Waco Tribune Herald: Talking faith and funding: Q&A with White House official Jay Hein
Oct. 26, 2007
by Tim Woods
Copyright 2007 Waco Tribune Herald
Story Link: http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/10/26/10262007wacheininterview.html
Baylor hosts a panel discussion on the success of the FACTS grant initiative.
Jay Hein, director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, was at Baylor University Thursday, attending a panel discussion of the Baylor-led grant initiative FACTS (Faith and Community Technical Support).
Afterward, Hein talked with the Tribune-Herald about Baylor's initiative and federal aid to organizations helping battered women; criticism of his office; and President Bush's plans following his second term. Below is an abridged version of the interview.
Jay Hein, director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
QIs it gratifying to hear success stories such as today's?
AAbsolutely. To hear of these women who are leading these organizations, to hear how their own agencies are stronger now, is very rewarding. You want the grants to have immediate effects, but what you especially desire is for the work to grow past the grant and (become) more robust and mature organizations because of the technical assistance they received from Baylor. It's a success that is gratifying. But, of course, to hear life transformations, to hear about women who were rescued, literally, and those who serve in a way that saves lives and in a way that creates a better quality of life, that's what it's all about.
QWill the FACTS program, a one-year pilot expiring next week, be renewed?
AI don't know. Our office doesn't do the funding side of it. We're at the White House, and that (money) comes from the Department of Justice. But I can attest to the success of this project. It clearly was a difference-maker.
More than a year ago, Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion, led by Byron Johnson, was chosen to mount a one-year pilot program called FACTS (Faith and Community Technical Support).
Part of Baylor's responsibility was to research and select groups to receive part of an overall $2.97 million grant from the Office on Violence Against Women, a U.S. Department of Justice agency.
Ultimately, 39 organizations were selected, one-third of which were faith-based, to receive money to help advance their organizations, all focused on aiding battered and abused women nationwide.
Thursday, representatives from three of the organizations -- Iva's Place in Lenoir, Tenn.; The Family Peace Project in Henderson County, Texas; and the Southwest Arkansas Domestic Violence Center in DeQueen, Ark.-- attended a panel discussion at Baylor with White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives director Jay Hein.
The representatives discussed the roles their organizations play in their communities and the value of the grants.
QYour office has come under criticism since its inception in 2001 as muddying the line between church and state, with federal dollars going to faith-based organizations.
AFaith-based charities have been among the most meaningful providers of service as long as our country has existed. That's what (French political thinker Alexis de) Tocqueville noticed early on when he wrote about this new country. He said that private people respond to the needs of their neighbors on a profound level. They weren't waiting for government to come in and solve the problem. They were acting on their own. Well, they're still acting today. There has been a lot of misunderstanding about the advocacy level of this office. Is it all about giving grants to faith-based groups? It isn't. It's about extending service and, as we heard today, strengthening organizations that may or may not translate into a government grant so that they can serve a greater number of people for a longer period of time.
QWhat about the church-state debate?
AThe church-state debate is a very meaningful one, and we are very vigilant about protecting the establishment clause of the First Amendment.
We offer training and technical assistance on that question to state officials and to charities, and we tell faith-based charities, "You know, if you can't separate your spiritual mission from your community mission, you shouldn't apply for these grants because you'll come in conflict with the establishment clause."
QWill this office survive beyond the Bush presidency?
AI think it will. All the presidential candidates are speaking very favorably about this office. It's organized by executive order, which is less permanent than an act of Congress, so it's up to the next president to decide if they want to continue the executive order or not. But what I find very reassuring about the sustainability of this initiative is that more and more public officials on both sides of the political aisle see the pragmatic value of this as a governing strategy.
QHow effective have safeguards been in maintaining separation between church and state?
AWe've created legal guidance that never occurred before. We've created technical assistance services and now have delivered those to over 100,000 state and local officials and nonprofit leaders.
We're setting the bar very high on understanding appropriateness, the appropriate use of public funds and the appropriate expression of faith in delivery of services.
QIs there a possibility you'll stay on the job into another administration?
AI'm on loan to Washington, D.C., by my family. We've moved there for a two-year season to help the president finish this initiative, but we live in the heartland (Indiana) and I'm eager to return home to continue to work in this issue area.
QDid President Bush give you any pointers before you came to Central Texas?
Ahis is where he prefers to be. "I have to get back to the ranch in Crawford." He says that to the White House press corps continually. He says, "I've got one more strong run here, but then I'm going to be very happy when I get to be home."
He's delighted when you get to enjoy his neighborhood (Central Texas), and it's fun for me to be here for that reason as well.
QHas he let on whether he plans to spend more time in Crawford or Dallas?
AHe hasn't made that specific point, only that he's eager to get back here. He does plan to spend a whole lot of time at the ranch. He's been very public about that.
What he has told me specific to my work is that he wants to continue to be a leader on these kinds of questions and that, as a former president, it's still not only an important voice that you carry but a lot of very practical ways that you can offer leadership, whether it's raising private money on the heels of a natural disaster or policy priorities. So he not only will have those opportunities, but this faith-based and community initiative is something he feels personally attached to as one of his leading priorities. So what does it look like for him, post-presidency, to still offer some value as a leader of that?
That's something I know is very important to him, and he'll be doing it from Texas.
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