Responding to news that the Department of Health and Human Services had granted a waiver to the State of South Carolina, permitting Miracle Hill Ministries to continue to provide foster care services within the parameters of their religious mission, Rabbi Yaakov Menken, Managing Director of the Coalition for Jewish Values, made the following statement:

“This is definitely a step in the right direction, and has an immediate benefit for Miracle Hill Ministries and children helped via its program. However, the waiver was granted only for the religious nondiscrimination component, and is limited to South Carolina as the only state to have made such a request. States less friendly to religious liberty could fail to make similar requests, and there are organizations whose religious beliefs require noncompliance with other elements of the new regulations beyond religious nondiscrimination. Thus we continue to request that the Department of Health and Human Services rescind the Obama-Era changes which have forced religious organizations out of foster care in several states, resulting in children stuck in group homes instead of being placed with loving families.”