Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act

Business owners wishing to follow their faith in selecting customers to serve scored at least a temporary victory this week in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on the now-famous wedding cake case.

Since the U.S. legalized same-sex marriage in 2015, several states have passed laws allowing publicly funded child welfare organizations to exclude millions of LGBTQ adults as potential foster parents. This, combined with a Trump administration executive order on religious liberty, is cause for concern over the future of child welfare programs, according to a new policy brief from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).

Texas faith-based child welfare providers say they are currently allowed to choose what children and families they will work with based on their religious beliefs. But they want legislative assurance that the current policy won’t change.