Source: Philadelphia Inquirer (PA) Contact: http://www.phillynews.com/ Pubdate: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 Author: By Jodi Enda TEEN ANTICRIME PROGRAMS WITH RELIGIOUS BASE TO GET AID WASHINGTON -- President Clinton is reaching out to religious-based organizations to help battle youth violence, gangs and truancy by promoting positive values, White House officials said yesterday. Inspired by a Boston program credited with reducing youth killings, Clinton plans to announce today that he is awarding $2.2 million to groups in 16 cities, including Philadelphia, that have been working to stem crime among juveniles. While the dollars are relatively few for a government program, officials said it was an attempt by the White House to try a new, creative way to tackle a growing problem. "It isn't much money; it's the innovation," said Rahm Emanuel, a top adviser to the President. The new crime-fighting program is minuscule compared with the $250 million Clinton requested from Congress under a more comprehensive juvenile-crime bill that remains bottled up in the Senate. Emanuel said Clinton's latest proposal was part of a "patchwork" of things the President was trying to do to circumvent a Congress that, he contended, is unwilling to take on the National Rifle Association. Under the new Values-Based Violence Prevention Initiative, which does not require congressional approval, organizations in each of the 16 cities will receive $135,000 for antiviolence programs. The groups are to use the money to offer youths alternatives to guns and crime. The Philadelphia recipient of the Justice Department money is United Neighbors Against Drugs, led by Sister Carol Keck, director of the Norris Square Neighborhood Project. Money will also go to organizations in Miami; Detroit; Kansas City, Mo.; Los Angeles; Chicago; Washington; Baltimore; Indianapolis; Seattle; Portland, Ore.; San Antonio, Texas; Richmond, Va.; Charleston, S.C.; Salinas, Calif.; and Hempstead, N.Y. Each of these cities already participates in other anticrime programs to track illegal gun traffickers, combat juvenile gun use, and crack down on gangs. Clinton asked Emanuel and Attorney General Janet Reno to devise a plan for the new program last month after reading about the successful partnership between clergy members and community and law-enforcement officials in Boston. Because of constitutional requirements separating church and state, Emanuel said, the money will go not directly to religious organizations but rather to groups that are affiliated with them. - --- Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)