Faith-Based Federal Funds

For several years I have been involved in Prison Ministry. The volunteer work that I do is meaningful and I will continue to do it. But, I have found as I have attempted to secure the Federal funds alloted for such 501c3 organizations, that the states are not distributing these funds to Christian based organizations.

The State of Ohio was given 2.6 million dollars to be given to faith-based organizations. To date, I have not seen a single Christian based non-profit recieve any of these funds. What I do know to be factual, is that organizations like Community Connections (based out of Columbus, Ohio) have recieved funds and have absolutely not faith-based component. Community Connections is no more then a "paper-pushing" entity that offers no real assistance.

What Community Connections claims to do is assisted recently released individuals from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections. As a former inmate of the State of Ohio, I went to Community Connections upon my release and was provided with nothing but a list of other organizations that could provide assistance. Most of the organization listed on this document had been out of operation for more then three years as of September 1998.

During the Summer of 2002 I was invited to Washington DC to present at the Serious and Violent Offender Re-Entry Conference. Over the course of my two days there I came to realize that most of the organizations there did primarily research. How can we as a society expect to create effective change in the lives of the men and women coming out of our prisons by doing research alone? It is not to say that research is not vital, it is. At the same time, research for the sake of research alone does nothing to benefit a single soul coming out of a prison.

After reviewing most of the research material presented, I came to the realization that the agencies and organizations that did the research did not include any former offenders. How can effective programs be developed by people that have no understanding of what it is to re-enter society from prison. I have no illusion about my past. I put myself in prison by my actions and lack of concern for my fellow citizens. With that said, research that does not take into account the direct experiences and input of former inmates is lacking the ability to provide a true means of re-entry.

In closing, it is vital that those that should be getting the Faith-Based money get it. They take into account the perspective of those they are trying to serve. Without such insight any programs are doomed to moderate effect or out right failure.