Complaint Alleges Massachusetts is Forcing Loving Christian Foster Families Out Amid a Severe Shortage of Homes
Yesterday, Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center, along with our partners at Alliance Defending Freedom and First & Fourteenth PLLC, filed a complaint in federal court against Massachusetts Department of Children and Families officials on behalf of two Christian foster families. The case, Jones v. Mahaniah, alleges that while these families have provided compassionate and loving care to dozens of children, DCF is denying them the ability to continue fostering simply because of their religious beliefs about gender and sexuality.
The complaint details that, starting sometime between 2023 and 2024, DCF began requiring all foster families to sign an agreement stating that they would automatically “affirm” the gender identity or sexual orientation of any child in their care. The Department made clear that families would be required to use opposite-sex pronouns for children, support their desire to dress as the opposite sex, and even facilitate their medical transition through the use of cross-sex hormones or surgery. This would have clearly violated our clients’ Christian beliefs that God perfectly created each child in His image to be either male or female. Solely because our clients could not lie to foster children about their God-given sex, DCF will no longer allow them to help children in need. And this damage is not merely hypothetical: in the case of plaintiffs Nick and Audrey Jones, this will mean that their 17-month-old foster daughter will be taken from their home, even though they are the only parents she has ever known.
Learn more about the families at the heart of this vital case in Carine Hajjar’s exclusive coverage for the Boston Globe.
As the complaint explains, DCF’s radical new policy comes amidst a severe foster family shortage in Massachusetts. At the same time that foster children are being forced to stay overnight in hotels or even social workers’ cars because of a lack of licensed homes, DCF has decided on a course of action that will purge every traditional Christian family from the state’s foster system. Because a disproportionate number of foster families are Christians, this could eliminate more than 50% of all foster care placements in Massachusetts.
“DCF’s policy is about promoting an ideology, not protecting children,” stated Sam Whiting, legal counsel for Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center. “We will do all we can to vindicate our clients’ constitutional rights to religious liberty, free speech, and equal protection under the law.”
Read the full complaint HERE.
This fight is bigger than two families. It’s about protecting every Christian foster parent in Massachusetts and keeping vulnerable children from losing safe, loving homes.
Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center depends on your support to take on these legal battles. Will you help us defend religious freedom and protect foster families of faith?
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