The Heritage Foundation this month released an important and well-articulated document explaining why it’s essential to preserve the right of faith-based foster care agencies to operate in ways that do not violate their conscience. As the paper points out, government policies on these matters carry significant consequence for both principles of religious liberty…and for the future of 400,000 U.S. children in foster care.
“Adoption, Foster Care, and Conscience Protection” describes:
Foster care and adoption policy should put the best interests of children first. Public policy therefore should seek to increase the likelihood of adoption by removing barriers to families that are seeking to adopt and providers that are seeking to place children in need of a home. Achieving this goal requires a public policy that provides freedom to the diverse groups that serve the needs of children. Provided these agencies meet basic requirements protecting the welfare of children, they should be free to operate according to their values, especially their religiously informed beliefs about marriage.
Read the full paper, “Adoption, Foster Care, and Conscience Protection.”