Litigation Update: Rogers v. HHS & Maddonna v. HHS

Miracle Hill Ministries is one of nearly two dozen private entities with which the state of South Carolina contracts to help serve the thousands of children in its foster care system. Miracle Hill has been operating for over 80 years and, as a faith-based ministry, it chooses to partner only with potential foster parents who affirm its doctrinal statement—a choice that, under regulations issued at the end of the Obama administration, would have precluded it from receiving federal funds that otherwise are available to private foster care entities. In 2019, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster learned of the situation and worked with the federal Department of Health and Human Services to obtain a waiver that allowed Miracle Hill to continue its foster care service in a way that was consistent with its religious commitments. That waiver was rescinded in 2023 by the Biden administration. Two recent cases, both of which were filed while the 2019 waiver was in place, challenged the constitutionality of the waiver and, more broadly, challenged the constitutionality of the State’s licensure of and contracting with Miracle Hill, alleging it constituted an unlawful establishment of religion and allowed publicly funded discrimination on the basis of religion. One of the cases (Rogers v. HHS et al.) was brought by a same-sex couple who identified as members of the Unitarian Universalist Church. The other case (Maddonna v. HHS et al.) was brought by a prospective foster mother who claimed to be Roman Catholic but who argued she could not affirm Miracle Hill’s Christian doctrinal statement. In both cases, the plaintiffs contended Miracle Hill should be ineligible to receive the government funding traditionally provided by HHS and the State of South Carolina to licensed private foster-care agencies. Summary judgment in favor of the defendants was granted in both Rogers v. HHS and Maddonna v. HHS earlier this year. Join us as litigating attorney Miles Coleman, who represented Governor Henry McMaster and the Director of the S.C. Dept. of Social Services, provides a litigation update on these two cases concerning child welfare, a religious non-profit foster care ministry, and religion in the public square. Featuring: Miles Coleman, Partner, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP (Moderator) Daniel Blomberg, Vice President and Senior Counsel, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty