(LifeSiteNews) — An impending Biden administration rule to require foster homes to affirm a child’s gender confusion could be a precursor to taking children away from families that hold firm to biological reality, according to a recent analysis by the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF).
Last year, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ (HHS’s) Administration for Children & Families (ACF) released a proposal to “specify the steps agencies must take when implementing the case plan and case review requirements for children in foster care who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, as well as children who are non-binary or have non-conforming gender identity or expression.”
“A provider who attempted to undermine, suppress, or change the sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression of a child, including through the use of so-called ‘conversion therapy’ would not be a safe and appropriate placement,” it stated. The rule, finalized in April, will take effect in October 2026.
On Monday, the DCNF published an essay by Katelynn Richardson and Megan Brock arguing that the rule has drastic ramifications for parental rights, starting with the fact that it was modeled in part after a federally funded program in Cuyahoga County, Ohio that “strong-arms parents into affirming whatever confused beliefs children express about their gender.”
To be “affirming” in Cuyahoga County’s eyes, parents must provide their children with cosmetic accessories such as chest binders and prosthetic underwear packers to give the appearance of opposite-sex anatomy, displaying pro-LGBT symbols in the home, and welcome same-sex romantic partners to family functions among other measures.
“The AFFIRM Caregiver model recognizes that pervasive exposure to homo/bi/transphobic attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors at multiple levels in society impacts the way caregivers may view and understand their child’s LGBTQ+ identity,” the Cuyahoga County guide reads. “Through a variety of didactic and interactive activities delivered over seven sessions, the AFFIRM Caregiver model helps caregivers adopt an affirming approach toward their youth’s identity as a critical step toward creating safe and healthy environments for their LGBTQ+ youth.”
“Many caregivers are referred to the program because they are ‘not allowing their youth to express themselves fully in public (hairstyles, clothing, hygiene/ beauty products)’ or resist using preferred pronouns and names, according to the Family Builders overview,” the DCNF adds.
HHS senior adviser Julie Kruse called the group behind the program “trailblazers,” and the department’s final ACF rule favorably cites a research study on the county multiple times.
Pro-family advocates see the Biden administration’s collaboration with such radicals as a sign of how far the federal government is willing to go against parents who do not align with its vision.
“Foster homes are not public squares; they are private homes that deserve the basic religious freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, as every other American home,” said the Christian foster nonprofit Lifeline Children’s services, expressing concern about government calling religious environments “unsafe” for rejecting transgender ideology.
“Because juvenile courts or dependency proceedings are shrouded in secrecy, we have no real idea how much this is happening,” Children & Parental Rights Campaign president and general counsel Vernadette Broyles said. “But given this Ohio program and given what the Biden administration and HHS has been putting out there as guidance for states, there’s no question in my mind that this is happening in a substantial way.”
“Programs like Affirm Me take for granted that affirmation is consistent with promoting the health and general welfare of a child, and conversely, that non-affirmation is akin to a form of emotional or psychological abuse,” Manhattan Institute policy analyst Joseph Figliolia added, and “are used to try and establish the intellectual architecture needed to advance policies that promote affirmation as the default intervention for gender dysphoria by linking it with the mental and emotional welfare of children.”
In recent years, states like Massachusetts, Vermont, and Washington have forced foster parents and services into court for noncompliance with left-wing gender ideology, and the current administration has often signaled that it recognizes no room for legitimate disagreement on the subject. Last year, President Joe Biden declared that it was “cruel” and “close to sinful” for states to prohibit the surgical and chemical “transitioning” of confused minors.