Louisiana social worker fights state red tape blocking her from helping special needs kids

A New Orleans social worker is refusing to give up her fight to open a respite facility for children with special needs after Louisiana denied her application and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up her earlier challenge. The dispute is now headed back to court in a new state lawsuit filed March 18.

Ursula Newell-Davis, a licensed social worker with more than 25 years of experience, has devoted her career to helping children in the "trenches" of her community. As the mother of a 20-year-old son with autism, she knows firsthand the isolation families face.

"I know that a lot of people do not like to work with that population. They're kind of shied away from," Newell-Davis told Fox News Digital. "So I'm an advocate for those with special needs in order to get the needed services."

"I think that's my superpower," she continued. "That's what I'm strong at, is connecting with my community."

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Newell-Davis sought to open a respite care business that would give parents of children with special needs a few hours of supervised care each week. 

She said she wanted to give caregivers a break while also providing children a safe place to build life skills that could help them live more independently.

"Most kids with special needs, it's hard for parents and grandparents to watch them because they require special care," she said. "Oftentimes, parents are not open to leaving their children with someone that they do not trust. My community rallied behind me."

But Louisiana health officials denied her applications in 2020 and again in 2025, concluding she had not demonstrated a "need" for an additional respite care business in her proposed service area, according to her petition and legal team at Pacific Legal Foundation.

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Under the state's Facility Need Review (FNR) process, certain providers must first convince the state that a new service is needed before they can move forward with licensure.

Newell-Davis argued that the standard has been applied in a way that blocks new providers even when families are struggling to find care. She said that while the state claimed there were already too many agencies, many existing license holders were not actually providing the kind of respite services local families needed.

"I dished out a lot of money because this is something I felt passionate about, and I did not believe I would be denied," Newell-Davis said, noting she paid for office space, phone lines and computers for years while waiting for a decision. "I couldn't fathom that I would be denied after knowing that most parents that I spoke with they're on the wait list for a year."

In 2021, she filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit challenging the law under the 14th Amendment. After the Supreme Court declined to hear that case in 2023, Newell-Davis and her attorneys are now pressing a new challenge in Louisiana state court.

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In the new lawsuit, they argue that the FNR rules violate due process and Louisiana's "Right to Earn a Living Act," which mandates state regulations be limited to protecting public health and safety instead of shielding existing businesses from competition.

The new suit also argues the rules are unconstitutionally vague because they do not clearly define what counts as "need," giving state officials broad discretion to approve or deny applicants without clear standards.

"The Constitution protects the right to earn a living free of irrational and arbitrary government restrictions," Pacific Legal Foundation says of her case. "The state cannot simply deny some people economic opportunity in order to insulate incumbent businesses from new competitors like Ursula."

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Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Anastasia Boden said that in previous court proceedings, the state's primary justification was "administrative convenience."

Before the government "takes away your liberty," it "has to have a good reason," she told Fox News Digital. "It can't just act arbitrarily."

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According to the petition, Newell-Davis’ second application included more than 100 pages of supporting material, including sworn declarations from mothers of children with special needs describing the shortage of accessible respite care. 

The filing also alleges that at least one mother ultimately had to relinquish custody of a child because she could not obtain the help her family needed.

"We want to open up the doors for all entrepreneurs in the state and across the country to be able to help their own communities, to see a problem and to step up and act and to be the change that's needed right there without jumping through unnecessary hoops," Boden added.

The lawsuit seeks declaratory and injunctive relief blocking enforcement of the FNR rules against Newell-Davis, as well as attorney fees and costs. 

The Louisiana Department of Health did not immediately return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.