H.R. 5285: Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act of 2014

Child welfare service providers, both individuals and organizations, have the inherent, fundamental, and inalienable right to free exercise of religion protected by the United States Constitution.

The right to free exercise of religion for child welfare service providers includes the freedom to refrain from conduct that conflicts with their sincerely held religious beliefs.

Most States provide government-funded child welfare services through various charitable, religious, and private organizations.

Religious organizations, in particular, have a lengthy and distinguished history of providing child welfare services that predates government involvement.

Religious organizations have long been and should continue contracting with and receiving grants from governmental entities to provide child welfare services.

Religious organizations cannot provide certain child welfare services, such as foster-care or adoption placements, without receiving a government contract, grant or license.

Religious organizations display particular excellence when providing child welfare services.

Children and families benefit greatly from the child welfare services provided by religious organizations.

Governmental entities and officials administering federally funded child welfare services in some States, including Massachusetts, California, Illinois, and the District of Columbia, have refused to contract with religious organizations that are unable, due to sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions, to provide a child welfare service that conflicts, or under circumstances that conflict, with those beliefs or convictions; and that refusal has forced many religious organizations to end their long and distinguished history of excellence in the provision of child welfare services.

Ensuring that religious organizations can continue to provide child welfare services will benefit the children and families that receive those federally funded services.

States also provide government-funded child welfare services through individual child welfare service providers with varying religious and moral convictions.

Many individual child welfare service providers maintain sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions that relate to their work and should not be forced to choose between their livelihood and adherence to those beliefs or convictions.

Because governmental entities provide child welfare services through many charitable, religious, and private organizations, each with varying religious beliefs or moral convictions, and through diverse individuals with varying religious beliefs or moral convictions, the religiously impelled inability of some religious organizations or individuals to provide certain services will not have a material effect on a person’s ability to access federally funded child welfare services.

The activities of funding and administering these child welfare services substantially affect interstate commerce.

Taking adverse actions against child welfare service providers that are unable, due to their sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions, to provide certain services (or provide services under certain circumstances) substantially affects interstate commerce.

The provisions of this Act are remedial measures that are congruent and proportional to protecting the constitutional rights of child welfare service providers guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Congress has the authority to pass this Act pursuant to its spending clause power, commerce clause power, and enforcement power under section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

To prohibit governmental entities from discriminating or taking an adverse action against a child welfare service provider on the basis that the provider declines to provide a child welfare service that conflicts, or under circumstances that conflict, with the sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions of the provider.

To protect child welfare service providers’ exercise of religion and to ensure that governmental entities will not be able to force those providers, either directly or indirectly, to discontinue all or some of their child welfare services because they decline to provide a child welfare service that conflicts, or under circumstances that conflict, with their sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions.

To provide relief to child welfare service providers whose rights have been violated.