TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Paul Burch on Nov 30, 2023

Tennessee’s attorney general Jonathan Skrmetti is leading 16 other states in opposing a federal proposal that would require LGBTQ foster children be placed with families or facilities that are supportive of their identities. Nashville Public Radio reports that LGBTQ youth are over-represented in the foster care system and that a growing body of research finds these children are more likely than their peers to face abuse and harassment in foster care. Skrmetti argues that the rule illegally expands Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) authority into family law, and that it would penalize foster care providers for “declining to violate their own conscious or religion.”