Today, the Trump administration announced it would grant a waiver to Miracle Hill Ministries, a South Carolina-based Christian agency that had faced losing its license for operating based on religious beliefs.

Emilie Kao, the director of the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at The Heritage Foundation, offered the following reaction:

“Today, the Trump Administration put children first. The Health and Human Services Department’s decision to allow faith-based child welfare agencies in South Carolina to serve consistent with their religious beliefs maximizes the number of foster parents in the state.”

“Children are best served when there are more public-private partnerships. Miracle Hill Ministries recruited and trained 15% of South Carolina’s foster families. But the state—under pressure from an Obama-era HHS regulation—threatened to revoke its license because Miracle Hill partners with families who share their Christian mission and motivation.”

“Across the nation, more than 437,500 children are awaiting foster families. No government agency should make faith a barrier to caring for children in need.”