November 4, 2020. Today, the Supreme Court hears oral argument in a high-stakes case for children in foster care. As advocates for children and families involved in the child welfare system, Children’s Defense Fund and Children’s Defense Fund-NY joined a friend of the court brief in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, which centers on a child welfare agency refusing to comply with the City’s nondiscrimination policies that protect LGBTQ families. We stand with the City and its children, experts and advocates across the U.S. calling for a ruling that refuses to permit a license to discriminate.
The Fulton case poses significant risks to our ability to meet the needs of millions of children who have contact with the child welfare system each year, including over half a million in foster care. If the Court rules in favor of the agency, publicly-funded adoption and foster care agencies across the U.S. could refuse to place children with qualified prospective parents who fail to meet a religious test—whether they are unmarried, divorced, of a different faith, or because they are same-sex couples. This would result in fewer foster and adoptive parents available to children who need them. This is wrong. We urge the Court to center children in their consideration of the arguments today.
Contacts:
Children’s Defense Fund
Emily Gardner, Co-Acting Executive Director & Communications Director
egardner@childrensdefense.org | 202-662-3554
Children’s Defense Fund-NY
Julia L. Davis, Esq., Director of Youth Justice & Child Welfare, Children’s Defense Fund-NY
jdavis@childrensdefense.org | 347-907-2761