In McIntire v. Senn, ((WD WA, Sept. 29, 2026), a Washington federal district court refused to require Washington's Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) to issue plaintiff a foster care license even though the court found that plaintiff had plausibly alleged free speech and free exercise violations. The court found that DCYF had a neutral independent ground for denying the license-- the condition of plaintiff's home. However, the court extensively discussed plaintiff's 1st Amendment claim that requiring plaintiff as a foster care parent to support a child's religious and spiritual practices violates plaintiff's free speech and free exercise rights. The court said in part:
DCYF interprets the requirement to "support" and "affirm" a foster child's religious beliefs as limiting what McIntire may say about her own beliefs. This is a content-based restriction because it "applies to particular speech because of the topic discussed or the idea or message expressed."... It is also a viewpoint-based restriction....
... DCYF argues that the protection of a foster child's religious freedom is a compelling interest. It asserts that this minor restriction on speech is "narrowly tailored to protect foster children while allowing McIntire unbridled freedom to speak in every other context."...
Viewing the facts in McIntire's favor, the Court concludes that McIntire has plausibly alleged that DCYF unconstitutionally denied her application because she would not refrain from stating her religious beliefs were true. Whether DCYF can ultimately establish that the restriction satisfies strict scrutiny as applied presents a separate question that the Court need not resolve at this stage. This is especially true here, where WAC 110-148-1520 has since been amended to provide foster parents with a choice of whether to connect foster children with resources that support and affirm their needs or refrain from impeding DCYF's efforts in facilitating those resources....
DCYF's motion to dismiss McIntire's First Amendment free speech claim is DENIED.
McIntire also claims that DCYF violated her First Amendment right to free exercise when it denied her application because she "could not support a child's religion or spiritual practices" as required by WAC 110-148-1520(8). Dkt. 1-2 at 103.
DCYF moves to dismiss, asserting that the purpose of the regulation is not to infringe upon the religious practices of foster care applicants but rather to ensure that the religious rights of foster care children are protected....
McIntire acknowledges that, if a foster child asked her what she believed to be true, she would answer that she believes the Bible and that "her beliefs in God consistent with Christianity are true."... But she maintains that "she would respect the beliefs of others if different from hers and she would not refuse care based on differing beliefs."... She asserts that DCYF forced her to "choose between being a licensed foster parent or adhering to her Christian faith."...
Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to McIntire, the Court concludes that McIntire has plausibly alleged that WAC 110-148-1520(7) and (8) are not applied neutrally in practice. McIntire asserts:
If I had a child placed in my care who was part of another religion, I would support and happily transport them to/from their regular services in close proximity. If they are part of established youth groups or classes, I would support them with transport as well as any ‘at home’ work they wanted/needed to do. . . I also do not want to be forced to say that I approve of or condone a thing I don’t agree with....
Yet, in denying her application, DCYF focused not on what McIntire would do to support the child’s religion, but on what she would say about her own....
