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A New Orleans social worker refuses to give up her fight to open a daycare center for special needs children after Louisiana rejected her request and the US Supreme Court refused to answer her earlier challenge. The dispute will now return to court in a new federal lawsuit filed on March 18.
Ursula Newell-Davis, a licensed social worker with over 25 years of experience, has dedicated 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 a lot of people don’t like to work with those people. They shy away from it,” Newell-Davis told Fox News Digital. “So I’m an advocate for those with special needs to get the services they need.”
“I think that’s my greatest strength,” he continued. “That’s what I’m strong at, connecting with my community.”
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Ursula Newell-Davis is renewing her legal battle against Louisiana over laws that prevent her from opening a respite care facility in her hometown of New Orleans. (Pacific Legal Foundation)
Newell-Davis wanted to open a respite care business that would provide parents of children with special needs a few hours of supervised care each week.
He said he wants to give caregivers a break while giving children a safe place to build life skills that will help them become independent.
“Most children with special needs, it is difficult for parents and grandparents to watch them because they need special care,” he said. “Most of the time, parents don’t want to leave their children with someone they don’t trust. My community followed me.”
But Louisiana health officials rejected his requests for 2020 and 2025, concluding that he had not demonstrated a “need” for a respite care business in his proposed service area, according to his filing with the legal team at the Pacific Legal Foundation.
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The Louisiana State Capitol is pictured on the shores of a small lake in downtown Baton Rouge. (Stock)
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 a license.
Newell-Davis argued that the standard has been implemented in a way that discourages new providers even when families are struggling to find care. He said that although the state says that there are too many institutions, many existing license holders were not providing the services that local families need.
“I put out a lot of money because this is something I’m passionate about, and I couldn’t believe I’d be denied,” Newell-Davis said, noting that she paid for office space, phone lines and computers while she waited for the decision. “I didn’t understand that I would be denied after knowing that most of the parents I talked to are on the waiting list for a whole year.”
In 2021, he 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 lawyers are now pressing a new challenge in Louisiana district court.
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Newell-Davis is suing the state health department over her right to open a daycare center. (Stock)
In the new lawsuit, they argue that FNR’s rules violate due process and Louisiana’s “Right to Earn a Living Act,” which mandates that state laws be limited to protecting public health and safety rather than protecting existing businesses from competition.
The new lawsuit also says the rules are unconstitutionally vague because they don’t 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 self-sufficiency without unreasonable and unreasonable government restrictions,” the Pacific Legal Foundation said of his case. “The state cannot simply deny some people an economic opportunity to protect existing businesses from new competitors like Ursula.”
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The Supreme Court appears on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Anastasia Boden said in previous hearings, the state’s main reason was “administrative convenience.”
Before the government “takes away your freedom,” “there has to be a good reason,” he told Fox News Digital. “It can’t do it automatically.”
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According to the petition, Newell-Davis’ second petition included more than 100 pages of supporting material, including affidavits from mothers of children with special needs explaining the lack of accessible care.
The application also revealed that at least one mother had to give up the right to raise a child because she was not getting the help her family needed.
“We want to open doors for all businessmen in the province and across the country to be able to help their communities, see the problem and take action and be the change that is needed right away without jumping through unnecessary hoops,” said Boden.
The suit seeks a declaratory and injunctive relief against the enforcement of FNR’s laws against Newell-Davis, as well as attorney’s fees and costs.
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The Louisiana Department of Health did not immediately return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
