WASHINGTON -- Religious charities should be allowed to use the common areas in
public housing to offer residents counseling, job training and other services,
the government is advising local housing authorities.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development developed the policy, to be
made public Friday, after receiving reports that some authorities denied
religious charities access to meeting rooms, an agency official said.
HUD wanted to make the policy clear, as it plans to encourage more religious
groups to offer their services on site to public housing residents, said Steven
Wagner, deputy director of the agency's office of faith-based initiatives.
"There's rather little of it going on now," he said.
Letters about the policy are going to all 3,200 local public housing
authorities. HUD cannot impose the policy, but many authorities look to the
agency for guidance.
"To the extent the common areas and meeting rooms are made available to
any organization for the purpose of conduction residential programs,
faith-based organizations may not be denied equal right of access because of
their religious character," HUD Secretary Mel Martinez wrote.
The letter is part of President Bush's effort to get religious organizations
more involved in helping to address social problems.
Legislation that is supported by the White House but has stalled in Congress
would open more government programs to churches, synagogues and other religious
groups.
In the meantime, federal agencies are trying to do what they can under current
law to open the government's doors wider to religious groups. No HUD money now
falls under charitable choice laws, which allow projects spending government
money to maintain exemptions from civil rights laws and make hiring and firing
decisions based on religion.
The Bush administration initiative has raised concerns about possible
violations of the constitutional separation between church and state.
But Terri Schroeder, a legislative analyst for the American Civil Liberties
Union, said the HUD letter appears to merely reiterate a commonly accepted
tenet.
"In a situation where there already is access, you shouldn't be denying
access just because of your character," she said.
She said putting it into practice could present problems if one type of group
receives preferential treatment over another or if a housing authority were
seen as endorsing a particular religious group.