The Chicago Tribune reports that Catholic Charities of Rockford will end its foster-care and adoption services for fear it might be forced to quit discriminating against LGBT couples:
Benjamin Wolf, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois who represents juvenile state wards as part of a court-monitored consent decree with DCFS, said the decision was troubling, especially in Rockford where there is a high turnover of child welfare workers and racial and economic tensions.
... "I am very sorry that they would give a greater priority to their commitment to continue discriminating than the health and welfare of Illinois children."
Wolf said that when Catholic Charities in Chicago ended its foster care services in 2007 because the agency's insurer dropped its coverage, many caseworkers and foster care homes agreed to transfer to other agencies without disrupting the children's placements. He hopes families in the 11 counties served by Rockford Catholic Charities will be similarly amenable.
