Washington, D.C. – Congressman Jeff Duncan (SC-03) applauded the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on their decision to protect religious liberty in South Carolina for faith-based foster and adoption services:
“Faith-based foster and adoption services perform amazing work for communities in South Carolina and around the country. These organizations care deeply about children and families in need, and they shouldn’t be punished by the federal government because of their faith.
“The HHS decision is a big win for religious liberty, particularly for organizations in South Carolina who provide faith-based services like Miracle Hill. I have been working on this issue for over two years now, and I am happy to see the Administration protect religious liberty and the children and families who rely on these services in the Upstate.
“I want to thank President Trump, Secretary Azar, and Governor McMaster for their tireless work on this issue to ensure religious liberty is not stifled and that faith-based organizations can continue their amazing work across our state.”
Background:
You can read the letter from Members of Congress to President Trump expressing concern on the assault on religious liberty HERE.
Congressman Duncan and his staff have been in communication with The White House, HHS, and Miracle Hill to help resolve this issue.
Congressman Duncan has been a cosponsor of the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act led by Congressman Mike Kelly in the 114th Congress and 115th Congress.
HHS Statement:
Today, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) granted a request from the state of South Carolina to protect the religious liberty of its state faith-based foster care providers.
Nine days before the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump, the Obama Administration implemented a new regulation adding various new requirements -- some of which are not reflected in the statutes authorizing the regulation -- for federal funding recipients, including child welfare grantees.
The governor of South Carolina, Henry McMaster, asked ACF to grant the state an exception, highlighting discrimination against faith-based organizations arising from the December 2016 grants regulation, which became effective in January 2017. It is a well-established process under HHS regulations that states can request an exception. HHS’s grants regulation establishes that any grantee can seek an exception (or deviation) from particular grant requirements, and sets forth a process for seeking such exceptions.
“We have approved South Carolina’s request to protect religious freedom and preserve high-quality foster care placement options for children,” said Lynn Johnson, assistant secretary for ACF. “Faith-based organizations that provide foster care services not only perform a great service for their communities, they are exercising a legally-protected right to practice their faith through good works. Our federal agency should not – and, under the laws adopted by Congress, cannot – drive faith-motivated foster care providers out of the business of serving children without a compelling government interest, especially now that child welfare systems are stretched thin as a result of the opioid epidemic.”
In considering the request of the state of South Carolina, ACF consulted with department subject-matter experts including the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), to which HHS has delegated the responsibility to ensure compliance among its programs and its grantees with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).
“This decision preserves all of the foster care agencies currently available for children in South Carolina by ensuring faith-based organizations can continue to serve this vulnerable population. It protects minors who are in need of as many options as possible for being placed in loving foster families,” said Johnson. “The government should not be in the business of forcing foster care providers to close their doors because of their faith. Religious freedom is a fundamental human right.”
As before, all qualified persons interested in becoming certified foster care providers will continue to have multiple avenues for doing so within the state. Additionally, as a condition of the relief HHS provided the state of South Carolina, subrecipients of grant funds will continue to refer any potential foster care families not accepted into subrecipients’ program to other placement agencies or to the state.
“By granting this request to South Carolina, HHS is putting foster care capacity needs ahead of burdensome regulations that are in conflict with the law,” said Johnson.