The Daily Record: Using Theater To Bust Barriers

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THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018 z DAILYRECORD.COM

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Using theater to bust barriers

Churches say court erred in denying grant money Morris houses of worship ask High Court to reconsider ruling Peggy Wright

Morristown Daily Record USA TODAY NETWORK - NEW JERSEY

MORRISTOWN — Morris County churches, barred by last month’s state Supreme Court ruling from receiving taxpayer-funded historic preservation grants to make repairs, have asked the state’s highest court to reconsider its opinion.

The Supreme Court on April 18 unanimously ruled that Morris County’s 16-year practice of awarding historic preservation grants to houses of worship violated the Religious Aid Clause of the state Constitution, which states, in part, that citizens cannot be compelled to pay for churches.

The court’s ruling sided with the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation that sued the county freeholders to stop the grant-giving to See CHURCHES, Page 4A

Children with autism are immersed into the theater arts during a Miracle Project program at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown. PHOTOS BY ANNE VAN DRUFF/MORRISTOWN DAILY RECORD

Autism-friendly youth program thrives in Morristown William Westhoven

Helicopter helps stop forest blaze in Mount Olive William Westhoven

Morristown Daily Record USA TODAY NETWORK - NEW JERSEY

Morristown Daily Record USA TODAY NETWORK - NEW JERSEY

MORRISTOWN - Children are breaking the barriers of autism by exploring the world of theater through a national program unfolding on the stage of the Mayo Performing Arts Center.

Elaine Hall, founder of the Miracle Project, said her award-winning international program has taken firm roots at MPAC, where education Director Cathy Roy spearheaded its New Jersey debut in 2017.

Programs such as the Miracle Project, which addresses the communication, socialization and behavioral issues common to autism, are essential in the Garden State, where a child-autism rate nearing 3 percent doubles the national average.

"When I was in New Jersey about a year and a half ago, training the [MPAC] staff, not only did we get a response for the class, but from the community, the educators, the professionals and lay leaders," said Hall, an acting coach who developed the program for her own severely autistic son. "They were all so incredibly enthusiastic, See PROGRAM, Page 4A

MOUNT OLIVE — Local, county and state responders teamed up Wednesday to extinguish a brush and forest fire on a hill off Route 206.

“We saw a lot of smoke coming down the hill,” said Diane Marciano, whose home on southbound Route 206 in the Flanders section fronts the uphill private property where the fire spread across approximately 1.5 acres of rocky woodland.

Flanders Fire Chief Tyler Wargo said it took about 75 minutes to stop the fire shortly after noon. Assistance and mutual aid came from Budd Lake, Chester and Roxbury fire companies, along with Mount Olive See FIRE, Page 7A

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A staff member of the Mayo Performing Arts Center talks to a participant during a recent Miracle Project event.

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Murphy signs paid sick leave bill Dustin Racioppi

North Jersey Record USA TODAY NETWORK - NEW JERSEY

New Jersey became the 10th state Wednesday to require employers to provide paid sick leave for workers, putting into law a wage policy that has passed locally in about a dozen places around the state.

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy signed the bill, A-1827, during a ceremony at Trenton's War Memorial, a week after signing equal pay legislation. The billsigning continues a streak of progressive achievements for Murphy, but he is seeking more on the economic front, including a $15 hourly minimum wage.

"This is not just about doing what's right for workers and their families," he said of paid sick leave. "This is about doing the right thing for our economy and

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protecting more New Jerseyans' place in that economy."

Bill sponsors said an estimated 1.1 million New Jersey workers are unable to earn sick leave.

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Program Continued from Page 1A

and saying how necessary this program is for the New Jersey area."

"I researched it a lot and it was exactly what we were looking for," Roy said.

"It aligned beautifully with our program at MPAC, and has changed our approach to everything we do."

Hall and her staff from Los Angeles, California, arrived to Morristown in late 2016 to train Roy and her staff. That led to a pilot program of two classes and a performance in May 2017.

"I also visited their program in Los Angeles to get more insight into the program," Roy said.

The Miracle Project was expanded at MPAC in 2018. "We're feeling more and more comfortable implementing it," Roy said. "Each year, the class can take up to 10 students as well as 10 peer mentors.

We're looking to expand it carefully and with integrity. It's not about the numbers. It's about the quality of the program. We've doubled the classes this year from two to four per week. That's what we can handle."

"We've been deemed by peer review as helping to transform communica-

Churches Continued from Page 1A

churches. Twelve houses of worship that received $4.6 million in 34 preservation grants between 2012 and 2015 were also named as defendants in the foundation’s lawsuit. They don’t have to return any funds but are precluded in the future from eligibility for the grants.

Attorney Ken Wilbur said he asked the court to reconsider its decision which he believes relied erroneously on alleged misstatements by Freedom From Religion Foundation that churches admitted in their grant applications that they needed the funds to continue offering worship services.

“The implication that the county program is a lifeline sustaining churches is false. None of the applicants asked for, or received, grants because they need

Children with autism are immersed into the theater arts during a Miracle Project program at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown. ANNE VAN DRUFF

tion, socialization and behavior, which are the three component challenges of autism," Hall said. "To have a modality that can address all those very critical issues is extremely important. This methodology has been recreated around the world."

Graduates of the Miracle Project in Los Angeles are even finding new careers in show business, thanks in part to an entertainment-industry mandate to hire actors with autism to portray characters with autism.

"They're getting gigs, they're getting

the funds to continue hosting religious services,” Wilbur wrote.

Several clerics whose churches received grants declined to comment or referred questions to Wilbur.

“The decision then strikes down the grants on the grounds they ‘sustain the continued use of active houses of workshop for religious services and finance repairs to religious imagery.’ As detailed in the motion (for reconsideration), none of the defendants needed, asked for, or received grants to continue offering worship services. Only one of the 34 grants was for actual work on a stainedglass window,” Wilbur said in a statement.

Denying churches access to grants to perform work that secular grant recipients do “penalizes the free exercise of religion, but also needlessly limits government’s power to advance the public health, safety and welfare,” Wilbur wrote.

Writing for the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner in the decision said: “The plain language of the Religious Aid Clause bars the use of taxpayer funds to repair and restore churches, and Morris County’s program ran afoul of that long-standing provision.”

The freeholders won the first round in January 2017 when a Superior Court judge in Somerset County ruled in their favor and against Freedom From Religion Foundation. The foundation turned to the appellate division but the Supreme Court then agreed to hear a direct appeal, recognizing the statewide implications of the grant-giving practice.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the ACLU of New Jersey and the national ACLU said the court made the right call.

“This a big win for the religious freedom of state taxpayers, who shouldn’t have to foot the bill for church construc-

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work, and these are kids who literally couldn't stand up in front of their peers," Hall said.

"It's about making each student comfortable, really giving them a full experience," Roy said. "It's so wonderful to see the new friends they make, and see their self-esteem grow as the class moves along. I enjoy every second working with them."

The MPAC staff was "able to grab the principle so immediately and put it into practice so efficiently," Hall said.

"They're my flagship program."

Integrating students without disabilities into the program adds an element of inclusiveness to the classes.

The students, ranging from 9 to young adult, followed their Miracle Project studies during Autism Awareness Month in April with a private performance this week for friends and family.

As the program expands, the Miracle Project is working to serve a wider audience by adding levels of instruction ranging from beginner to advance.

In addition to The Miracle Project, MPAC has featured art-gallery exhibits featuring work by students with special needs.

Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973917-9242; wwesthoven@GannettNJ.com.

tion and religious worship services,” said Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief.

Wilbur has said the Supreme Court’s decision conflicts with a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed a religious institution, Trinity Lutheran Church in Missouri, to receive public funding for a playground.

“Trinity Lutheran clearly holds that churches cannot be categorically excluded from neutral public welfare programs. The county historic preservation grant program is a neutral public welfare program. Denying churches grants because they are churches, without regard to the purpose of the grant, is exactly the kind of categorical exclusion Trinity Lutheran prohibits,” Wilbur said.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-2671142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.

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