The state of Texas attempted to restrict the hiring of counselors by Teen Challenge, a religious drug treatment program with a far higher success rate than government programs. And on it goes. AmeriCorps is the most obvious example. Not surprisingly, the federal program has amassed an impressive list of testimonials from private groups that welcome the corporation's money. But Washington's funds could prove almost as powerful as its mandates in reshaping the independent sector.
Some voluntary organizations recognize the danger.
The national service movement is about institutionalizing federal funding for national and community service. There is much in American history to give credence to King's fears. The history of the welfare state is the history of public enterprise pushing out private organization. After decades of an expanding state, most people today, irrespective of their ideological perspective, recognize that government has taken over too much of the poverty-reduction enterprise. The National Corporation, despite the best of intentions of people such as its president, Harris Wofford, risks doing the same thing to philanthropy.