Louisiana blocked a licensed social worker from helping disabled kids because her business wasn't 'needed.' So she hired them instead

For more than 25 years, Ursula Newell-Davis has helped children with special needs and their families in New Orleans. But when she tried to open a respite care center of her own, Louisiana repeatedly denied her application—not because she lacked experience, but because officials decided her business wasn't "needed." A report by FOX News Digital documented how Newell-Davis fought back after the state blocked her from opening the business, while John Stossel's June 2026 report explored how she found another way to keep serving her community. 

Forbidden, but not defeated

Rather than giving up after years of legal setbacks, Newell-Davis and her husband purchased Chubbie's Fried Chicken, a longtime neighborhood restaurant in New Orleans. Unable to open the respite care business she envisioned, she instead turned the restaurant into another way of serving the community. There, she now hires teenagers and young adults with special needs, teaching them workplace and social skills while creating a supportive environment for families — work she had originally hoped to do through her respite care business: Sivad Home and Community Services.

Children with special needs often require constant supervision and specialized care, leaving many parents and caregivers with little time to rest or manage everyday responsibilities. That's why Newell-Davis wanted to open a respite care business that would provide short-term support for families.

A dream denied

Dramatically enough, some states, including Louisiana, require new entrepreneurs to prove that their business is needed in the area, according to the department’s Facility Need Review (FNR). In Newell-Davis’s case, the health officials argued that the area already had too many respite services and her business wasn’t required. First in 2020, and then in 2025, her request was repeatedly denied. With support from Pacific Legal Foundation, Newell-Davis claimed that though there are similar businesses, they aren’t providing sufficient services to kids with special needs.

'Stop me from doing what I love?'

Being a mother of a 20-year-old son with autism only strengthened her commitment to start the respite care business. The business won’t only provide a safe space for the kids to meet their needs, but also give the caregivers a much-needed break. The state, however, demanded that Newell-Davis first prove that her business was needed before it could get a license. "Why does the state of Louisiana have the right to stop me from doing what I love?" the social worker grunted in a video on Stossel TV. She said it’s her superpower that she’s an advocate for those with special needs. And this superpower is constantly being suppressed by the state for reasons that seem vague and unjustified.

Illogical laws 

"I couldn't fathom that I would be denied after knowing that most parents that I spoke with were on the wait list for a year," she lamented. In 2021, she filed a federal civil rights lawsuit, which was declined in 2023. On March 18, 2026, she filed a new lawsuit, documenting hundreds of pages with declarations from parents of children with special needs, describing that her business was, in fact, needed. Newell-Davis argues that the shortage of respite care is far more severe than Louisiana acknowledges. According to court filings, the state's own expert found that more than 80% of licensed respite providers in New Orleans were either not accepting new clients or could not be reached, leaving parents almost twice as likely to be unable to contact a provider as to successfully reach one.

The petition also includes testimony from four mothers who described struggling to find care, with one saying the lack of respite services cost her both her job and home, while another said it forced her to halt adoption proceedings for a child with severe behavioral needs. John Stossel of Stossel TV reflected that if Newell-Davis’ business is not needed, then what can be the possible explanation for whether or not the city needs a McDonald's or a local phone booth? Foundation’s attorney Anastasia Boden remarked that before the government takes away the liberty, it has to have a good reason for that. “It can’t just act arbitrarily,” she told FOX News Digital.

Futility of government 

Viewers were enraged at what Newell-Davis had to go through at the hands of the state. @HeadBroski commented, “Maybe Louisiana bureaucrats should prove that they are needed.” @cacowninja said, “It's dehumanizing to stop people from helping people, including disabled people.” Although Chubbie's has allowed Newell-Davis to continue supporting young people with special needs, she says she hasn't given up on Sivad. She continues challenging Louisiana's licensing system in hopes of one day opening the respite care business she originally envisioned.

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