A rule implemented during the Biden administration, requiring prospective foster homes to prove they will support a child’s gender transition, or lesbian, gay or bisexual status, in order to retain federal funding, has been formally rescinded by the Trump administration Friday.
A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) was published in the federal register Friday morning to formally rescind the 2022 rule titled, “Designated Placement Requirements Under Titles IV-E and IV-B for LGBTQI+ Children,” which a court in Texas already vacated in June.
The move follows a warning letter sent to all 50 states, telling them that as long as they receive federal child welfare funding, they are obligated to ensure the removal of any kid from their home must be grounded in “objective evidence of harm or imminent risk,” citing reports of states removing children from their parent’s homes because the parents disagreed with their children’s gender transition.
Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families Alex Adams told Fox News Digital that there has been a record year-over-year decrease in the number of foster families nationally. He said that the Biden-era rule is a main issue for religious-oriented families, boxing them out of the foster care system.
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NEW YORK AG ORDERS MANHATTAN HOSPITAL TO RESUME GENDER-TRANSITION TREATMENT FOR TRANSGENDER YOUTH
President Donald Trump’s administration took a pair of actions this week to ensure parents and kids are not being impacted by LGBTQ activism by the foster care industry.(Getty Images)
“There’s 57 homes for every 100 kids that come into the system. We can do better, and we must do better, and we must do more to send a welcoming message that the red carpet will be rolled out to every family willing to step forward and welcome a child into their home and open their heart and open their home to these kids,” Adams said. “Your most likely families to raise their hand and volunteer as a foster family are those who have sincerely held religious convictions. 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. We need more foster homes.”
By rescinding the move in the federal register, that “officially” takes it off the books, “so that nobody tries to breathe life into it,” according to Adams.
The final move to squash the 2022 rule, follows pressure the Trump administration had already been placing on states. At the end of last year, ACF sent a letter to 13 states, expressing concern about families being turned away from fostering because they refuse to give up their sincerely held religious beliefs. At least one of those states, Massachusetts, amended their policy amid the scrutiny.
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It also follows a November 2025 executive order telling the Health and Human Services Department to “modernize” the foster care system within 180 days, maximize partnerships with Americans of faith, and a litany of other measures. Trump also issued early executive orders during his presidency challenging left-wing gender ideology and pushing a return to “biological truth.”
President Trump took on transgender activism early in his second term, including through Executive Order 14187, which prohibits sex-change surgeries for anyone under the age of 19.(Getty Images)
SUPREME COURT RULING ON SECRETIVE CALIFORNIA GENDER POLICY COULD RESHAPE PARENT RIGHTS FIGHTS NATIONWIDE
Public reports, including one as recently as this year, illustrate examples of kids being taken from their homes in states like California and Ohio, because their parents have been accused of abuse, or of denying appropriate medical care to their kids. These claims have also been brought up in divorce and family custody hearings as well, sometimes resulting in the parents losing custody.
Meanwhile, Trump highlighted the issue during his State of the Union address last month, when he told the story of the parents to Sage Blair, who a judge ripped from their custody over alleged abuse after the family did not immediately recognize their daughter as a boy.
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Sage Blair and her mother, Michelle Blair, stand in the gallery during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address after he highlighted her case involving alleged school gender transition policies.(Pool)
Earlier in the week, Adams and ACF told states that while they have a duty to protect children from abuse and neglect, they are cracking down on any states conflating that with a parent’s choice about how they parent their child who expresses a desire to transition genders, or a desire to be romantically involved with the same sex. While related to Fridays NPR, it is a separate action.
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“We’re basically putting states on notice that if they violate our interpretation of abuse or neglect, we would take appropriate action, which could include pulling back CAPTA funds,” Adams told Fox News Digital.
Hawaii island police have arrested and charged 42-year-old Kawika Benny Kahee of Pahoa with firearm offenses stemming from an incident Sunday near Kehau and Mauna Kea roads in the Nanawale Estates subdivision.
At 7:34 a.m., Puna patrol officers conducting area checks on a subdivision road came upon two vehicles, including a white Toyota pickup truck with Kahee standing outside it. Kahee was placed under arrest on two outstanding bench warrants.
The other vehicle was occupied by a woman. Officers determined she had no outstanding warrants and saw no violations.
While placing Kahee under arrest, officers observed a black semiautomatic pistol on the front passenger seat of the pickup truck. Kahee was subsequently arrested on suspicion of a firearm offense. The vehicle was recovered as evidence and towed to the Hilo Police Station pending execution of a search warrant.
The investigation was continued by detectives with the East Hawaii Criminal Investigation Section.
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Upon executing a search warrant on the pickup truck, detectives recovered an unloaded semiautomatic 9mm pistol with no serial number, commonly referred to as a ghost gun. Detectives also determined that Kahee is prohibited from owning or possessing firearms due to a prior felony conviction involving violence, according to police.
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On Monday, Kahee was charged with possessing a prohibited weapon, illegally carrying a handgun and being a felon in possession of a handgun. His bail was set at $120,000. Kahee was also charged on two outstanding bench warrants with bail totaling $15,000.
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Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact Detective Joseph Picadura at 808-961-2375 or Joseph.Picadura@hawaiipolice.gov.
LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A 4-year-old Las Vegas boy is battling Niemann-Pick Type C, a fatal disease affecting just 4 children in Nevada. His family is fighting insurance barriers, traveling cross-country for care.
Jordan and Jennifer Mitchell’s home is filled with love. Their son Liam, just 4 and a half years old, is doing what kids his age do — giggling and playing. But inside his body, a race against time is underway.
VIDEO: Abel Garcia talks to the Mitchell Family about their fight for their son and rare disease
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Southern Nevada family fights rare ‘childhood Alzheimer’s’ disease while pushing for a cure
Liam is one of just four children in Nevada diagnosed with Niemann-Pick Type C, a rare neurodegenerative condition often called “childhood Alzheimer’s.” The disease slowly takes away a child’s ability to walk, talk and even swallow, and it is always fatal. Without treatment, children with Liam’s form of NPC may not live past age 5.
“When he was born, he had a lot of complications right from birth… and that helped us get to a diagnosis — as terrible as it is, we found out early,” Jordan Mitchell said.
The family says they have seen progress through a careful regimen of medications and spinal injections. But keeping Liam stable comes at an extraordinary cost — between $1.3 million and $3.1 million a year — and the Mitchells say they have already faced pushback from their insurance provider.
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“Knowing that these medications do work… but if the insurance says they’re too expensive, that’s it — that’s not easy to live with,” Jennifer Mitchell said.
When I asked the Mitchells about access to healthcare in Southern Nevada, Jordan was direct.
“The healthcare in the valley is not good for preventative or trying to treat these long-term problems,” Jordan Mitchell said. “They ultimately said we couldn’t figure it out… and ultimately we had to go out of state to get him treated.”
Because Liam cannot fly due to his compromised immune system, the family makes cross-country drives to access treatment and research.
“We don’t fly… we’ve done eight or ten drives to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, and now to the test sites in Chicago once a year,” Jennifer Mitchell said.
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Now, the family says hope is coming from a groundbreaking gene therapy study led by University of Iowa researcher Dr. Mark Schultz, which is showing promising results.
“We were able to prove that a gene therapy can cure Niemann-Pick Type C… we’ve funded a mouse liver study and we’re in the process of publishing that work,” Jordan Mitchell said.
To help fund that research, the Mitchells created a nonprofit — the Life for Liam and Friends Foundation — and host annual fundraisers in Southern Nevada.
“Don’t give up hope. If you aren’t trying, there’s no chance you’re going to get help… I am hopeful Nevada can improve healthcare so anyone can find the treatment they need,” Mitchell said.
The Mitchells say they will keep pushing, keep driving and keep loving their son for as long as they can.
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Because families like the Mitchells have struggled to find specialized care here, I reached out to find out what else is being done. A spokesperson with Intermountain Health told me their first stand-alone children’s hospital planned for Southern Nevada will include neurology, with specialists on staff, when the hospital opens in 2030.
Meanwhile, 66 members of the Class of 2028 at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV received their white coats, marking their official transition from classroom studies to direct, hands-on patient care — a milestone that represents continued investment in building the next generation of doctors here in Southern Nevada.
If there’s something you’d like me to look into, email me at abel.garcia@ktnv.com.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
