Catholic Charities sues state over civil union adoption policy

SPRINGFIELD — Foster care agencies that serve hundreds of suburban children are not accepting any new families, pending the outcome of a court case that could decide the future of faith-based foster care programs’ dealings with civil union couples.

The Catholic Charities for the dioceses of Joliet, Peoria and Springfield filed a suit against the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and the Illinois attorney general on Tuesday aimed at keeping the agencies from having to accept civil union and unmarried couples as foster parents.

Glenn Van Cura, executive director for Catholic Charities in Joliet, said the agency wants to keep operating as it has the last 50 years and continue to observe its stance against cohabitation, regardless of sexual orientation, and refer those couples to other agencies.

“We really don’t want to give up on this,” he said. “The program is just outstanding, and the people who work here are totally dedicated ... so we’ll find a way to try and continue.”

Catholic Charities in Joliet handles about 400 foster care cases, including families in Naperville, Downers Grove, Oak Brook and Lombard. Van Cura said there are enough families on the waiting list that are already in the system, so the freeze on licensing new families should not be a problem in the near future.

But with Catholic Charities handling nearly 20 percent of all foster care cases, the Department of Children and Family Services could have to transfer a large number of children to other agencies should the court rule against Catholic Charities.

Ken Marlowe, spokesman for the DCFS, said the agency is already transferring 300 cases to private adoption agencies after the Catholic Charities in the Rockford Diocese announced it would end services last week.

Marlowe said he is confident the agency could handle the large number of transfers should the other dioceses end their services, as the DCFS had to do in 2007 when the Chicago Diocese halted its foster care services because of insurance issues.

“We will explore every option to prevent disruption to these children,” he said. “Discrimination has no place in child welfare.”

The court’s ruling could affect more than Catholic Charities, as one other suburban foster care agency is keeping a close eye on the outcome.

The Evangelical Child and Family Agency, based in Wheaton, also closed its registration for any new families for the time being. Executive Director Ken Withrow said registration closed because there are enough families on the waiting list to handle the 250 children in the system, but the outcome of the case would be important.

“We are concerned,” Withrow said. “We believe Catholic Charities has a valid position with regard to their faith-based orientation ... and how the federal and state-based laws protect them as a faith-based agency.”

Should the court rule against Catholic Charities, Van Cura said the licensing freeze could remain in place until after they get a chance to propose a revision to the civil unions law in November during the fall veto session.