As The Washington Post reports, the president is cutting funds for traditional programs that deal with the crisis of urban centers. Public housing subsidies, food stamps, energy assistance, community development, social services and community block grants are all on the chopping block. Instead, Bush is pushing for increased funding to "faith-based" groups, arguing that they are cheaper and more effective.
Edna Reynolds, the director of Project ARISE, a Christian HIV and drug abuse prevention organization, told the Post that she is hard pressed to say just how effective the program is. "I don't get to see their success," she said of her clients. "But I feel we have to be here for them. When they leave here, I have to feel that we planted a seed with them."
This is a disturbing perspective because the funds being given to "plant seeds" in drug addicts are being taken away from secular organizations that are required to quantitatively measure their success.
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