SAGE OPS UNCOVERS $330MM IN TAXPAYER SPENDING ON ORGANIZATIONS TRANSITIONING MINORS - WITHOUT PARENTAL CONSENT 
New York, NY - In a damning exposé, Sage Ops undercover journalists have engaged a hidden network of New York nonprofits working with state agencies to provide gender-affirming treatments — such as puberty blockers, hormone therapies, and surgeries — to minors without their parent's knowledge or consent. 

 Sage Ops' investigation reveals this shockingly diabolical system and tracks its funding—hundreds of millions of federal dollars—to the Department of Health and Human Services. 
 The Ali Forney Center, Care for the Homeless, and the Institute for Family Health are the key subjects of the investigation, operating within New York's 'safe haven' framework, which allows minors from across the country to consent to 'gender-affirming' care without parental involvement while protecting medical practitioners from prosecution in states where such treatments are illegal. As many as 16 states and counting currently have trans youth ‘safe haven' laws or executive orders in place in what can only be described as a battle for children and parental rights across America. NONPROfITS: THE HIDDEN GATEWAY At the heart of this operation is the Ali Forney Center, a New York City nonprofit organization that serves LGBTQ+ runaway and homeless youth. The center acts as the entry point, facilitating access to gender-affirming care for minors without ever contacting the parents. Nadia, a Health Services Coordinator at the center, explained how the organization prioritizes minors upon intake. 
"Minors generally will get placed into our housing sites quicker because we prioritize minors. Those housing sites are confidential locations that wouldn't be related to parents... the locations are private." 
Nadia insists that any information regarding the child's transition process is kept secret from the parents, allowing children as young as 16 to receive puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy on-site at the center's location. Once inside the center, Sage Ops' investigation reveals that the system minors are ushered through to access these life-altering treatments. 
 STATE AGENCIES: ENFORCERS OF NON-AFFIRMING PARENTS In cases of minors with non-affirming or "transphobic" parents, Ali Forney will advocate with state agencies like Child Protection Services to intervene so the child can receive 'gender-affirming' care against their parents' wishes. Maria Mendoza, a clinical social worker at the Office of Family and Children's Services (OFCS), corroborated the state's role in this process, emphasizing that even an anonymous complaint against the parents can trigger an investigation. "The first step would be to connect her with the CPS worker - Everything she's expressing—what she's feeling—that's what you report. They should be able to take that in… they'll [CPS] investigate it. She's 16, she can make her own choices." 
Mendoza's statements highlight how CPS intervenes in the family on behalf of the child, ensuring gender-affirming care will be administered. The situation raises profound questions about the overall welfare of children, the implications for family dynamics, and the evisceration of parental rights. MEDICAL PROVIDERS: ENSURING SURGERIES WITHOUT CONSENT The medical providers involved in this network play a crucial role in providing gender-affirming care for minors. Jonathan Ramos, Chief Program Officer at Care for the Homeless, which partners with Ali Forney and the Institute for Family Health, explained to Sage Ops' undercover journalist how these groups work together without parental involvement to provide a seamless transition for minors, billed through government insurance programs like Medicaid or CHIP. "We can start care without parental consent. There'll be an eligibility enroller, and since she’s under 18, she'll be eligible for Medicaid and CHIP [Children's Health Insurance Program]." 
Ramos's comments illuminate the medical side of the operation, which relies heavily on taxpayer-funded insurance programs, allowing minors to receive extensive treatments, including surgeries, while leaving the parents entirely in the dark. 
 TRANSITIONING CHILDREN ON THE TAXPAYER'S DIME Federal funding, primarily through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), both agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), sustains this network's financial underpinning. This flow of funds allows medical providers, including the Institute for Family Health (IFH), to operate without the constraints of traditional insurance systems, further enabling them to bypass the need for parental involvement. 
 Lindarey Gonzales, an Associate Regional Director at IFH, explained how this funding mechanism works, underscoring the role of government resources in facilitating care for minors without parental consent. 
"Since it's those types of services [gender-affirming], we don't have to inform the parents. We're an FQHC [Federally Qualified Health Center]; we're more government-funded than insurance-funded, whereas hospitals are more insurance-funded. We have other resources if [minors] don't want to use their parents' insurance." 
 As a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), medical institutions such as the Institute for Family Health (IFH) receive special access to government grants and enhanced Medicaid reimbursement rates. This system, heavily subsidized by federal tax dollars, ensures that gender-affirming care is available to minors without needing to notify their parents. FOLLOW THE MONEY 
Since 2020, this network of organizations has received over $180 million in grants from the Department of Health and Human Services (traced through HHS' publicly available grant tracking website) and $150 million in Medicaid reimbursements (documented in the organization's 990 reports). Most recent available data shows that in a single year, 2023, these organizations were funded to the tune of $69 million from HHS and have already been awarded close to 10 million in 2025. TRUMP, DOGE, AND ELON MUSK LURKING IN THE SHADOWS "I mean, every single gender-affirming care provider is worried—about the very rare chance that someone de-transitions and says, 'Hey, this was like the worst mistake of my life,'" said Oscar Kohut, a Strategy Development Manager at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, who voiced worries that shifts in political power under the Trump administration, including Elon Musk's leading role at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) could significantly damage the ‘affirming-care' industrial complex. 
"The biggest risk we could face is if the Trump administration decides to withhold the federal piece of Medicaid dollars if New York state uses state Medicaid dollars for gender-affirming care," adding, "Elon Musk hates trans people... so it could be bad." 
TRANSITIONING TO TRANSPARENCY Sage Ops' investigation has unmasked a dark system that enables minors to receive gender-affirming care while destroying parental rights in the 'safe haven' state of New York. Other states, California, Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Minnesota, Illinois, New Jersey, and Maine – to name a few – have similar laws and systems in place, as the battle for children and parental rights rages across America. 
 STAY TUNED Sage Ops is working to shine a light on another 'safe haven' shortly. You can support Sage Ops' undercover journalists at undercoverjournalism.com. Sage Ops is a not-for-profit charitable organization formed under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. All donations are tax-deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes to the extent allowed by law.