Massachusetts will no longer ban Christian couples from becoming foster parents for refusing to treat children as members of the opposite sex.
The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families removed its policy requiring applicants to promote a child’s well-being by “supporting and respecting a child’s sexual orientation or gender identity,” according to a Friday state regulatory filing.
The language was replaced by “supporting and respecting a child’s individual identity and needs,” as shown in the document flagged Wednesday by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).
The policy redo came after the ADF filed a federal lawsuit Sept. 3 on behalf of two Christian couples providing foster care in Massachusetts, followed by an investigation by the federal Administration for Children and Families.
The department’s filing seeking the “emergency adoption” of an amendment to the state licensing requirements cited the federal pushback.
“Recently, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), DCF’s federal regulator, told DCF that, in its view, the current version of [state licensing standards] violates the constitutional rights of applicants,” said the document.
“DCF is promulgating this amendment on an emergency basis in order to preempt any potential escalation by ACF. These amendments address ACF’s concerns, while continuing to meet DCF’s need for foster homes that support the identity and needs of the children in its custody,” the department wrote.
Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse, ADF senior counsel, called the regulatory revision a “step in the right direction.”
“Massachusetts has told us that this new regulation will no longer exclude Christian and other religious families from foster care because of their commonly held beliefs that boys are boys and girls are girls,” he said in a Wednesday statement.
“Our clients — loving, caring foster families who have welcomed vulnerable children into their homes — as well as many other families affected by this policy, are eager to reapply for their licenses,” he said.
One of the couples, Nick and Audrey Jones, has been threatened with having their foster-care license revoked and their 17-month-old foster child removed from their care for refusing to agree to the policy.
The couple has cared for the girl since she was 2 months old.
The other couple, Greg and Marianelly Schrock, lost their foster-care license in June despite providing a home to 28 different foster children since 2019.
“This amendment is a step in the right direction and we commend Massachusetts officials for changing course,” said Mr. Widmalm-Delphonse. “But this case will not end until we are positive that Massachusetts is committed to respecting religious persons and ideological diversity among foster parents.”
Andrew Gradison, who heads the Administration for Children and Families, had urged DCF Commissioner Staverne Miller to reconsider the policy, calling it “deeply troubling” and a violation of the First Amendment’s protections on the free exercise of religion.
“When we begin to exclude loving families from adoption based on ideological, religious litmus tests, we do more than violate the First Amendment,” said Mr. Gradison in his Sept. 30 letter. “We betray the very ideals that have made our nation’s child protection system a beacon of hope for vulnerable children.”
The Washington Times has reached out to the Massachusetts department for comment.
Massachusetts has more than 6,500 children in its foster-care system, but only 5,100 licensed homes, the lawsuit said.
ADF spokesperson Hattie Troutman said the lawsuit against the state is ongoing but that attorneys have filed to suspend their previous request for a preliminary injunction.
