Faith-Based Rule at DHS

In March 2024, DHS and eight other federal organizations published a joint final rule entitled “Partnerships with Faith-Based and Neighborhood Organizations,” with the goal of expanding the availability of social services to America’s communities, including historically underserved and marginalized communities. This regulation, also known as the “Faith-Based Rule,” imposes certain non-discrimination requirements in order to achieve this goal while protecting religious freedom and equity. 

An important requirement of the Faith-Based Rule is organizations that receive DHS financial assistance to provide social services, must provide notice to individuals who participate in these services of their right to be free from religious discrimination. The notice provided by the DHS funded organization must state the following: 

• The organization may not engage in discrimination based on religion, religious belief, or lack thereof. 
• The organization may not require participation or attendance in any religious activity (any participation in such activities must be purely voluntary). 
• All programs and services offered by the organization supported by DHS financial assistance must be separated in time and space from any privately funded religious activities. 

The required notice is available, below, in 10 languages.