HHS ensures faith-based adoption, foster care providers are free to serve kids in need
“Every child deserves a chance to be raised in a loving home. There are hundreds of thousands of children in the foster care system, many of whom are eligible for adoption. Faith-based adoption and foster care providers play an integral role in serving these vulnerable kids. Sadly, the prior administration’s regulation failed to protect all providers and discriminated against faith-based providers simply because of their beliefs about marriage. That is not keeping kids first. HHS’s final rule to end this discrimination offers hope for children, more options for birth mothers, support for families, and increased flexibility for states seeking to alleviate real human need. We commend the Trump administration for protecting a diversity of providers to ensure the greatest number of children find a permanent, loving family.”
ADF attorneys represent Catholic Charities West Michigan and New Hope Family Services in New York, both adoption and foster care providers, in federal lawsuits against state officials. The lawsuits seek to protect the faith-based providers from being singled out, punished, or disfavored because of their religious beliefs—beliefs that motivate their care for children, birth parents, and other vulnerable members of the community.
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.
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ABOUT Zack Pruitt
Zack Pruitt serves as senior counsel and director of U.S. government relations at Alliance Defending Freedom. In this role, he promotes ADF's policy and legislative work at the national level on behalf of the broader ADF legislative advocacy team. As a principal strategist, Pruitt oversees the federal and state government relations teams and provides legal counsel regarding ADF’s core issues to state officials, members and staff of the U.S. Congress, the White House, and federal agencies. Prior to joining ADF, Pruitt served as senior policy analyst at Americans for Prosperity and director of public policy for the Family Action Council of Tennessee. Pruitt earned his Juris Doctor with a certificate in International and Comparative Law from St. Louis University School of Law. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He is member of the state bar in Tennessee and the District of Columbia and is also admitted to practice in the U.S. Supreme Court.