After ACLU lawsuit, Bethany Christian Services shifts foster care placement policy to comply with Michigan’s new requirements.
Bethany Christian Services, the largest Christian adoption and foster agency in the United States, will begin placing foster children with same-sex couples for the first time after a legal battle in its home state of Michigan.
When Michigan’s attorney general declared this month that foster agencies contracting with the government can no longer decline to work with LGBT families, Bethany opted to change its longstanding policy rather than lose the opportunity to help find homes for the thousands of vulnerable children who live there.
The legal fight in the Great Lakes State, pushed forward by a 2017 lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), is one of a string of battles challenging faith-based agencies’ significant involvement in foster care and adoption nationwide—forcing officials to balance the religious convictions of these ministries with the rights of protective parents.
“We are disappointed with how this settlement agreement has been implemented by the state government. Nonetheless, Bethany will continue operations in Michigan, in compliance with our legal contract requirements,” a spokesman for the Grand Rapids-based organization said in a statement. “We are focused on demonstrating the love of Jesus Christ by serving children in need, and we intend to continue doing so in Michigan.”
Bethany, which has been in operation for 75 years, emphasized that its mission and Christian beliefs have not changed. The shift only applies for placement in foster care and foster-to-adopt programs in Michigan, and will not affect policies for infant adoption, international adoption, or foster placements in the 34 other states where Bethany operates.
Practicing Christians have been …