Twenty governors, including Governor Napolitano, have established faith-based outreach offices, the news organization Stateline.org reported last month. The trend follows President Bush’s push for faith-based initiatives that focus attention on the role private institutions play in providing social services.

The movement actually began with the “Charitable Choice” law signed by President Clinton in 1996 as part of the welfare reform act. It permits state governments to direct federal funds to religious groups. Before 1996, religious groups could compete for federal funding only if they set up separate secular, nonprofit entities.

The Associated Press reported that the federal government handed out $1.17 billion to faith-based groups last year. Of that amount, Arizona organizations received $11.5 million, says Byron Garrett, Ms. Napolitano’s policy adviser on faith and community initiatives.

He was appointed to that position last month after serving in the governor’s administration since July 2003, including as a special assistant for the School Readiness Board.

Mr. Garrett also is a member of the Phoenix Youth and Education and Human Relations commissions. He is a doctoral candidate at California’s Pepperdine University.

Mr. Garrett was interviewed for this report on Feb. 15.

Arizona Capitol Times: Was there any one thing that steered you early on toward community-oriented work?

Mr. Garrett: My mom’s a social worker and educator by training, and my dad’s a United Methodist pastor. I’ve always recognized the value of always being a public servant or being available to help resolve the needs of people. That’s always been part of my ethic.

What are your responsibilities as the governor’s policy adviser?

Trying to shape up what this position entails. We’ll be looking to create a task force as an advisory body to the governor, to convene individuals who lead faith organizations or denominations around the state, and to gather their perspective, insight and guidance on what their issues are. Another component is to provide technical assistance opportunities — whether we provide them as a state office or we get folks from federal agencies or from the White House to come in — so organizations can compete more effectively for federal dollars.

Faith-based is a pretty broad adjective. Please define what Arizona considers a faith-based organization and give us some examples of organizations to which the state has directed funding.

You look to organizations that, at the center of their background, have faith somewhat as a premise for how they do their work. It’s not necessarily doctrine-based or a specific religion, but organizations that recognize there’s a higher power they ascribe to. We’ve done funding with Catholic Charities, Children and Family Services, Jewish Family Services, and we do a lot of partnerships with The Salvation Army and other types of organizations.

Often times our office will get grant applications where, for example the YMCA may be the lead applicant, with four other applicants. One may be a church or one may be a boys and girls club. We see an overwhelming trend both federally and at the state level of organizations working in a collaborative fashion.

Has the opportunity given rise to an increase in the establishment of faith-based groups.

That’s hard to gauge. I don’t think we’ve seen an increase necessarily of faith-based organizations providing services. Faith-based organizations have been providing after-school programs and elderly assistance for decades. But they’ve really gone unnoticed because no one has said specifically, “You’re eligible to compete for this funding.” You have some of the larger established charities, such as Lutheran Charities or Catholic Charities, The Salvation Army and St. Vincent de Paul, that have been doing great work, whether they were going to get federal funding or not.

In what areas are faith-based organizations serving Arizona?

Almost every area you could think of. The ones that initially come to mind — they’re called upon a lot — are foster and adoption [services] in terms of placing children. Many of them partner with school districts in providing quality after-school programs. And many are working the senior area in terms of either operating senior assisted living facilities or providing a day program, such as United Methodist Ministries.

The White House on its Web site and throughout its materials says there are six or seven key areas — poverty being one, homelessness another — but even when you look at poverty, is that poverty of children, poverty of adults, poverty of individuals affected by HIV? It’s a very broad range.

Please give us some examples of success stories?

I don’t want to be biased, but I’d say the work of The Salvation Army. For example, since the governor got elected, she does the “Stuff the Bus” campaign, and we partner with Fulton Homes and a couple of other organizations. The Salvation Army is probably our leading faith-based partner in that area. The total objective is we want to stuff backpacks and get them to the neediest children. Every year, each state agency will give over school supplies… and we stuff the backpacks.

How is their [faith-based organizations] performance evaluated and by whom?

If they’ve received funding, we do site visits and we do monitoring on a quarterly basis.

They complete financial reports and they have to do financial audits. It’s the same as we do with any other organization that receives funding from this office. We make sure the organizations are using the funding as was intended. You cannot require a [recipient of a service] to be of a specific religious background or denomination, but you have to make the service available. We ensure those types of items.

Proponents of faith-based social services say they are more cost efficient. How so?

Take an after-school program for example. In many cases, that organization has enlisted a whole host of volunteers, who very well may be professionals in their own right. The human capital becomes the X factor. What is the value of having 50 or 60 volunteers in a program? And organizations are being much more collaborative. Faith-based organizations are quick to ask, who’s missing around the table?

Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, a Southern Baptist preacher, made the following statement when he announced the creation of a faith-based office: “State government is not capable of administering to a person’s body, mind and spirit.” First, do you agree with that statement?

Probably, yes, because no government for that matter is designed to minister per se, especially to the spirit.

Second, capable or not, is state government responsible for taking care of a person’s body, mind and spirit?

I would say mind and body, yes. On the spiritual end, that’s not necessarily the business of the state to really provide something from a spiritual standpoint. But I would say we count on faith-based organization to deliver that end because the data would support that individuals who are connected to a faith-based organization are more likely to be more effective in society, which ultimately makes them a better citizen at the end of the day.

Let’s say Arizona awards a grant to a faith-based group that assists criminals who have just been released from prison. The program uses the Bible. Does that not violate the separation of church and state?

I would say that to some degree it could.

I guess the broader question is if a faith-based program is assisting a citizen through a federal grant, and part of the program is t
eaching the faith-based group’s beliefs, does that violate separation of church and state?

Listed that way, I don’t think it is. If I choose to utilize Zig Zigler [motivational speaker] or Rick Warren, who authored The Purpose-Driven Life as my curriculum, which many people, church or non-church, would say Pastor Warren’s book has been highly effective and is a guide for becoming a better person, I would say you could use that, but not as an entire framework. If your entire program is based on scripture, and that becomes a requirement, that becomes a different conversation.

What have we left out?

We have a lot of work to do in the state. We recognize we are a state that values faith. It’s one of our best untapped resources. I remember as a little kid, one of the after-school programs I went to was at a local church. I don’t know how it was funded, but what I knew was I got to do my homework, I got to do arts and crafts, I got to play sports, and then I went home. And I even got a snack before I went home for dinner. I know the impact it had in my life.—