foster care

Indiana Protects Religious Freedom of Adoptive and Foster Care Families

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun signed a bill on Wednesday protecting families and faith-based adoption and foster care organizations from discrimination based on their sincerely held religious beliefs.

The bill (HB 1389) stipulates that state government agencies may not discriminate against any adoptive or foster parent “who raises, or intends to raise, a child in a manner consistent with [their] sincerely held religious beliefs.”

The Indiana Senate passed the bill by an overwhelming 44-5 margin on Feb. 17; the state House passed the legislation by an 84-12 margin on Feb. 19.

“Every child deserves a loving home that can provide them stability and opportunities to grow,” Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Greg Chafuen said in a statement after the governor signed the bill.

“The sad reality is that the government in some states has discriminated against people of faith, allowing vulnerable children to suffer,” he added.

The bill’s enactment comes as thousands of families have had their right to religious freedom eroded. Multiple states have adopted policies requiring foster and adoptive parents to affirm a child’s “sexual orientation,” “gender identity” or “gender expression” as a condition for adopting or fostering.

These policies have led to other states – including Arkansas and Kansas – to enact legal protections for faith-based foster and adoptive families; while other states – like Vermont – have reversed their discriminatory policies after being sued.

Policies that discriminate against Christian families are especially foolhardy because they eliminate potential families who are most likely to want to foster or adopt.

As the Daily Citizen has previously reported, Christians are far more likely to foster or adopt than the rest of the population; 65% of foster parents attend church weekly compared with 40% of Americans generally.

Chafuen added,

Thankfully, Indiana has taken critical steps to prioritize the well-being of kids by prohibiting state and local government officials from discriminating against adoption and foster care providers and parents simply because of their religious beliefs and moral convictions. …
By signing this law, Gov. Braun is ensuring that Hoosier children benefit from as many adoption and foster care agencies as possible – faith-based and non-faith-based.

Last year, Gov. Braun declared November Adoption Month in Indiana, thanking the Hoosiers who opened their hearts and homes to adopt over 1,200 children last year alone.

We applaud Gov. Braun and the Indiana state legislators who recognize the importance of Christians being involved in the foster care and adoption system and chose to protect their First Amendment right to religious freedom.

To speak with a family help specialist or request resources, please call us at 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459).

Through Wait No More’s Suitcase Bundle ministry, children in foster care are provided their own suitcase — for their belongings — as well as a teddy bear, handwritten letter and age-appropriate Bible. The suitcase bundle is a simple way to offer dignity, comfort and hope to children in scary, lonely situations.

Related articles and resources:

Wait No More

Wait No More Suitcase Bundle

Transforming Lives Through Foster Care

What You Can Do to Help Kids in Foster Care

Changing the World Through Adoption

Foster Care: A Step of Faith

When Government is Hostile to Christian Foster Parents

Vermont Win for Children, Foster Families and Religious Freedom

Photo from Getty Images.

Vermont Win for Children, Foster Families and Religious Freedom

The Vermont foster care system revoked a policy requiring foster parents to affirm a child’s “sexual orientation,” “gender identity” or “gender expression.” 

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) represented two Christian families who sued the state after the Vermont Department for Children and Families revoked their foster care licenses because their religious beliefs kept them from affirming and supporting gender ideology. 

The department had put in place policies that discriminate against those with beliefs that diverge from false and damaging homosexual and “transgender” ideologies. Its new policy prohibits viewpoint discrimination.

ADF Senior Counsel Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse stated in a press release: 

This is an incredible victory for children in Vermont’s foster-care system. No parent should be forced to lie to a vulnerable child about who they are, much less promote irreversible and life-altering procedures that don’t have any proven health benefits.

The Christian legal aid organization described the two families who filed the lawsuit: 

Pastor Brian Wuoti and his wife, Katy, became foster parents in 2014 and adopted two brothers from foster care.
Pastor Bryan Gantt and his wife, Rebecca, became foster parents in 2016 and specialized in caring for children born with drug dependencies or with fetal alcohol syndrome. The Gantts have since adopted three children. 

ADF explained that despite the real need in Vermont for more foster parents, and in spite of their success in fostering and adopting children, “Vermont officials revoked their licenses in 2022 and 2024 because of their religious beliefs against gender ideology.”

The couples’ initial complaint quoted case workers who lauded them as foster parents: 

When the Wuotis tried to renew their license in 2022, one case worker called them “AMAZING” and said she “probably could not hand pick a more wonderful foster family.”

But when the Wuotis stated they were Christians and that “they could not say or do anything that went against faith-informed views about human sexuality, Vermont revoked their license anyway.”

Likewise with the Gantts. Because of their good record with infants affected by drugs and alcohol, “In 2023, the Department asked them to take an emergency placement involving a baby about to be born to a woman who was homeless and addicted to drugs.”

The complaint explained what happened next:  

But just before Bryan and Rebecca agreed to do so, the Department circulated an email explaining that families must accept the State’s orthodoxy about gender fluidity “even if the foster parents hold divergent personal opinions or beliefs.” 
The Gantts responded that they would unconditionally love and support any children placed with them, but they would not forsake their religious beliefs that people should value their God-given bodies. The Department refused to let the Gantts take the baby in need and instead revoked their license. 

As if an infant from a homeless and drug-addicted mother has a “sexual orientation,” “gender identity” or “gender expression” — and as if the baby even cares about the foster parents beliefs about these issues. 

Rather than helping children, the state chose to impose homosexual and transgender ideologies, violating the couples’ freedoms of speech, religion and association. 

The lawsuit explained that in 2020, the Vermont Department for Children and Families adopted Policy 76, “Supporting and Affirming LGBTQ Children & Youth,” which “provides internal guidance for Department staff on placing children who express an LGBT identity, and training foster families on how to support the child’s sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression (‘SOGIE’).” 

The Policy stated “Parents, family members, and resource families should be encouraged to: 

  • Support children’s identities even if it feels uncomfortable.
  • Bring young people to LGBTQ organizations and events in the community.
  • Support young people’s gender expression.
  • Believe that youth can have a happy future as an LGBTQ adult.

In addition, Policy 76 instructed caregivers to use “appropriate pronouns [and a child’s] preferred name” to promote a child’s “Cognitive and Social-Emotional Competence.” 

Because of the lawsuit, the old policy has been rescinded, and new guidance for Residential Licensing and Special Investigations (RLSI) of foster care applicants has been created. 

Effective February 26, 2026, applications will still include an application question, “I am open to caring for a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) child/youth.” 

But then the RLSI guidance goes on to state: 

  • Conversations with applicants should focus on caregiving capacity — not beliefs.
  • Safety – physical and emotional – is the core licensing focus.
  • Licensing evaluates behavior, not viewpoints.

Now, the RLSI specifically says, “Licensing does not require”: 

  • Endorsement or affirmation of specific identities.
  • Agreement with certain viewpoints.
  • Changes to personal, cultural, religious, moral, or philosophical beliefs.
  • Use of particular vocabulary, prescribed language, or preferred pronouns related to gender identity, sexual orientation, or identity expression.
  • Answers to certain hypothetical ideological or future-speech scenarios.

Other states, including California, Colorado, Massachusetts and Washington, violate free speech and religious freedom by requiring applicants for foster parenting to adhere to LGBT ideology. 

But this case, along with an Oregon case where a federal court upheld a Christian mother’s right to adopt, rejecting Oregon’s unconstitutional gender ideology mandate, gives hope that these egregious state policies will be overturned. 

The Christian Alliance for Orphans reports, “Christians are more likely to foster or adopt than the general population.” 

And the Bipartisan Policy Center adds, 

While under 40% of Americans attend church services weekly, 65% of foster parents do. Barna Research found that practicing Christians are twice as likely to foster or adopt than the general population. They are also more likely to welcome sibling groups, older youth, and children with special needs.

Foster care laws and regulations that promote homosexual and transgender ideology discriminate against people of faith, and they harm children who could be fostered or adopted into good homes. 

The Daily Citizen is grateful for Christian organizations like Alliance Defending Freedom and California Family Council that are fighting back against these egregious, damaging policies that violate constitutional freedoms and place children at risk.

To speak with a family help specialist or request resources, please call us at 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459).

Through Wait No More’s Suitcase Bundle ministry, children in foster care are provided their own suitcase — for their belongings — as well as a teddy bear, handwritten letter and age-appropriate Bible. The suitcase bundle is a simple way to offer dignity, comfort and hope to children in scary, lonely situations.

Related articles and resources:

Wait No More

Wait No More Suitcase Bundle

Transforming Lives Through Foster Care

What You Can Do to Help Kids in Foster Care

Changing the World Through Adoption

Foster Care: A Step of Faith

Proposed Executive Order Would Protect Parental Rights

When Government is Hostile to Christian Foster Parents

First Lady Welcomes Foster and Adoptive Families to the White House

Arkansas & Kansas Enact Protections for Faith-Based Adoption, Foster Care

States Exclude Christian Parents From Foster Care

Photo: Rebecca Gantt with one of her children, from Alliance Defending Freedom.

Secretary Scott Turner: ‘Be Intentional About Pouring Your Life into the Next Generation’

It’s a difficult and tragic fact that upwards of 20,000 youth “age out” of the foster care system each year.

To “age out” (usually at 18) means to no longer be under the legal custody of the state.

Without a permanent family to help guide and protect the newly liberated young person, these individuals face enormous pressures. From finding and paying for a place to live to buying food, planning their education and navigating the normal challenges of life, many wind up friendless, homeless and addicted.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner recognizes and appreciates this challenge, and in his role at HUD, is committed to doing something about it.

Secretary Turner recently told CBN’s Kelly Wright, “The first lady and I, her team and our team here at HUD, have partnered to provide $25 million to the ‘Foster Youth to Independence’ initiative.”

This effort, overseen by First Lady Melania Trump, provides housing vouchers for young people between the ages of 18 and 24. In addition to helping them find and fund an apartment, they also provide various supportive services including career counseling and job placement, education assistance and financial advice.

“Having a safe place, a home, to live is a start,” reflected Secretary Turner. “But we’re looking at this from a holistic standpoint to help, really, the next generation of leaders, as they land on their feet, aging out of foster care.”

The initiative was actually started in 2019 by then Secretary Dr. Ben Carson. Over 5,000 young men and women have participated in the program.

Secretary Turner added:

How blessed are we to have a first lady who has a heart for foster youth and wants to make this a priority and partner with HUD and with other administration officials to make sure that we’re taken care of and invested in our foster youth.

We should concentrate on that part of our society. But also these foster youth oftentimes are overlooked because they’re not in the public eye or they’re not, you know, of top priority to many general families that our kids are. And so I would encourage people to get educated on foster youth, get educated on where they are, what their desires are.

The realities facing these young people are sobering:

  • 97% of all young adults who age out of foster care will face chronic poverty in their lifetime
  • 81% of the young men who age out of foster care become incarcerated
  • 71% of the young women who age out experience a pregnancy before they turn 21, and half of those babies end up in foster care as well

Focus on the Family has long been committed to finding permanent solutions to these chronic challenges facing children who are at risk. Of course the very best way is to help find forever homes for the boys and girls currently in the foster care system long before they age out. 

From the beginning, our “Wait No More” program has helped to raise awareness of the over 100,000 children available and waiting to be adopted. We regularly hear testimonials from families who have adopted and then launched their kids into the world. They often share details that most people would never think about. For example, one twenty-something shared she now had a mother to call for advice when fixing the Thanksgiving turkey. When you age out, who do you call? 

Secretary Turner and his team are concerned with helping meet the short-term needs of those in foster care and those on the verge of independence. But they’re also looking beyond the immediate and considering the long-term consequences of social dysfunction – and the exponential benefit that comes when you address the foundational issues at the root of healthy families.

“If you change your life, you change a generation,” shared Secretary Turner. “I would encourage the people of America to be intentional about pouring your life into the next generation, as God calls you to do.”

Images from Getty.

Emily’s Story: Pro-Life Supporters are More than ‘Pro-Birth’

“Pro-life.”

When you read this, what do you see? It might be the image of an ultrasound or pro-life events like the March for Life in Washington, D.C. Others may see a newborn wrapped in a cozy blanket.

But what happens to this baby after his or her birth?

Although the church does incredible work to care for children who have been granted their right to life, it feels as though the stereotypical pro-life movement is not often associated with advocacy measures for what comes after birth: the rest of a child’s life.

As a pro-life supporter, it frustrates me that these two discussions – the protection of preborn human life, and proper care for children after birth – do not always go hand-in-hand. While pro-life activists rightfully encourage healthy pregnancies and safe births, we must remember that the term “pro-life” also includes services such as safe foster homes and adoptions. In fact, a well-functioning foster care system could significantly reduce women’s felt “need” for abortions.

Tragically, many children who receive their right to life are born into horrible circumstances – abusive or neglectful homes, abandonment, families battling addiction, parents who lack resources to care for their child, the death or incarceration of a parent – the list goes on.

Terrible situations such as these have forced the removal of countless children from their families and warranted their placement in the foster care system. Unfortunately, the term “pro-life” does not typically prompt images of such scenarios.

In 2023, the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) estimated a total of 343,077 children in the United States foster care system. In 2023 alone, 175,283 children entered foster care, with 82% of these placement cases involving abuse and neglect.

While foster care has been a blessing to many children and families, the system is not perfect. As of 2023, 20% of children in the foster care system had spent at least 3 years waiting for either adoption or reunification with their families. Additionally, some choose to foster simply for the extra cash it provides, rather than because they genuinely care about the children in the system.

It is both devastating and difficult to imagine the individual children these statistics represent – boys and girls who were rightfully granted the chance to live, but removed from their biological families and thrown into circumstances beyond their control.

A very close friend of mine, Emily, represents just one of the thousands of children impacted by the foster care system. I recently had the honor of listening to Emily describe her moving experiences with foster care and adoption.

Her story demonstrates exactly why pro-life advocacy does not stop at birth.

Emily was born in 2003, the fifth out of nine children. Her parents did not have the resources to properly care for their family, and their house was crowded and dirty. Emily recalls her youngest sister “crawling around eating cat food and toilet paper” off the ground.

In 2010, Emily’s home was investigated after police found her disabled brother wandering their neighborhood unattended on two separate occasions. As a result, Emily and several of her siblings entered the foster care system due to neglect.

Emily was only six years old when she was removed from her family.

While her two-year-old sister was placed in a stable, loving foster home, Emily and her three-year-old sister lived a very different story – one that no child should ever have to tell.

The two girls remained in their first foster home for one year. During these twelve months, Emily remembers being locked in her bedroom or out of the house for hours at a time, forcing her to use the bathroom outside.

She also recalls her foster mother taking away a book the girls had received from their biological mom. It was never returned. 

During this time, Emily and her sister were often taken back home to visit their parents.

“I didn’t understand why I could see them, but not live with them,” she said.

One day, after waiting until her foster mother had left for the grocery store, Emily called 911 for help. She remembers feeling “scared, confused and wanting to leave.”

When the police arrived at her foster home, they told seven-year-old Emily there was nothing they could do to help her.

A year after their initial placement, Emily and her sister were “dropped off at a friend’s house” so their foster mother could go on vacation. These people were not foster care certified, and when Emily’s social worker found out, the two girls were immediately removed from their first foster care placement.

The sisters were then relocated to a temporary placement, where they stayed for four months before transitioning to a more permanent foster home.

Around this time, Emily was given the option of returning to her biological parents’ home or pursuing adoption. Ultimately, Emily chose adoption.

When describing her third foster care placement, Emily noted she had “nothing bad to say about that place.” It was in this home that Emily and her sister were first introduced to Christianity and ultimately to their adoptive parents.

Little did Emily know that her Sunday school teacher at church would soon provide a permanent, loving home for three girls in need of a family.

After spending 27 months in foster care, Emily and her two sisters moved into their new and final home on October 18, 2012.

Initially, nine-year-old Emily didn’t believe this arrangement was truly permanent, but the girls soon integrated with their new family. They began calling their parents “mom and dad” early on, and were lovingly embraced by their three older siblings.

Today, Emily works as an Early Childhood Educator, teaching a preschool class at a daycare. She explained how her background has allowed her to resonate and sympathize with children in her class who have difficult home lives or struggle with certain issues.

“I had it pretty good overall,” Emily said. “Some kids have it way worse.”

Emily’s story demonstrates that the battle for children’s rights doesn’t stop at birth. As Christians, we are obligated to advocate for children who are alive as a result of the births we have fought for – especially children who have spent years in the foster care system, waiting for either adoption or reunification with their biological families.

Contrary to the stereotype, pro-life supporters are more than just “pro-birth.” We care for a child’s entire life – from conception until the very end.

When I read the words “pro-life,” I still picture the ultrasounds, marches and newborns. But now, I also see faces of children who were given the chance to live, yet are trapped in situations beyond their control.

I see faces like Emily’s – the freckled redhead who has not only become one of my closest friends, but has also deeply influenced my own life with her powerful story.

Ultimately, I see countless lives we can change by providing safe foster homes and adoptions for children in need of Christ’s love.

So, I ask you to read these two words again: “Pro-life.”

What do you see now?

Related Articles and Resources:

Wait No More

Adoption From Foster Care

Faces of Foster Care

Resources: Fostering or Adopting Children From Difficult Backgrounds

Focus on the Family: Pro-Life