EXCLUSIVE: Civil Rights Group Urges HHS To Audit Hundreds Of Potentially Discriminatory Grants

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is still funding hundreds of potentially discriminatory grants, a civil rights group warned in a letter obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. More than 700…

Katelynn RichardsonJul 4, 20253 min read

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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is still funding hundreds of potentially discriminatory grants, a civil rights group warned in a letter obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

More than 700 active grants listed in public databases reference improving minority outcomes or serving minority communities, the Equal Protection Project (EPP) wrote in a June 24 letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

“While such goals may be laudable, such aspirations cannot be permitted to turn into civil rights violations when implemented,” the letter states.

EPP Founder William Jacobson said the HHS “must not allow its grantees to engage in civil rights violations.”

“We call for an audit and administrative action for any institution found to have exploited HHS grants for discriminatory purposes,” Jacobson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “When discrimination in eligibility takes place with regard to medical related programs, it does damage not just to the people who are excluded, but also to the healthcare system.”

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Equal Protection Project Letter To HHS Secretary RFK Jr by Katelynn Richardson

One grant, which the EPP challenged in a June 24 complaint filed with the HHS Office for Civil Rights, funds the REACH Minority Fellowship.

The one-year training program, administered by the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP) and Yale School of Medicine, requires applicants to be “from racial/ethnic minoritized population (i.e., Black, African, or African American, non Caucasian Hispanic or Latinx, American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander),” according to the complaint. REACH Program participants receive up to $104,000 in funding for their fellowship position, according to the program brochure.

“While the grant terms do not restrict eligibility to minority applicants, AAAP and Yale impose such a requirement, thereby using federal funds for discriminatory criteria,” EPP’s letter states. “It is reasonable to assume that the title of the grant program (“Minority Fellowship Program”) encouraged such discrimination even if by its terms the grant did not impose such an unlawful requirement.”

“In light of the AAAP-Yale program, we respectfully urge HHS to conduct a comprehensive review of such grants to ensure that the goal of serving ‘minority’ communities is conducted in compliance with the civil rights laws,” the letter continues.

The HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Featured Image Media Credit: YouTube/Screenshot/RFK JR.)

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