FRANKFORT, Ky. (May 2, 2024) – Attorney General Russell Coleman released the following statement today after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services finalized a rule that would disfavor religious-based child welfare organizations that refuse to violate their religious beliefs in foster care services:
“Kentucky is failing at the basics as our foster children sleep on the floors of state office buildings. The Biden Administration’s response to this crisis is a burdensome rule that actually makes it harder for religious-based organizations and families of faith to care for children.
“For more than 150 years, Sunrise Children’s Services has put its religious principles into action by providing high-quality services for foster parents and children. Now, because the Biden Administration disapproves of its beliefs, Sunrise will be relegated to a second-class status and families will face additional hurdles in opening their homes to children.
“The Biden Administration’s regulation should be concerning to all people of faith because it keeps children out of loving homes and adds unnecessary strains to the foster care system. We are closely reviewing the rule to decide how to respond.”
Dale Suttles, Sunrise Children’s Services President and CEO, said, “This rule is big and bad government at its worst. It will drive foster parents and foster homes out of the mission of helping kids when there is already a severe shortage. Sunrise and its dedicated foster families will not rest until this travesty is thrown out by the courts.”
