Minnesota Teen Challenge

A former crack user says she kicked her addiction because she found Jesus at Minnesota Teen Challenge. A man says that God healed his liver after a prayer service at the Christian drug treatment facility. While its clients sing its praises — some claiming it saved their lives — should such an overtly religious program be receiving taxpayer funding? According to state records, MNTC has gotten more than $2 million from the state of Minnesota since 2007.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty has disbanded his gubernatorial committee, formalizing his decision not to seek a third term. In terminating the organization, he had to disburse more than $500,000 in remaining campaign funds. The funds were split almost evenly between political contributions and charitable gifts, as reported by Tom Scheck at Minnesota Public Radio.

A group monitoring issues surrounding the separation of church and state is urging Attorney General Eric Holder to revoke an earmark to Minnesota Teen Challenge, a Christian chemical dependency treatment center based in Minneapolis. In a letter to Holder, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State argue that MNTC has used taxpayer money [...]

If you accept taxpayer money, you have to accept that you’re going to receive public scrutiny. That simple point seems to be eluding Minnesota Teen Challenge (MNTC), the faith-based drug treatment program which secured a federal earmark in early 2008 arranged by Rep. Jim Ramstad, for its “Know the Truth” program which aims to prevent drug use.

Last week, the program sent two nearly identical letters to both the Minnesota Independent and the Huffington Post responding to articles critical of their programming.