Trump Administration Launches Probe Into States for Forcing Foster Parents To Affirm Children’s Gender Identities

The Trump Administration is launching an investigation into two states that require prospective foster parents to promise to affirm children’s gender identities, even if doing so would violate their religious beliefs.Oregon and Massachusetts require prospective foster parents to affirm children’s gender identities. Despite a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit finding that Oregon’s policy is unconstitutional, the state has not taken any steps to appeal the ruling or to adjust its policy. The acting assistant secretary of the Health and Human Services Department’s Administration for Children and Families, Andrew Gradison, sent letters to the two blue states on Tuesday asking for information about the policies, which were seen as a potential threat to their federal funding. Mr. Gradison wrote to Oregon’s Department of Health and Human Services that he learned a woman was denied the ability to foster a child because she would not affirm “a hypothetical child’s gender identity.” He said he had heard of other cases where the state had removed children from households where the families would not make the same affirmations.“If true, these developments are deeply troubling, clearly contrary to the purpose of child welfare programs, and in direct violation of First Amendment protections,” Mr. Gradison said. “As you know, I have the responsibility of monitoring how federal funds are used and ensuring that federal law is upheld.”Oregon was sued over its policy, and in July, a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that it violated the First Amendment by placing a burden on the religious exercise of a prospective foster parent, Jessica Bates, when it rejected her application. The state argues that the policy is needed to ensure “LGBTQ children” have supportive home environments.However, the court said, “Adoption is not a constitutional law dead zone. And a state’s general conception of the child’s best interest does not create a force field against the valid operation of other constitutional rights.”The judges ordered the state to reconsider its decision regarding Ms. Bates. But two months later, Oregon has not changed its policy, nor has it filed an appeal of the decision. A spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Justice, Jenny Hansson, said in a statement to the Oregon Capital Chronicle last week, “We’re still disappointed and still thinking about the next steps.”In a letter to Massachusetts, Mr. Gradison noted that a federal lawsuit filed against the state’s Department of Children and Families alleges that one couple, Heath and Lydia Marvin, said their license was revoked for refusing to agree to affirm a child’s gender identity. Another couple, Nick and Audrey Jones, said the state has threatened to revoke their license for the same reason.“No child is made safer when the state shuns willing, stable, and loving homes. No child is better off when hyper-partisan policies are placed above permanency and what is best for the child,” Mr. Gradison said.Mr. Gradison told the Oregon Capital Journal that “all options are on the table” to ensure the states comply with his investigation of their policies.“We want to roll out the red carpet and welcome faith-based families to participate in our child welfare system, to volunteer as foster parents and to adopt,” Mr. Gradison said. “Any policy that runs counter to those goals will be reexamined.”Last month, he “demanded” that 46 states remove references to “gender ideology” in materials for federally funded sexual education programs, as he said that “federal funds will not be used to poison the minds of the next generation or advance dangerous ideological agendas.”The ODHS did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication. The DCF also did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication.

Trump Administration Launches Probe Into States for Forcing Foster Parents To Affirm Children’s Gender Identities

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