Foster homes will no longer have to prove they will unquestioningly affirm a child’s gender transition or sexual orientation to retain federal funding under a proposed new rule from the Trump administration.
Trump administration officials in the Department of Health and Human Services posted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the federal register website on Friday to rescind a 2022 Biden administration rule that required foster families to commit to affirming what it described as the “LGBTQI+” identities of foster children.
The Administration for Children and Families estimates there were nearly 330,000 children in foster care in 2024. That’s down from nearly 430,000 in 2019.
For every 100 children in foster care, only 57 licensed foster homes are available nationwide, according to ACF.
Opponents of the Biden-era rule argue that requiring families to pledge to affirm a child’s self-identified sex or sexual orientation excludes those with deeply held religious convictions.
ACF Assistant Secretary Alex Adams told Fox News Digital the Trump administration wants to send the message that “we need more foster homes.”
“Your most likely families to raise their hand and volunteer as a foster family are those who have sincerely held religious convictions,” Adams said. “So the message that you send is so important. The message we’re trying to send is we’re going to roll out the red carpet for everybody.”
The Bipartisan Policy Center in 2024 found that Christians were twice as likely as non-Christians to pursue becoming foster parents. Nearly two-thirds of foster parents went to church weekly, compared with only 40% of the U.S. population.
A federal district court in Texas already vacated the rule on constitutional grounds, finding that the affirmation pledge amounted to compelled speech, but Adams said the notice of proposed rulemaking to remove the Biden-era regulation is a definitive move to prevent states from implementing it anyway.
The move effectuates President Donald Trump’s November executive order directing HHS to “modernize” the foster care system, including by maximizing partnerships with religiously-affiliated organizations and families.
The proposed rule also comes after ACF sent warning letters to all 50 states on Tuesday, instructing them that children cannot be removed from their homes because parents decline to support a child’s self-identification as the opposite sex.
Adams said in a press release on Tuesday, “Parents have the right to raise their children according to their sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions.”
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The letters reinforced that state child welfare agencies can only remove children from the home “on objective evidence of abuse or imminent risk of harm.” Doing otherwise would risk revoking federal funds allocated under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act.
“When states overstep their bounds, ACF will take action to deter inappropriate policies that drive unnecessary interactions with child welfare systems,” Adams said on Tuesday. “This is one such example.”
