HHS to Investigate Biden-Era Race-Based Grant Programs Flagged By Equal Protection Project
Getting the discrimination created under the Biden administration out of the system is like trying to get soap out of a sponge. No matter how much you squeeze, there always seems to be more. So we are going to keep squeezing.
The Equal Protection Project (EqualProtect.org) has challenged over 275 institutions regarding over 800 programs that discriminate in the name of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Most of our challenges have been filed against higher education and K-12 institutions.
A Complaint Letter EPP filed at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights in October 2025 was different from all the rest – it wasn’t a complaint so much as an alert to HHS that despite its efforts to rid the system of DEI-infused grant programs, we found three that still existed, all holdovers from the Biden administration:
Through a review of publicly available databases, we have identified three (3) HHS grant programs that require recipients to implement discriminatory selection criteria… Based on publicly available information, these programs appear to be active.
These practices violate the federal civil rights laws and constitutional guarantees of equal protection, including Title VI and the Fifth Amendment. Such practices also violate Executive Order 14173, which, among other directives, requires executive departments to eliminate racial and other unlawful preferences.
• Sec. 2 . Policy. It is the policy of the United States to protect the civil rights of all Americans and to promote individual initiative, excellence, and hard work. I therefore order all executive departments and agencies (agencies) to terminate all discriminatory and illegal preferences, mandates, policies, programs, activities, guidance, regulations, enforcement actions, consent orders, and requirements. I further order all agencies to enforce our longstanding civil-rights laws and to combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities.
• Sec. 4 . Encouraging the Private Sector to End Illegal DEI Discrimination and Preferences. (a) The heads of all agencies, with the assistance of the Attorney General, shall take all appropriate action with respect to the operations of their agencies to advance in the private sector the policy of individual initiative, excellence, and hard work identified in section 2 of this order.
We urge your office to take immediate action to bring these discriminatory programs into compliance with the law and administration policy.
We then list the three discriminatory grants in an attachment:
1. NBCCF MINORITY FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM FOR MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING (MFP-MHC)
Link: https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_H79SM090069_075
Archived Link: https://archive.is/wip/9nOMc
Recipient Name: NBCC Foundation Inc
Program Website: https://www.nbcc.org/advocacy/mfp [https://archive.is/wip/dPNCc]
Discriminatory Grant Description: “THE MFP-MHC WILL RECRUIT UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS AND PROMOTE SPECIALIZATION IN MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES TO UNDERSERVED MINORITY COMMUNITIES.”2. NBCCF MINORITY FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM FOR ADDICTIONS COUNSELING (MFP-AC)
Link: https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_H79SM090068_075
Archived Link: https://archive.ph/wip/qlmyy
Recipient Name: NBCC Foundation Inc
Program Website: https://www.nbcc.org/advocacy/mfp [https://archive.is/wip/dPNCc]
Discriminatory Grant Description: “THE MFP-AC WILL RECRUIT UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS AND WILL ENCOURAGE SPECIALIZATION IN ADDICTIONS/SUBSTANCE ABUSE SERVICES TO UNDERSERVED MINORITY COMMUNITIES.”3. COUNCIL ON SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION MINORITY FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
Link: https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_H79SM090071_075
Archived Link: https://archive.ph/wip/9LuHZ
Recipient Name: Council on Social Work Education
Program Website: https://www.cswe.org/centers-initiatives/minority-fellowship-program/mfp-doctoral-students/ [https://archive.is/wip/deltu]
Discriminatory Grant Description: “THE FELLOWSHIP TARGETS, BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO, SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS WHO ARE MEMBERS OF RACIAL AND ETHNICALLY DIVERSE COMMUNITIES INCLUDING AMERICAN INDIAN OR ALASKA NATIVE, ASIAN, BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN, HISPANIC/LATINO AND NATIVE HAWAIIAN/PACIFIC ISLANDER.”
On May 28, 2026, we received notice that HHS was opening a formal investigation, the first big step in an administrative civil rights complaint:
On October 16, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) received your complaint alleging that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has engaged in discriminatory grantmaking practices. Specifically, you allege three SAMHSA funded
fellowships require the use of race-based selection criteria.1 This allegation could constitute a violation of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act2 (Section 1557).3OCR is responsible for enforcing Section 1557 and other Federal civil rights laws. OCR has determined that this office has jurisdiction over your allegation pursuant to the regulation listed above. Section 1557 provides that an individual shall not be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination on the grounds prohibited under law, including race, color, and national origin. Section 1557, and its implementing regulations, applies to health programs and activities
administered by HHS. 4 Therefore, OCR will initiate an investigation.When OCR has reached a determination regarding your complaint, we will advise you of our findings . [Emphasis added]
The Washington Times, which covered the original filing, also covered this development:
The Department of Health and Human Services is investigating a complaint that three of its Biden-era healthcare training programs are illegally distributing federal grant money based on applicants’ skin color.
Cornell University law professor William Jacobson, who founded the Equal Protection Project to promote colorblind civil rights policies, filed the complaint in October.
It asks the agency to cancel three minority fellowships the Biden administration launched in September 2024 to steer $5.7 million toward training Black, Hispanic and Indigenous students as counselors and social workers.
The complaint noted that $2.77 million was already awarded, mostly during President Trump’s second term. The grants pay for racial minorities to complete mental health, addiction counseling and social work credentials.
The HHS Office of Civil Rights confirmed in a Thursday letter to Mr. Jacobson that it was probing the fellowships for illegally requiring grant recipients to meet “race-based selection criteria.” ….
Mr. Jacobson noted in an interview with The Times that Mr. Trump reversed two of former President Joseph R. Biden’s executive orders calling for such grants shortly after he returned to office in January 2025.
“Although HHS has weeded out most of the discriminatory grant programs they had, we found three holdovers from the Biden administration,” Mr. Jacobson said in a phone call. “We are asking HHS to live up to the law and President Trump’s executive orders.”
Mr. Jacobson said he has filed dozens of civil rights complaints with the federal government since launching the Equal Protection Project in 2023.
Several of his cases have proved successful — including a December 2023 complaint with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights that led the University of Arkansas to voluntarily end a Walmart corporate mentoring program open only to racial minorities.
It remains unclear how long the investigation into the three mental health grant programs will last. A source at Health and Human Services said the agency does not comment on active cases.
In my prior interview with The Washington Times when we originally filed, I summed up the problem:
“Getting the discrimination created under the Biden administration out of the system is like trying to get soap out of a sponge. No matter how much you squeeze, there always seems to be more…”
So we are going to keep squeezing.
Reminder: we are a small organization going up against powerful and wealthy government and private institutions devoted to DEI discrimination. Donations are greatly needed and appreciated.
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