S.F. 236 Section 1. Section 237.10, Code 2025, is amended by adding 1 the following new subsection: 2 NEW SUBSECTION . 9A. a. The department shall not do any of 3 the following: 4 (1) Require an individual licensee to affirm, accept, 5 or support a policy related to sexual orientation or gender 6 identity that conflicts with the person’s sincerely held 7 religious or moral beliefs. 8 (2) Preclude a person from providing child foster care as an 9 individual licensee based, in whole or in part, on the person’s 10 sincerely held religious or moral beliefs related to sexual 11 orientation or gender identity, including but not limited to 12 the person’s intent to guide, instruct, or raise a child in a 13 manner consistent with the person’s sincerely held religious 14 or moral beliefs. 15 b. The department, and the department’s designees, shall not 16 adopt a standard, policy, or rule that precludes an individual 17 licensee from being considered as a child’s child foster care 18 provider based, in whole or in part, on the person’s sincerely 19 held religious or moral beliefs related to sexual orientation 20 or gender identity. 21 c. This subsection shall not be interpreted to preclude 22 the department, or the department’s designee, from taking 23 into account the sincerely held moral and religious beliefs, 24 including but not limited to the sincerely held moral and 25 religious beliefs related to sexual orientation and gender 26 identity, of a child and the child’s family of origin as 27 compared to the sincerely held moral and religious beliefs of a 28 potential child foster care provider when determining the most 29 appropriate placement for the child consistent with the best 30 interests of the child. 31 d. (1) A current or prospective child foster care provider 32 may bring an action asserting a violation of this subsection. 33 A court may provide the current or prospective child foster 34 care provider injunctive relief, declaratory relief, or other 35 -1- LSB 2019XS (5) 91 dg/ko 1/ 4

S.F. 236 relief as the court deems appropriate, and may award reasonable 1 attorney fees and costs. 2 (2) Notwithstanding chapter 17A, an action under this 3 paragraph may be commenced regardless of whether a current or 4 prospective child foster care provider exhausted all available 5 administrative remedies. 6 (3) The attorney general may bring an action to enforce this 7 subsection. 8 Sec. 2. Section 600.7A, Code 2025, is amended to read as 9 follows: 10 600.7A Adoption services provided by or through the 11 department —— selection of adoptive parent criteria. 12 1. The department shall adopt rules which provide that if 13 adoption services are provided by or through the department, 14 notwithstanding any other selection of adoptive parent 15 criteria, the overriding criterion shall be a preference for 16 placing a child in a stable home environment as expeditiously 17 as possible. 18 2. a. The department shall not do any of the following: 19 (1) Require a prospective adoptive parent to affirm, 20 accept, or support a policy related to sexual orientation or 21 gender identity that conflicts with the person’s sincerely held 22 religious or moral beliefs. 23 (2) Preclude a person from being qualified as a prospective 24 adoptive parent based, in whole or in part, on the person’s 25 sincerely held religious or moral beliefs related to sexual 26 orientation or gender identity, including but not limited to 27 the person’s intent to guide, instruct, or raise a child in a 28 manner consistent with the person’s sincerely held religious 29 or moral beliefs. 30 b. The department, and the department’s designees, shall 31 not adopt a standard, policy, or rule that precludes a person 32 from being considered as a child’s prospective adoptive parent 33 based, in whole or in part, on the person’s sincerely held 34 religious or moral beliefs related to sexual orientation or 35 -2- LSB 2019XS (5) 91 dg/ko 2/ 4

S.F. 236 gender identity. 1 c. This subsection shall not be interpreted to preclude 2 the department from taking into account the sincerely held 3 moral and religious beliefs, including sincerely held moral 4 and religious beliefs related to sexual orientation and gender 5 identity, of a child and the child’s family of origin as 6 compared to the sincerely held moral and religious beliefs 7 of a prospective adoptive parent when determining the most 8 appropriate placement for the child consistent with the best 9 interests of the child. 10 d. (1) A prospective adoptive parent may bring an action 11 asserting a violation of this subsection. A court may provide 12 a prospective adoptive parent injunctive relief, declaratory 13 relief, or other relief as the court deems appropriate, and may 14 award reasonable attorney fees and costs. 15 (2) Notwithstanding chapter 17A, an action under this 16 paragraph may be commenced regardless of whether a prospective 17 adoptive parent exhausted all available administrative 18 remedies. 19 (3) The attorney general may bring an action to enforce this 20 subsection. 21 EXPLANATION 22 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 23 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 24 This bill relates to certain sincerely held religious or 25 moral beliefs (beliefs) of child foster care providers and 26 prospective adoptive parents. 27 The bill prohibits the department of health and human 28 services (HHS) from requiring an individual licensee (foster 29 parent) to affirm, accept, or support a policy related to 30 sexual orientation (orientation) or gender identity (identity) 31 that conflicts with the foster parent’s beliefs, or precluding 32 a person from providing child foster care as a foster parent 33 based, in whole or in part, on the person’s beliefs related 34 to orientation or identity, including but not limited to the 35 -3- LSB 2019XS (5) 91 dg/ko 3/ 4

S.F. 236 foster parent’s intent to guide, instruct, or raise a child in 1 a manner consistent with the foster parent’s beliefs. 2 The bill prohibits HHS, and HHS’s designees, from adopting 3 a standard, policy, or rule that precludes a foster parent 4 from being considered as a child’s child foster care provider 5 based on the foster parent’s beliefs related to orientation or 6 identity. 7 The bill is not to be interpreted to preclude HHS or HHS’s 8 designee from taking into account the beliefs, including 9 beliefs related to orientation and identity, of a child and 10 the child’s family of origin as compared to the beliefs of a 11 potential child foster care provider when determining the most 12 appropriate placement for the child consistent with the best 13 interests of the child. 14 The bill allows a current or prospective child foster care 15 provider to bring an action asserting a violation of the bill. 16 A court may provide a plaintiff injunctive relief, declaratory 17 relief, or other relief as the court deems appropriate, and may 18 award reasonable attorney fees and costs. An action alleging a 19 violation of the bill may be commenced regardless of whether 20 the current or prospective child foster care provider exhausted 21 available administrative remedies. The attorney general may 22 bring an action to enforce the bill. 23 The bill contains provisions related to prospective adoptive 24 parents that are similar to the prohibitions and actionable 25 rights related to current and prospective child foster care 26 providers. 27 -4- LSB 2019XS (5) 91 dg/ko 4/ 4