Catholic Charities in Illinois will no longer provide foster care services, the Chicago Tribune reports. The diocese in the remaining areas of Joliet, Springfield and Belleville, where a decision to end foster services had yet to be made, have dropped their lawsuit against the Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) and will begin to transfer over 1,000 foster children to other programs in their regions. The ACLU of Illinois intervened in the suit on behalf of children in the care of DCFS as well as a Champaign lesbian couple with a civil union, who planned to become foster parents. This decision marks an end to a battle that began once Illinois' civil union law went into effect in the spring.

In July, the state declined to renew foster care and adoption contracts with Catholic Charities. A transition plan for more than 2,000 children began with a deadline of Nov. 30.

Ottawa-based Youth Service Bureau of Illinois Valley agreed to take all of Catholic Charities' cases in Rockford. In Peoria, a separate child welfare agency was formed to take all of Catholic Charities' cases and provide a seamless transition for children.

With a deadline looming and no judge willing to halt the transition process, the remaining three agencies decided to call it quits.

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Trib Local updates us on the drug testing proposal at Lake Zurich High School. The school decided to scrap the proposal entirely after discovering that 76% of parents who participated in a poll opposed the idea. Trib Local spoke with ACLU of Illinois' Communications Director Ed Yohnka:

The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois has already weighed in. Director of Communications and Public Policy Edwin Yohnka called the testing an invasion of the privacy of people without any suspicion.

"A school that engages in such a process undermines the relationships teachers and administrators hope to build with students,” Yohnka said. He added that a school district with drug testing is likely to “gain very little information” while “embarrassing” students.

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The Windy City Times reports on a civil union discrimination case being co-counseled by the ACLU of Illinois' John Knight and Harvey Grossman. A Mattoon couple's civil rights were violated when they were denied services by two bed and breakfast facilities to host their civil union ceremonies. In addition to being denied services, the couple received additional email communication from a contact at one of the bed and breakfasts that denied them:

Following their lack of success booking at the Beall Mansion, the Wathens contacted Jim Walden at Timber Creek. In an email response to their inquiry, Walden told Todd Wathen that his inn would "never" host same-sex civil unions or weddings because "we believe homosexuality is wrong and unnatural based on what the bible says about it."

According to the complaints, Walden followed his response unsolicited three days later, citing verses on how "The Creator of the Earth looks at the gay lifestyle."

"It is not too late to change your behavior," the email stated. "He is loving and kind and ready to forgive all men their trespasses, including me."

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