The state will not immediately terminate foster care funding to Catholic Social Services of Southern Illinois or the Evangelical Child and Family Agency, despite concerns that both agencies discriminate against couples in civil unions, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Moreover, the two agencies are not protected by a court order that protects three other Catholic Charities agencies.
Windy City Times reported in its July 13 issue that the state of Illinois decided not to renew its foster care and adoption contracts with Catholic Charities. In a letter sent recently to Catholic Charities in the dioceses of Peoria, Joliet, Springfield and Belleville, the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) said that the state could not accept its signed contracts for the 2012 fiscal year because “your agency has made it clear that it does not intend to comply with the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act.”
A Sangamon County Circuit Court judge ruled July 12 that the Illinois attorney general and DCFS could not immediately cut foster-care contracts with Catholic Charities in the dioceses of Springfield, Peoria and Joliet. The dioceses had sued to prevent the state from enforcing new anti-discrimination policies that make way for civil unions.
The Evangelical Child and Family Agency is based in Wheaton. According to a description of the organization it provides on the Internet, it “offers compassion and Christ-centered services to children, families, and individuals.”