TREATING DRUG ABUSE THE FAITH-BASED WAY

All truth passes through three phases, German philosopher Arthur
Schopenhauer said almost 200 years ago.

First, it is considered absurd, and is ridiculed and ignored. Next, it is
seen as dangerous to the status quo, and is viciously attacked. Finally, it
is considered wholesome to everybody - indeed, self-evident.

The truth about faith-based programs seem to be hovering somewhere around
Stages 2 and 3. Faith-based substance abuse programs, for instance, have
been attacked and vilified (Phase 2) particularly by the traditional,
therapeutic substance abuse treatment industry, which sees a threat to its
livelihood. Government regulators of that mindset time and again have tried
to put out of business faith-based programs that are successfully helping
individuals overcome their addictions.

But recently, politicians on the right and the left have started competing
to be first in holding up faith-based programs (Phase 3) as the answer to
society's ills. Not only are Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore
indicating their support, but House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert and President
Bill Clinton have just agreed to jointly introduce a proposal focusing on
faith-based substance abuse programs. This provision is part of a package
of legislative proposals to help low-income communities called the
Community Renewal and New Markets Agreement.

Removal of hostility to faith-based programs was one of the foremost
recommendations of the Grassroots Alternatives for Public Policy (GAPP)
task force, which the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise assembled
in 1995 at the request of the House Speaker. Through the leadership of
Republican Reps. Jim Talent of Missouri, J.C. Watts of Oklahoma, and a host
of others, the Community Renewal Act that stemmed from those
recommendations now appears to have a bright future.

The bipartisan Hastert-Clinton provision on Faith Based Substance Abuse
Treatment, which would apply nationwide, allows for religious organizations
to compete for federal grant money, without impairing the religious
character of the organization. It is similar to the pioneering Charitable
Choice legislation of by Sen. John Ashcroft, Missouri Republican, that has
become law in welfare reform and community development block grant
legislation. Protections are built into the bill to help safeguard against
government intrusion and interference in a faith-based provider's
organization and treatment program, and ensures it cannot be required to
alter its form of internal governance or remove religious symbols. People
who object to a religious treatment program in which they have enrolled
have the right to leave the program and will be offered other options,
including a secular option.

National studies indicate that conventional therapeutic treatment programs,
using medication and psychiatric counseling, have very low rates of success
(a RAND Corp. study of cocaine use commissioned by the White House
indicates that only 6 percent of heavy users leave heavy use each year).

Faith-based substance abuse programs have consistently shown results in
permanently curing drug and alcohol addiction at rates far higher than
those of secular programs, and at significantly lower costs. Victory
Fellowship in San Antonio, Texas, for instance, has freed more than 13,500
people from their addictions over the past 30 years. Victory's success rate
for those completing the program consistently ranges from 70 percent to 80
percent, at costs of about $50 a day. By comparison, traditional
therapeutic programs have been estimated to have a cure rate in the single
digits, at costs of hundreds of dollars daily. Other faith-based programs
with high success rates include the more than 100 U.S. chapters of Teen
Challenge, and more than 25 chapters of Youth Challenge of Hartford, Conn.

Even though faith-based programs do not administer medication, government
at various levels has erected many regulatory barriers. Foremost among them
are attempts by state regulators to make the programs conform to the same
kinds of rules regarding professional staffing, staff training, and
curriculum requirements that govern traditional, therapeutic programs and
bear no relation to the way the faith-based programs give help.

Five years ago, we stood with hundreds of former junkees at the Alamo to
try to save a highly successful program from the clutches of the
regulators. The South Texas chapter of Teen Challenge, a successful,
faith-based substance abuse program located in San Antonio, was notified in
June 1995 by the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse that its
license would be revoked. The reasons were distressingly familiar: the
staff lacked what the state deemed to be the appropriate professional
degrees and training, and the staff training program did not follow the
curriculum used in the (far less successful) traditional therapeutic
programs. After a public demonstration organized by NCNE calling attention
to the problem, and negotiations with the state authorities by the
Institute for Justice, a public interest law firm, Texas Teen Challenge
surrendered its license but was able to continue its work.

The public clamor over this situation resulted in Gov. Bush setting up a
commission on faith-based programs. Based upon the recommendations of the
commission, Mr. Bush introduced legislation in Texas that exempts
faith-based substance abuse programs from the staffing and training
regulations pertaining to therapeutic programs.

Many faith-based substance abuse programs do not seek government funding.
However, the Hastert-Clinton proposal marks a victory in acknowledging the
power of faith and the acceptance of the its role in the process of
healing. It also should pave the way for third-party payers - health
insurance companies, for instance - to support those who might choose to go
to a faith-based program to overcome their addictions.

Passage of this legislation will signal that the truth - that faith-based
substance abuse programs - are more effective than traditional programs -
has reached Schopenhauer's Phase 3. Indeed, it is self-evident.

Robert L. Woodson Sr. is president of the National Center for Neighborhood
Enterprise.