From The Associated Press, 1/14/05:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-faith-based-lawsuit,0,4177
574.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

Faith-Based Grant to Ariz. Group Blocked

By JR ROSS
Associated Press Writer

MADISON, Wis. --

A judge has blocked the Bush administration from providing future
"faith-based" grants to an Arizona mentoring group that injected
religion into its publicly funded programs.

The ruling is the first time a judge has struck down a grant through
the president's faith-based initiative, which seeks to give religious
groups equal footing in seeking federal grants to provide social
services.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services cut off funds to
MentorKids USA in December after evidence showed the group used public
money to directly support activities such as worship or religious
instruction.

U.S. District Judge John Shabaz's ruling Tuesday prohibits the agency
from funding MentorKids in the future.

MentorKids USA, based in Phoenix, received a three-year grant in 2003
to mentor the children of prisoners.

The program hired only Christians to work as mentors and required them
to adhere to a Christian statement of faith and code of conduct.

Mentors were also encouraged to share their faith with the children
they worked with, introduce them to Scripture and provide monthly
reports on whether the kids had discussed God, participated in Bible
study or attended church.

Daryl Reese, the program's executive director, said MentorKids took
steps to exclude religion from the work it did with the public grant.

"We simply said here is where the line is," Reese said.

"Anything that we've got that's religious in nature is not a federal
government program."

Anne Nicol Gaylor, founder of the Madison-based Freedom From Religion
Foundation, said Friday that MentorKids is just one of many groups
that uses public money to promote religion.

"Faith-based is supposed to be social services, not religious
services, and that was religion-drenched," Gaylor said.