Thursday, November 19, 2009

A Response to the CCHD’s “For the Record” Report

The recent exposes of the funding missteps by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development have provoked the organization to issue a November 13 “For the Record” response. We reported on the CCHD’s funding problems in the Archdiocese of San Francisco on September 22 and November 11. In responding to the CCHD’s report, we confine ourselves to those instances we had previously covered.

We begin by quoting from the CCHD’s own funding guidelines, specified in the very first paragraph of the “For the Record” report:

“All grant applicants are carefully screened and funds are provided only to projects with objectives and actions that are fully in accord with the moral teaching of the Catholic Church. The local CCHD diocesan director and national grants staff evaluate every proposal. Every project recommended for funding requires endorsement by the local bishop.”

But it is obviously not true to say: “All grant applicants are carefully screened and funds are provided only to projects with objectives and actions that are fully in accord with the moral teaching of the Catholic Church.“ If that were true, the CCHD would not have to write on page 4 of the report:

“ALLEGATION: The Catholic Campaign for Human Development funded Young Workers United and the Chinese Progressive Association, both of whom produced voter guides which took a position contrary to Church teaching.

FACT: After a joint investigation with the Archdiocese of San Francisco, CCHD determined both organizations in question had in fact produced voter guides that included positions contrary to Church teaching. CCHD immediately cancelled both grants, and both organizations returned all of the funding they received from CCHD.”

Here the CCHD is trying to spin the issue, and doing so in an embarrassingly inept manner. First, that the CCHD funded the Young Workers United and the Chinese Progressive Association, is not an “allegation,” it is fact, printed on the CCHD’s own 2009-10 “Grantees” page. Secondly, examine the “Fact” entry: “A joint investigation"? What they mean is, somebody from the CCHD or the Archdiocese of San Francisco looked at the groups’ websites. We did that “investigation” ourselves--it took about 90 seconds. But note that the CCHD admits it did fund groups not “fully in accord with the moral teaching of the Catholic Church,” thus giving the lie to their statement in the report’s very first paragraph.

We all make mistakes. The point is to learn from them. Is there any sign the CCHD has done so? No. Examine the entry for the ongoing funding of the San Francisco Organizing Project on page 3. The CCHD justifies the ongoing funding with this non-sequiter:

“The Archdiocese of San Francisco strongly supports the work of the San Francisco Organizing Project (SFOP) to expand access to health care to children. Both Archbishop Levada and Archbishop Niederauer have spoken at SFOP events; SFOP has met regularly with Archdiocesan staff to coordinate work on health care access and other issues that affect the poor and immigrant families.”

Consider: two groups funded based on a recommendation from the Archdiocese of San Francisco just had to have their grants pulled. And what does the CCHD use to justify its ongoing funding of the SFOP? A recommendation from the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Nobody is that stupid by accident.

But worse than that, the statement is deliberately deceptive. It does not even mention the reason why CCHD’s funding of the SFOP was newsworthy. It does not mention that the SFOP, funded by the CCHD, “won” $200,000 for the Mission Neighborhood Health Center-- an organization which, right on its webpage, tells young women it will provide them with “emergency contraception.” Once again, the CCHD is violating its own funding guidelines.

Why such a transparent whitewash? Simple: The CCHD’s nationwide second collection is this weekend, and they want to squeak through.

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

1 comment:

Barbara said...

Catholic Charities USA terms praised the CCHD for its "innovative work".
The annual love fest held in DC for all the Social Development and World Peace folks brings to together pro-abortion nuns that make up UNANIMA (they support CEDAW, which agitates for "reproductive rights". You can see what I mean by clicking on www.usccb.org/sdwp/projects/csmg2008.shtml
Catholic Charities gets 67% of its program funds from the Federal government. The rest of their budget goes to staff salaries - 6 employees are paid to develop social policy. Huh? What are their counterparts foing over at the USCCB doing?
Their 2006 campaign to defeat poverty tells us that poverty is a sin - a sign of a broken covenant with God. And the Beatitudes. What would Mother Theresa say?
Fr. will be appalled at the 10 reasons they share with us for the belief that they are Catholic. Quite a dreadful parody of martyred St. Edward Campion.
Archbishop O'Brien assured the faithful in a letter that the CCHD "...can mean stronger communities, more jobs, and economic opportunities." Can? One would think, given the length of time CCHD has been operating that they'd have developed a set of criteria.
Stronger communities: lower rates of illegitimacy, crime, alcoholism, drug abuse, cleaner streets, more marriages fewer divorces, more home ownership,. More jobs? That's easy enough to document. Ditto with economic opportunity: businesses opened and built.
From what I've seen of the CCHD they're all about organizing and institutional whatsis. Bless his heart, I'm sure the CCHD has persuaded him that eventaully all their efforts will come through. When???