The Courant profiles faith-based programs for the homeless and others:
“I tried all of the bad stuff, the alcohol, the drugs,” says Herman Carrington, on parole after serving eight years in prison for first-degree sexual assault. “I got tired of all the bad things. I never found Jesus. He found me here.”
Like the other residents here, Carrington could have gone from prison to a traditional halfway house for parolees, but instead chose Taste-N-See, a faith-based residential program.
Taste-N-See, which is named from Psalms 34:8, “Taste and see that the Lord is good, Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him” — is one of about 20 faith-based agencies receiving federal funds through the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
Of course, there has to be “equal time” and so there’s the obligatory church-and-state carping to be quoted:
Although Connecticut officials champion the idea, saying it has improved access to treatment for thousands of people who might not have succeeded in traditional substance abuse programs, the practice of giving taxpayer money to religious organizations is hardly without critics.
“A lot of these programs contain a significant amount of evangelizing or proselytizing, and from our position that type of outreach should never be funded with taxpayer dollars,” says Rob Boston, senior policy analyst for Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
“There should be no taxpayer-funded evangelizing, period.”
The actual results of improving access to treatment, recognized by officials in a very blue state, mean little to those who are forever afraid that Jesus may be sneaking in the side door.
