"It is not Congress, but these overly restrictive Agency rules that are repressive, restrictive... [They] unnecessarily and improperly limit the participation of faith-based organizations." This statement, taken from the August White House report on barriers faith-based and community organizations face in applying for federal grants, appeared to lay the groundwork for regulatory, rather than legislative, changes to achieve the "charitable choice" component of the President's faith-based agenda. Now a new program in the Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) would create "Community Capacity Centers," nonprofits that provide support for community and faith-based groups in areas with high juvenile crime rates. The program details offered in the Federal Register are vague, but OJJDP Acting Director Terence Donahue provided further details last week in a presentation to the OJJDP Coordinating Council. OJJDP is proposing $10 million a year for the Community Capacity Center program. Grants of about $250,000 each would fund 3-4 coordinators that would draw on members of local organizations to help with programs and provide them with support. Churches, mosques and synagogues were specifically cited as potential participants. The proposed program raises two concerns:

1. the potential for participating youth to be involuntarily subjected to religious proselytizing, and
2. direct federal subsidies to houses of worship.

OMB Watch filed comments on the proposal explaining these concerns, stating "We hope that the final rules for the program will be much more specific about what Centers for Continuous Capacity can do to involve all organizations in a community without subsidizing religious activity or proselytizing participating youth. With adequate safeguards these Centers could be a real asset for communities with high levels of juvenile crime." The full text of the OMB Watch comments is available online. Read OMB Watch's analysis of the August White House report.