A Matter of Principle

The bottom line is simple: An agency of the state absolutely cannot discriminate against an individual or couple because of sexual orientation when it pertains to foster care and adoption
proceedings. That is the gist of an Illinois law enacted in July 1st  of 2011, a law which for all intents and purposes has ended a forty year agreement between the state of Illinois and the
Catholic Charities of Illinois, a nonprofit branch of the church which provides foster care and adoption services for children of the state.

For over forty years, the Catholic Charities of Illinois’ southern branch served the Joliet, Peoria, Springfield and Belleville’s foster care and adoption needs. Strong in its religious virtues, the
charities have practiced strict guidelines when it comes to the type of individuals it allows to foster and adopt children in its care. For as long as anyone could remember, the charity simply
referred any non-married persons to different agencies whose guidelines on foster care and adoption were less stringent.

This was not a secret. It was considered “longstanding practice” There were no attempts to hide this practice, the charities are steadfast in their belief that children benefit from a married
mother/father structure as opposed to any other pairing or circumstance. Children found homes; prospective parents found the missing piece to their lives, all was well.

On July 1, 2011 Illinois signed into law the Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act, a law, which when enacted, made the referral system utilized by the Catholic Charities
discrimnatory and would in turn lead to a forfeiture of state funding. State funding in the amount of 30.6 million dollars.  

According to Peter Breen of, The Thomas More Society, the law firm representing the Catholic Charities pro bono, “The people of Illinois do not want to see Catholic Charities and other
religious-based foster care agencies driven out of business, period," Breen said in a statement. "Lawmakers intended when they passed the civil union law to protect religious groups from
compromising their beliefs regarding civil unions."

The referral process may seem like a harmless to the outside, but in reality the practice of sending suitable foster/adoptive parent candidates to other agencies can sour a prospective parent to
the process and ultimately the system and according to some accounts, ended the process for upwards of twenty-five percent of those sent away.

A nationwide shortage of foster/adoptive parents has put these caring potential parents at a premium.  The loss of even one prospect could have detrimental effects on the kids in care.  

With the high numbers of children in care and not nearly enough caregivers, the overage would have to be institutionalized in the form of group homes and the like.

The counter argument to all of this is these wanna –be parents weren’t thrown out into the street and told their services wouldn’t be required. They were merely asked to utilize a different
agency with the end result of unification going unchanged.

While seventy-five percent of those turned away did follow through with the entire process and hopefully provide a loving home for children in need.  Yet a loss of twenty five percent of
prospective parents leaves many children without a solution.

The debate over what makes a suitable family structure has raged on for decades. Is it the traditional married man and woman scenario that the Catholic Charities stand so firmly behind? Or is
the up and coming new belief that any caring, responsible individual is capable of providing for a child.

The mold for a successful parent has vastly changed in the time since Catholic Charities began providing their services. More and more, the interested candidate for foster and adoptive
parenting is an individual or couple that does not fall into the aforementioned category of straight and married. Today the parents are an eclectic group of gay and straight who want to provide
a better life for a child in need. Whether it was a gay individual or a same sex couple the response from Catholic Charities was consistently for forty years, “Try the agency down the street
please.”

A strong moral stand was indeed taken when civil unions began to become the norm. New civil union laws in New York, Hawaii, Delaware and Rhode Island have spiritually based agencies
shutting their doors and discontinued their services regarding foster care and adoption. Catholic Charities agencies in Boston and the District of Columbia moved on from these services.

What separates Catholic Charities from the cluster of those shutting their doors has been the brazen nature of the refusal to conform or adhere. The position of the Catholic Charities,
according to Tom Cisielka, spokesman for The Thomas More Society, has always been that it has been there for the state.  “It’s the greatest investment the state makes. For every dollar the
state spends on Catholic Charities they receive one dollar and twenty cents worth of services.”