In July, the Department of Education awarded 71Five several grants worth over $400,000. But three months later, a state official notified the nonprofit by email that their grants were being taken back, saying that the nonprofit was disqualified from the grant programs because of its hiring practices.

An Oregon youth ministry is challenging state officials after the state Department of Education revoked several of its grants. Youth 71Five Ministries said officials stripped the nonprofit of its funding because of the ministry’s practice of hiring staff and volunteers who agree with its Biblical beliefs.

71Five is a youth mentoring program that serves young people of all religions and backgrounds through a Christ-centered perspective, said Bud Amundsen, executive director of the ministry, which has operated in the Rogue Valley area for 60 years.

Staff members mentor young people who face challenges such as poverty or a family member’s addiction, providing vocational training and recreational activities in group homes, detention centers, and the ministry’s own centers. The ministry hires employees and volunteers who align with 71Five’s mission and beliefs, he added. The nonprofit’s 30 employees and more than 100 volunteers all signed a statement of faith before joining the organization.

Since 2017, 71Five has received multiple grants from the Oregon Department of Education’s Youth Development Division that support the nonprofit’s work.

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