II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 656 

To ensure that organizations with religious or moral convictions are allowed 

to continue to provide services for children. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 10, 2021 

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. COTTON, Mrs. 

HYDE-SMITH, Mr. HAWLEY, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. RISCH, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. 

SASSE, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. LEE, Mr. CRUZ, Ms. ERNST, 

Mr. DAINES, Mr. WICKER, Mr. HAGERTY, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. INHOFE, 

Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. CASSIDY, and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To ensure that organizations with religious or moral convictions are allowed to continue to provide services for children. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Welfare Provider 

5 Inclusion Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Child welfare service providers, both individ2 uals and organizations, have the inherent, funda3 mental, and inalienable right to free exercise of reli4 gion protected by the United States Constitution. 

5 (2) The right to free exercise of religion for 

6 child welfare service providers includes the freedom 

7 to refrain from conduct that conflicts with their sin8 cerely held religious beliefs. 

9 (3) Most States provide government-funded 

10 child welfare services through various charitable, re11 ligious, and private organizations. 

12 (4) Religious organizations, in particular, have 

13 a lengthy and distinguished history of providing 

14 child welfare services that predates government in15 volvement. 

16 (5) Religious organizations have long been and 

17 should continue contracting with and receiving 

18 grants from governmental entities to provide child 

19 welfare services. 

20 (6) Religious organizations cannot provide cer21 tain child welfare services, such as foster-care or 

22 adoption placements, without receiving a government 

23 contract, grant or license. 

24 (7) Religious organizations display particular 

25 excellence when providing child welfare services. 


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1 (8) Children and families benefit greatly from 

2 the child welfare services provided by religious orga3 nizations. 

4 (9) Governmental entities and officials admin5 istering federally funded child welfare services in 

6 some States, including Massachusetts, California, Il7 linois, and the District of Columbia, have refused to 

8 contract with religious organizations that are unable, 

9 due to sincerely held religious beliefs or moral con10 victions, to provide a child welfare service that con11 flicts, or under circumstances that conflict, with 

12 those beliefs or convictions; and that refusal has 

13 forced many religious organizations to end their long 

14 and distinguished history of excellence in the provi15 sion of child welfare services. 

16 (10) Ensuring that religious organizations can 

17 continue to provide child welfare services will benefit 

18 the children and families that receive those federally 

19 funded services. 

20 (11) States also provide government-funded 

21 child welfare services through individual child wel22 fare service providers with varying religious and 

23 moral convictions. 

24 (12) Many individual child welfare service pro25 viders maintain sincerely held religious beliefs or 


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1 moral convictions that relate to their work and 

2 should not be forced to choose between their liveli3 hood and adherence to those beliefs or convictions. 

4 (13) Because governmental entities provide 

5 child welfare services through many charitable, reli6 gious, and private organizations, each with varying 

7 religious beliefs or moral convictions, and through 

8 diverse individuals with varying religious beliefs or 

9 moral convictions, the religiously impelled inability 

10 of some religious organizations or individuals to pro11 vide certain services will not have a material effect 

12 on a person’s ability to access federally funded child 

13 welfare services. 

14 (14) The provisions of this Act are remedial 

15 measures that are congruent and proportional to 

16 protecting the constitutional rights of child welfare 

17 service providers guaranteed under the Fourteenth 

18 Amendment to the United States Constitution. 

19 (15) Congress has the authority to pass this 

20 Act pursuant to its spending clause power and en21 forcement power under section 5 of the Fourteenth 

22 Amendment to the United States Constitution. 

23 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as fol24 lows: 


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1 (1) To prohibit governmental entities from dis2 criminating or taking an adverse action against a 

3 child welfare service provider on the basis that the 

4 provider declines to provide a child welfare service 

5 that conflicts, or under circumstances that conflict, 

6 with the sincerely held religious beliefs or moral con7 victions of the provider. 

8 (2) To protect child welfare service providers’ 

9 exercise of religion and to ensure that governmental 

10 entities will not be able to force those providers, ei11 ther directly or indirectly, to discontinue all or some 

12 of their child welfare services because they decline to 

13 provide a child welfare service that conflicts, or 

14 under circumstances that conflict, with their sin15 cerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions. 

16 (3) To provide relief to child welfare service 

17 providers whose rights have been violated. 

18 SEC. 3. DISCRIMINATION AND ADVERSE ACTIONS PROHIB19 ITED. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Government, and 

21 any State that receives Federal funding for any program 

22 that provides child welfare services under part B or E of 

23 title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq., 

24 671 et seq.) (and any subdivision, office or department 

25 of such State) shall not discriminate or take an adverse 


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1 action against a child welfare service provider on the basis 

2 that the provider has declined or will decline to provide, 

3 facilitate, or refer for a child welfare service that conflicts 

4 with, or under circumstances that conflict with, the pro5 vider’s sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions. 

6 (b) LIMITATION.—Subsection (a) does not apply to 

7 conduct forbidden by paragraph (18) of section 471(a) of 

8 such Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(18)). 

9 SEC. 4. FUNDS WITHHELD FOR VIOLATION. 

10 The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 

11 withhold from a State 15 percent of the Federal funds 

12 the State receives for a program that provides child wel13 fare services under part B or E of title IV of the Social 

14 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq., 671 et seq.) if the 

15 State violates section 3 when administering or disbursing 

16 funds under such program. 

17 SEC. 5. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—A child welfare service provider 

19 aggrieved by a violation of section 3 may assert that viola20 tion as a claim or defense in a judicial proceeding and 

21 obtain all appropriate relief, including declaratory relief, 

22 injunctive relief, and compensatory damages, with respect 

23 to that violation. 

24 (b) ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND COSTS.—A child welfare 

25 service provider that prevails in an action by establishing 


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1 a violation of section 3 is entitled to recover reasonable 

2 attorneys’ fees and costs. 

3 (c) WAIVER OF SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY.—By accept4 ing or expending Federal funds in connection with a pro5 gram that provides child welfare services under part B or 

6 E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 

7 et seq., 671 et seq.), a State waives its sovereign immunity 

8 for any claim or defense that is raised under this section. 

9 SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 

10 If any provision of this Act, or any application of such 

11 provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be un12 constitutional, the remainder of this Act and the applica13 tion of the provision to any other person or circumstance 

14 shall not be affected. 

15 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

17 (b), the amendments made by this Act shall take effect 

18 on the 1st day of the 1st fiscal year beginning on or after 

19 the date of the enactment of this Act, and the withholding 

20 of funds authorized by section 4 shall apply to payments 

21 under parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security 

22 Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq., 671 et seq.) for calendar quar23 ters beginning on or after such date. 

24 (b) EXCEPTION.—If legislation (other than legisla25 tion appropriating funds) is required for a governmental 


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1 entity to bring itself into compliance with this Act, the 

2 governmental entity shall not be regarded as violating this 

3 Act before the 1st day of the 1st calendar quarter begin4 ning after the 1st regular session of the legislative body 

5 that begins after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

6 For purposes of the preceding sentence, if the govern7 mental entity has a 2-year legislative session, each year 

8 of the session is deemed to be a separate regular session. 

9 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

11 (1) CHILD WELFARE SERVICE PROVIDER.—The 

12 term ‘‘child welfare service provider’’ includes orga13 nizations, corporations, groups, entities, or individ14 uals that provide or seek to provide, or that apply 

15 for or receive a contract, subcontract, grant, or 

16 subgrant for the provision of, child welfare services. 

17 A provider need not be engaged exclusively in child 

18 welfare services to be considered a child welfare 

19 service provider for purposes of this Act. 

20 (2) CHILD WELFARE SERVICES.—The term 

21 ‘‘child welfare services’’ means social services pro22 vided to or on behalf of children, including assisting 

23 abused, neglected, or troubled children, counseling 

24 children or parents, promoting foster parenting, pro25 viding foster homes or temporary group shelters for 


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1 children, recruiting foster parents, placing children 

2 in foster homes, licensing foster homes, promoting 

3 adoption, recruiting adoptive parents, assisting 

4 adoptions, supporting adoptive families, assisting 

5 kinship guardianships, assisting kinship caregivers, 

6 providing family preservation services, providing 

7 family support services, and providing time-limited 

8 family reunification services. 

9 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

10 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, any com11 monwealth, territory or possession of the United 

12 States, and any political subdivision thereof, and any 

13 Indian tribe, tribal organization, or tribal consortium 

14 that has a plan approved in accordance with section 

15 479B of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 679c) or 

16 that has a cooperative agreement or contract with 

17 one of the 50 States for the administration or pay18 ment of funds under part B or E of title IV of the 

19 Social Security Act. 

20 (4) FUNDING; FUNDED; FUNDS.—The terms 

21 ‘‘funding’’, ‘‘funded’’, or ‘‘funds’’ include money paid 

22 pursuant to a contract, grant, voucher, or similar 

23 means. 

24 (5) ADVERSE ACTION.—The term ‘‘adverse ac25 tion’’ includes, but is not limited to, denying a child 


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1 welfare service provider’s application for funding, re2 fusing to renew the provider’s funding, canceling the 

3 provider’s funding, declining to enter into a contract 

4 with the provider, refusing to renew a contract with 

5 the provider, canceling a contract with the provider, 

6 declining to issue a license to the provider, refusing 

7 to renew the provider’s license, canceling the pro8 vider’s license, terminating the provider’s employ9 ment, or any other adverse action that materially al10 ters the terms or conditions of the provider’s em11 ployment, funding, contract, or license. 

Æ 


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