Each year, the President submits a budget to Congress for consideration, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) appears before Congress to explain the HHS budget.
This year, the Washington Post reported that the President and HHS plan to include in the HHS budget broad authorization for foster care and adoption agencies nationwide to discriminate in child welfare services and “reject LGBTQ parents, non-Christians, and others.” Such a policy could also allow discrimination against foster youth who are LGBTQ or belong to a religious minority.
The Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees will hold hearings with HHS Secretary Azar in the coming weeks, and Committee members from across the United States are interested in receiving stories about discrimination in foster care and adoption in preparation for the hearing.