9th Circuit restores funding to Oregon youth ministry as ADF case continues

PORTLAND, Ore. – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit granted a request Thursday from an Oregon ministry to allow it to receive critical state program funding to help serve at-risk youth as its lawsuit against state officials continues. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys are representing Youth 71Five Ministries in the case, which challenges the denial of previously approved funds simply because the group asks employees and volunteers to sign a statement of faith. ADF attorneys filed the lawsuit in March and filed a notice of appeal with the 9th Circuit in July after a lower court dismissed the case.

From 2017 to 2023, 71Five Ministries applied for—and was granted—funds from Oregon’s biennial Youth Community Investment Grants program. When it applied for the next cycle, the ministry was first approved and then denied funding due to a new rule that requires that applicants “do not discriminate” based on religion “in [their] employment practices.” The 9th Circuit order, which is effective immediately, allows 71Five Ministries to receive the previously denied funding and to be reimbursed for eligible costs and expenses.

“71Five provides vital support and care to anyone who needs it, but Oregon officials are punishing it because it’s a Christian ministry that reasonably asks volunteers and staff to agree to Christian beliefs,” said ADF Senior Counsel Jeremiah Galus. “By stripping 71Five of its funding, Oregon put religious ministries to an impossible choice: hire those who reject your beliefs to receive funding that everyone else can access or go without the funding. This is a critical first step toward restoring the ministry’s constitutionally protected freedoms.”

“Under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, the government must treat secular and religious groups equally,” the 9th Circuit wrote in its opinion in Youth 71Five Ministries v. Williams. “But Oregon has not applied its non-discrimination policy neutrally, as it continues to fund secular organizations that favor certain groups based on race and gender identification in violation of the same non-discrimination policy that Oregon relied on in denying funding to 71Five.”

71Five Ministries welcomes everyone to participate in its programs, and it serves young people in Oregon of all faiths and backgrounds, including at-risk youth, young people in detention centers and correctional facilities, and expectant and parenting teens. The ministry’s mission statement says it “exists to share God’s Story of Hope with young people through trusting relationships in any relevant way.” It achieves its goal through employees and volunteers who share its mission and beliefs, as outlined by its statement of faith.

In 2021, 71Five had the top-rated application for the Youth Violence and Gang Prevention grant. After applying for several grants during the 2023-2025 grant cycle, the state first accepted the applications, and 71Five was set to receive more than $400,000 in grant funding. But three months later, a state official contacted the ministry’s executive director and informed him the ministry had been disqualified because of the statement of faith that employees and volunteers sign.

• Pronunciation guide: Pronunciation guide: Galus (GAL’-us)

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.

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