As religious groups across the country open more maternity homes for pregnant women and teenagers, the nonprofit that oversees some of those homes in Florida is facing renewed criticism from state lawmakers over its practices.

Facilities it oversees have faced allegations of abuse, misconduct and restrictive practices for decades. In September, The New York Times and the investigative podcast Reveal reported that some of the maternity homes had imposed strict limits on residents’ communications and movements. One required residents to download a tracking app and lock their phones in a safe overnight.

Unlike homes that are licensed by the state, the association’s members are exempt from visits by state inspectors. Instead, the association performs its own inspections, holding its members to standards for hiring staff that government records show to be less rigorous than those used by the state.

The association also offers its own training. In one online course for new employees, an instructor described humiliating a teenager who had cheated on his homework by making him wear a sign that said, “I am a liar and a cheater.”

In recent interviews with The Times, four lawmakers expressed concern about some of the association’s lax standards. State Representative Vicki Lopez, a Republican from Miami, and State Representative Anna Eskamani, a Democrat from Orlando, called for the Legislature to examine them.

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