments
against the appeals court's decision, a spokeswoman said. The program has until early April to file such
a petition.

Click here to read a previous Roundtable story on the Iowa program.

Click here for a Roundtable resource page, which includes detailed information on the lawsuit.

Weekly Digest of Federal Grants with Faith-Based and Community
Organization Eligibility

The grant opportunities this week for community and faith-based organizations are through programs
administered by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Justice, the
Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Potential applicants should be aware that some grant programs require specific technical expertise, or
experience in particular foreign countries.

Click here for the grants digest.

Roundtable Digest of Current Faith-Based News Stories

Minister complies with Sen. probe, second resists
The Associated Press

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7811

New Hope scraps Canyon Hill transition home: But more buildings are planned for the
county despite the business' dispute with Caldwell.
The Idaho Statesman (Boise)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7814

Rebuilding lives of Cambodian youth; Leesburg couple aims to rescue
Orlando Sentinel (Florida)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7815

Remarks by President Bush at Meeting with the National Governors
Christian Newswire

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7818

Bush Keeping the Faith with Federal Funding
The Baltimore Sun

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7812

The Quiet Revolution: A Seven-Year Progress Report
Centredaily.com

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7813

Tax panel rejects proposal to revive school voucher program
The Associated Press

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7798

Newton prison to end religious program that prompted legal fight
The Associated Press

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7773

Religious activists, lobbyists find common ground
The Virginian-Pilot(Norfolk, VA.)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7774

Forum Tackles Challenges Women Face
The Washington Post

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7780

Homeless youth down, worries up
The Bradenton Herald (Florida)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7781

Keeping the Faith: Local Group Stands Up for Detained Immigrants
The Indypendent

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7782

Norwalk looks to faith, human services for help in times of emergency
The Advocate

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7783

Habitat of Seminole is building a village
Orlando Sentinel (Florida)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7784

Dangers from Denbigh; Slayings, Gangs Have Neighbors On Edge
Daily Press (Newport News, Virginia)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7785

A hopeful future after a painful past
Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Texas)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7786

'Gathering' helps those affected by HIV/AIDS
Intelligencer Journal (Lancaster, Pennsylvania)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7787

Churches to Preach Rendell's Health Care Plan Will Urge Attendees To Contact Legislators
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7788

Ex-prisoner seeks community support for homeless shelter
The Shelbyville News

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7789

Dropout Summit Seeks Solutions; Dropouts hurt themselves and the state
The Biloxi Sun Herald (Mississippi)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7775

Assaults down amid faith-based prison program
The Associated Press

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7776

Blacks and Whites Merge to Forge New Future
Religion News Service

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7777

Evangelical leaders host 'creation care' summit in Orlando-area church
OrlandoSentinel.com

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7778

NLR group's day shelter plan wins backing
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7796

EPA Funds Grants for Four Lead Poisoning Prevention Projects in Michigan Communities
PR Newswire

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7799

City parish takes aim at urban violence, one gun at a time
The Catholic Review

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7790

Operation Enduring Support marks five years of helping soldiers, families
Herald & Review (Illinois)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7791

Goodwill tries to help others dealing with HIV/AIDS
The Beaumont Enterprise (Texas)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7792

Health is part of faith agenda
The Herald-Sun (Durham, NC)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7793

Rally sees tower of opportunity
Lansing State Journal (Michigan)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7794

Former user keeps the faith
Times-Picayune (New Orleans)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7795

A Community Sends 1200 Blankets to American Inmates in Mexico's Prisons
with a Message of Hope and Prayer of Multiplication
Christian Newswire

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7800

Faith unites Jewish, Muslim students
The Detroit News

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7801

City to take bids on parolee contract: RICHMOND: Council rejects renewal of
deal with community group for 're-entry services' for convicts
Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, California)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7797

Q&A: John Dilulio
Christianity Today

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7779

Odd alliance opposes abortion bill; Legislation draws fire from both
Concord Monitor

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7807

Anti-illegal immigration bill getting kinder, gentler overhaul
The Salt Lake Tribune

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7808

In Mortgage Crisis, Church Offers Financial Counseling
New York Times

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7802

Residents asked to help curb youth violence
Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7803

Bush Budget Shortchanges Pennsylvania's Children, Communities and Families;
Economic Woes, Inflation, and The Real Cost of Federal Mandates Not Included In Calculations
PR Newswire

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7804

Clergy, volunteers hope to inspire inmates with jail ministries
The Associated Press

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7805

Caught in a crunch; Wheeler Mission will cut community programs so
it can continue to shelter homeless as need for beds grows
The Indianapolis Star (Indiana)

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=7806

Weekly Opinion Roundup - 2/26/2008
The Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/news_opinion_2_26_08.cfm