November 14, 2011

IL Agency defers to new laws

The newly-named “Christian Social Services” (CSS) has responded to the rulings in IL that adoption agencies must adhere to the law and adopt to same-sex couples, by leaving the Catholic diocese of Belleville and restructuring their agency. CSS is getting a lot of flack from their Catholic counterparts for detaching from the Church and making the decision to comply with Illinois law instead. Many are viewing it as a rejection of loyalty in lieu of the acquisition of government funding, but CSS maintains that it is 100% about the children. Had they closed their doors and complied with the Church’s view point, they’d have had to send the 600 children they work with, across 28 counties, into foster care — not only disrupting their lives and reducing their chances of being adopted, but disrupting any current adoptions that may have been in the works.

“We’re always in need of good, healthy, safe homes for children for foster parenting,” CSS Director Mary Loos said. “…”We were kind of at the last straw, it was either close our doors or continue working with the families and children.”

What do you think about this? How does this speak to the separation of church and state? Apparently the Vatican believes that placing children in same-sex homes is a form of violence against those children, which is not the sort of ideology we support when it comes to giving a child a home with a loving family.

Shouldn’t this be about the children? We can’t imagine a situation in which leaving a child without a family is the better option. One True Gift applauds CSS for keeping strong in their commitment to serve the children and families who need adoption in their lives — a beautiful thing to have happen during National Adoption Month.