A Missouri nonprofit that operates a Christian boarding school is suing the Missouri Department of Social Services to keep it from enforcing mandated background checks of its staff members.
CNS International Ministries, also known as Heartland, filed the lawsuit in federal court last month over the implementation of government oversight over the state’s boarding schools for the first time.
The schools offer drug and alcohol recovery programs for children and adults and had operated under the radar for decades, however they must now notify the state of their existence because of a new law.
The suit alleges that the background checks that the Missouri Department of Social Services proposed into law are “invasive” and assumes to tell the organization the eligibility of an employee at Heartland.
“This is something which is breathtakingly overbroad in terms of the types of regulations they are trying to impose,” said David Melton, general counsel for CNS International Ministries.
"The Free Exercise and the Establishment Clauses together vest in churches and other religious organizations the autonomy to order their own affairs, to decide for themselves, free from governmental interference, matters of ecclesiastical government, doctrine, the communication of that doctrine and the internal administration of their institution," the suit says.
Melton said that the system was already set up to catch people who abused children.
“First of all anybody that is taking care of the children is a mandated reporter, so there are criminal penalties that apply besides the obvious ones which is if someone abuses a child they can be held liable both criminally and civilly,” he said. “If you take a look at the existing code before the enacting of this legislation — physicians, law enforcement officers, juveniles officers could all remove the child in an emergency situation.
“The expansion, now under this new law, is basically to permit the division of social services people broader access, but they always had the ability to run safety checks. In other words, they have the ability if a facility for example were resisting, they could enlist local law enforcement or juvenile officials to go in and do a safety check on a child, but that is not what we are talking about under this legislation.”