The Biden Administration has set a deadline of Monday, Nov. 27, for public comment on a significant proposed regulation regarding foster care.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families quietly introduced the rule, “Safe and Appropriate Foster Care Placement Requirements for Titles IV–E and IV–B,” on Sept. 28.
The proposal is part of the Biden Administration’s continued interest in pushing children into alternate sexual identities and lifestyles, specifically lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex identities.
Key aspects of the proposed rule include:
- Mandatory affirmation of gender expression: Foster parents will be required to affirm the gender expression of LGBTQI+ children. Non-compliance with this rule could be considered child abuse.
- Specific requirements for agencies: Agencies must implement processes to ensure safe and appropriate placements for LGBTQI+ children and provide necessary support services.
- Addressing risks and adverse outcomes: The rule aims to mitigate the risks LGBTQI+ children face in foster care, such as mistreatment, stigma, and discrimination.
- Prohibitions on conversion therapy: The rule explicitly bans all practices aimed at changing a child’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Foster parents can only affirm identity, and cannot question or provide an alternative view of a child’s stated identity. Conversations that a foster parent has with a LGBTQI+ child may be subject to litigation, if the child reports it to authorities as unsupportive.
The ACF rule will force foster parents to use the name the child prefers, and the pronouns the child insists on as part of creating a “safe home environment.” If the foster parent refuses, he or she may be charged with child abuse.
While the Biden Administration aims to protect and support LGBTQI+ children in foster care, it has raised several questions and concerns:
- Definition of key terms: Terms like “hostility,” “mistreatment,” or “abuse” are not explicitly defined, leading to potential ambiguity in enforcement.
- First Amendment concerns: The inclusion of talk therapy in the definition of ‘conversion therapy’ and its legal implications under the First Amendment are unclear. In Anchorage, a similar ordinance prohibiting “conversion therapy” has the same First Amendment violations already in local law.
- Lack of specific training curriculum: While training for providers is mentioned, no specific curriculum is proposed.
- Role of biological parents: The proposal does not address the involvement of biological parents in decisions regarding the services and activities provided to their children, while the children are being fostered. Not all children enter foster care because of misdeeds of their parents, although the vast majority of foster children have suffered physical abuse, psychological abuse, or sexual abuse.
- Medical interventions: The rule is ambiguous when it comes to medical interventions like puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or surgeries.
Critics of the new rule say that, rather than prevent homelessness and institutionalization for LGBTQI+ youth, this new rule will cause foster families to not accept these children, because of the risk of being accused of the crime of child abuse if they inadvertently cross some undefined line set forth by the federal government.
