McCain voted for the bill but, unlike other senators who worked with Ashcroft, aides on his Senate staff tell Insight that McCain was a nonplayer in the struggle for welfare reform and charitable choice as the Republican-led Congress battled a reluctant President Clinton, who eventually signed the bill after vetoing it twice. By contrast, say Ashcroft staffers, they were very impressed in early 1996 by the Texas governor s record of tackling social problems by every means possible, including successful faith-based solutions. McCain responded that he thought Bush was on the right track but did not mention any plans to fight social ills in this way. He did make a vague reference to Arizona charter schools as a good example of faith-based groups at work. Bush raised the matter because he says he thinks religious people have an important role to play in local communities.
Inmates follow an intense schedule of work, classes, job training, mentoring and Bible study.
Soon, the Austin Police Force will receive funding from the governor s Criminal Justice Division to launch a Faith Community Network to enlist local religious groups in improving neighborhood safety, and funding has been approved to launch a similar program statewide in Texas. The Texas Department of Human Services, or DHS, reports a 57 percent drop in the welfare rolls since Bush took office. Among other innovations under Bush, the DHS provides funds for the Texas Family Pathfinders Program, which links needy welfare families to community organizations and churches to help them with a job search, child care, transportation and other needs. Nor is the orientation of the Bush program exclusively Protestant 23 of the 92 faith-based groups taking part in the program teams were Catholic. And 120 Catholic-affiliated organizations participate in the Adopt a Nursing Home program, which teams community groups with Texas nursing homes to enrich the lives of the elderly residents.