Sneak Preview: HHS Agencies Revise Antidiscrimination Language
(The following was excerpted from a recent Thompson Grants Compliance Expert article.) Three agencies under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) — the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) — have now revised their federal fiscal year 2025 grant standard terms and conditions (T&Cs) with new language included in a recent HHS Grants Policy Statement update on antidiscrimination laws.
The agencies’ T&Cs previously had used civil rights assurance language included in an update to the Statement that became effective on April 16. That language stated that new awards issued on or after May 8 must comply with all federal antidiscrimination laws material to the government’s payment decisions for purposes of 31 U.S.C. §3729(b)(4). Along with defining federal antidiscrimination laws; discriminatory prohibited boycotts; diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI); diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA); and discriminatory equity ideology, the provision stated that by accepting the grant award, recipients were “certifying that: (i) they do not, and will not during the term of this financial assistance award, operate any programs that advance or promote DEI, DEIA or discriminatory equity ideology in violation of federal antidiscrimination laws; and (2) they will not engage in, and will not during the term of this award engage in, a discriminatory prohibited boycott.”
The provision went on to state that HHS “reserves the right to terminate financial assistance awards and claw back all funds if the recipients, during the term of this award, operate any program in violation of federal antidiscrimination laws or engages in prohibited boycott.”
Since then, Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a July 29 memorandum to all federal agencies and recipients of federal funding urging them to follow federal antidiscrimination law, emphasizing that the agency will consider programs supporting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) as discriminatory (see “DOJ Memo Defines Federal Stance On Unlawful Discrimination”). The July 29 memorandum clarifies how the federal government will apply antidiscrimination laws and provides nonbinding best practices. “Entities that receive federal financial assistance or that are otherwise subject to federal antidiscrimination laws, including educational institutions, state and local governments, and public and private employers, should review this guidance carefully to ensure all programs comply with their legal obligations,” DOJ explains in the memorandum.
Whether or not HHS is now alluding to this governmentwide policy, it has again revised the civil rights assurances provision in the Statement, effective July 24.
(The full version of this story has now been made available to all for a limited time here.)
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