As a pro-family Christian ministry, Focus on the Family has always promoted adoption and foster care for families. In fact, since 2008, our Wait No More™ ministry has supported foster and adoptive families through conferences, events, free resources, and more.
We want to encourage Christian families in their calling to foster, adopt, or support other foster and adoptive families. There are currently almost 400,000 children in the foster care system in the US, more than 100,000 of whom are eligible for adoption. Many states don’t have enough foster families as it is, so the need is great. And most importantly, we believe the call to foster or adopt is God-given: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27). A high percentage of foster and adoptive families, as well as foster and adoption agencies, are faith-based.
Unfortunately, however, the landscape of adoption and foster care has changed dramatically in recent years. Many states, primarily those with liberal and progressive governments, are now discriminating against Christian families in the foster care system. In addition, a national rule put in place by the Biden administration in April of 2024 is similarly weighted against Christian parents and foster care agencies.
The crux of the discrimination is this: under these “progressive” rules, the government requires both potential and current foster parents to affirm a child’s sexual confusion and abide by whatever related wishes that child expresses. In practical terms, this means that foster parents are required to use a child’s preferred pronouns even when they don’t match that child’s biological sex. Or take them to a “gay pride” parade. And in some cases, foster parents may be required to facilitate a gender-confused child undergoing dangerous, life-altering medical procedures. Lawsuits have been filed in many states on behalf of Christian foster parents attempting to combat this discrimination, but the political landscape in many liberal states makes this an uphill battle.
Needless to say, this state of affairs is tragic on many levels. Many states and foster care/adoption agencies have become so immersed in LGBT ideology that they are placing that ideology above the welfare of children. Specifically, they seek to prevent these vulnerable kids from receiving guidance and nurture within a loving Christian foster home.
Because committed Christians are much more willing to serve as foster parents and thus make up an oversized portion of the foster parenting community, this governmental discrimination will inevitably create a deeper crisis in terms of finding suitable foster homes. Additionally, current foster parents in these liberal states are at risk of having these children under their care taken away from them if they won’t align with LGBT ideology. This potentially places them in a terrible moral dilemma in which they must either sacrifice their biblical convictions or surrender these children to the state.
When all is said and done, those who will suffer most as a result of these discriminatory policies are the children themselves:
Sadly, for those posed with this dilemma of compliance with governmental rules vs. faithfulness to biblical convictions, we must regretfully recommend that they opt out of the foster care system, at least until such a time as common sense prevails and discriminatory and restrictive state and federal rules are overturned. As believers, we simply cannot deny biblical truth or abandon our convictions, no matter how worthy the cause. And we must not allow the government to force us to direct the children under our care along a path that will ultimately harm them.
Foster care is noble and needed. If you feel called to serve as a foster parent and you live in a state that remains amenable to Christian engagement in the system, we encourage you to pursue that calling! If you live in a hostile state and yet still feel called, we encourage you to consider relocating, if possible, to a state more supportive of Christian involvement, or to explore other ways you can invest in the welfare of vulnerable children. Please pray for this situation and for godly government leaders who will put the welfare of children in foster care ahead of harmful social fads and anti-Christian ideology.
The post When Government is Hostile to Christian Foster Parents appeared first on Focus on the Family.
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We want to encourage Christian families in their calling to foster, adopt, or support other foster and adoptive families. There are currently almost 400,000 children in the foster care system in the US, more than 100,000 of whom are eligible for adoption. Many states don’t have enough foster families as it is, so the need is great. And most importantly, we believe the call to foster or adopt is God-given: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27). A high percentage of foster and adoptive families, as well as foster and adoption agencies, are faith-based.
Unfortunately, however, the landscape of adoption and foster care has changed dramatically in recent years. Many states, primarily those with liberal and progressive governments, are now discriminating against Christian families in the foster care system. In addition, a national rule put in place by the Biden administration in April of 2024 is similarly weighted against Christian parents and foster care agencies.
The crux of the discrimination is this: under these “progressive” rules, the government requires both potential and current foster parents to affirm a child’s sexual confusion and abide by whatever related wishes that child expresses. In practical terms, this means that foster parents are required to use a child’s preferred pronouns even when they don’t match that child’s biological sex. Or take them to a “gay pride” parade. And in some cases, foster parents may be required to facilitate a gender-confused child undergoing dangerous, life-altering medical procedures. Lawsuits have been filed in many states on behalf of Christian foster parents attempting to combat this discrimination, but the political landscape in many liberal states makes this an uphill battle.
Needless to say, this state of affairs is tragic on many levels. Many states and foster care/adoption agencies have become so immersed in LGBT ideology that they are placing that ideology above the welfare of children. Specifically, they seek to prevent these vulnerable kids from receiving guidance and nurture within a loving Christian foster home.
Because committed Christians are much more willing to serve as foster parents and thus make up an oversized portion of the foster parenting community, this governmental discrimination will inevitably create a deeper crisis in terms of finding suitable foster homes. Additionally, current foster parents in these liberal states are at risk of having these children under their care taken away from them if they won’t align with LGBT ideology. This potentially places them in a terrible moral dilemma in which they must either sacrifice their biblical convictions or surrender these children to the state.
When all is said and done, those who will suffer most as a result of these discriminatory policies are the children themselves:
- those who can no longer be placed in a foster home due to lack of “state- approved” foster parents.
- those in stable foster homes who may be removed by the government.
- those who are denied access to loving, supportive Christian homes.
Sadly, for those posed with this dilemma of compliance with governmental rules vs. faithfulness to biblical convictions, we must regretfully recommend that they opt out of the foster care system, at least until such a time as common sense prevails and discriminatory and restrictive state and federal rules are overturned. As believers, we simply cannot deny biblical truth or abandon our convictions, no matter how worthy the cause. And we must not allow the government to force us to direct the children under our care along a path that will ultimately harm them.
Foster care is noble and needed. If you feel called to serve as a foster parent and you live in a state that remains amenable to Christian engagement in the system, we encourage you to pursue that calling! If you live in a hostile state and yet still feel called, we encourage you to consider relocating, if possible, to a state more supportive of Christian involvement, or to explore other ways you can invest in the welfare of vulnerable children. Please pray for this situation and for godly government leaders who will put the welfare of children in foster care ahead of harmful social fads and anti-Christian ideology.
The post When Government is Hostile to Christian Foster Parents appeared first on Focus on the Family.
Continue reading...