State will make treatment funds available to religious organizations.
Accessing a higher power is common advice given to those in substance abuse treatment.
With the Bush administration's faith-based agenda, New Mexicans in recovery will soon be able to take that philosophy literally.
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SFR has learned that the State of New Mexico, along with more than a dozen other states, has received a grant that can be used to offer citizens treatment from "faith-based" providers.
The $7.5 million comes from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. These "Access to Recovery" grants will permit the State to provide substance abuse treatment vouchers to people recommended for treatment by the courts or other organizations. The vouchers will allow those individuals to choose between faith-based or secular treatment providers. It is the first time such vouchers have been offered.
Watchdog groups worry such programs may result in civil rights violations, among other problems.
"It raises constitutional questions," Joe Conn, spokesman for Americans United, an organization that defends the separation of Church and State, "such as we don't believe tax payers' money should be used to pay religious organizations."
Conn says while he believes spirituality is a legitimate aspect of recovery, "it's very important whether or not there are safe guards to make sure religious programs involved are meeting proper standards of care," he says.
Carol Luna-Anderson, executive director for LifeLink-a treatment provider- says while she does believe caution should be exercised, both secular and faith-based programs are too worried about compromising their non-profit tax status to violate any rules. As a result, she says, "I don't think there will be a problem."
But Peter Simonson, executive director of the New Mexico affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, thinks there are more than just the providers' actions at stake. He says discrimination could come about when the State hires people to work in its Access to Recovery Program. Currently the State is advertising to hire a faith-based coordinator. Simonson says an applicant with a religious background is more likely to be selected. "There could be significant civil rights problems, the proposed rules for these monies potentially open up a Pandora's box of discriminatory practices, mostly around hiring questions." While Simonson says the government would not explicitly ask applicants questions concerning their religious affiliation or how active they are in church, synagogue, etc, just looking at someone's resumé could give an idea of an applicant's religious background.
The State's advertisement for the position, found on its website, recommends applicants have five years of experience working with New Mexico Native American tribes, faith-based programs and planning and developing behavioral health guidelines in a behavioral health clinical setting.
"For this position, we'll be looking for someone who has interpersonal skills and can work with individuals with different backgrounds, someone who can negotiate different kinds of systems in order to help identify the best support services for individuals," Elaine Benavidez, community program bureau chief in the Department of Health's Behavioral Health Services, says. "Someone who can actually bring people together to help us create a whole new system of support systems that are faith-based."
There's nothing wrong with that, says Gregory Kepferle, executive director of Catholic Charities. The organization will recruit, train and organize community and faith-based organizations as part of the Access to Recovery program. "The government is encouraging faith-based organizations to compete on the same level as community-based organizations," he says, adding that faith-based treatment providers may be able to offer childcare, transportation, job assistance, food and other services traditional treatment providers cannot. However, he says that faith-based providers know where to draw the line. "We can't make people pray. We can't force them to come to Catholic Mass," he says. "We're very clear we can't discriminate against someone because of their religious beliefs and non-beliefs. It's all driven by client choice."
