Faith-based foster care in SC upheld by federal courts

SOUTH CAROLINA —A federal court on Friday upheld South Carolina’s decision to continue partnering with faith-based foster care ministries that provide homes for children.

In Rogers v. Health and Human Services and Maddonna v. Health and Human Services, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Americans United for Separation of Church and State sued S.C. Governor Henry McMaster to try to stop the state from working with religious foster agencies. On Friday, a federal court shut down these attempts to shutter faith-based foster care.

“These two rulings from the U.S. District Court represent significant wins for religious liberty and South Carolina’s faith-based organizations like Miracle Hill, which will be able to continue their crucial mission of connecting children in foster care with loving homes,” said Governor Henry McMaster. “These victories will directly benefit countless children by further ensuring that faith-based organizations will not be forced to abandon their beliefs to help provide critical services to our state’s youth.”

South Carolina works directly with families seeking to foster and adopt children in crisis situations, serving children and families from all backgrounds. The state also partners with an array of private agencies that help find and support more families for foster children who need a safe place to live. Governor McMaster issued an executive order protecting the religious freedom of foster agencies in South Carolina. In response, the ACLU sued South Carolina over the inclusion of a single faith-based agency, Miracle Hill, arguing Jewish and other non-Christian families could be denied having kids placed with them — while the agency still received state and federal funding.

“South Carolina admirably stood up against two transparent efforts to reduce the number of options available to children in foster care and the foster parents who selflessly serve them,” said Miles Coleman, partner at Nelson Mullins. “Around the country, too many governments have forced religious foster care agencies to close down. Governor McMaster has made sure that won’t happen in his state.”

In its two opinions, the federal court protected the state’s freedom to partner with faith-based agencies who serve children in need, pointing out that those who sued the state “could [have] foster[ed] the same children at any of 26 other private agencies in the State, including 18 in the Upstate or with the State itself.” The Supreme Court recently ruled unanimously in Fulton v. Philadelphia that the U.S. Constitution protected Catholic Social Services’ right to stay faithful to its religious beliefs while still serving foster children in Philadelphia. The federal court in this case relied on Fulton to stop similar attempts to shut down faith-based foster care ministries.

“This is a major victory for the children in South Carolina’s foster care system who were at risk of losing out on loving homes,” said Lori Windham, vice president and senior counsel at Becket. “The attempt to shutter faith-based foster care agencies and decrease the number of foster homes for these kids violated the law and common sense. We are glad that South Carolina stood up for foster children and faith-based agencies and that the court protected them.”

The ACLU and Americans United will now decide whether to appeal the decisions to the Fourth Circuit.