The Barker Adoption Foundation
Chantez Bailey
301-664-9664
Cbailey [at] barkerfoundation.org
Barker Commends Agency’s Decision to Serve LGBTQ Community
(BETHESDA, MD) Bethany Christian Services announced this week that it would immediately begin providing services to L.G.B.T.Q. parents nationwide. This major decision takes place at a time when many faith-based agencies have held longstanding opposition to working with same-sex couples.
LGBTQ individuals and couples are critical to the public child welfare system, with 21.4 percent of same-sex parents raising adopted children (compared to just 3 percent of opposite-sex parents) and 2.9 percent of same-sex parents caring for children in foster care (compared to 0.4 percent of opposite-sex parents). “Bethany has a long-standing tradition and commitment to serving children and families. Their willingness to step up and speak up for members of the LGBTQ community serves as a model that other organizations should follow,” said Executive Director and CEO of The Barker Adoption Foundation, Sue Hollar. “There are 100,000 youth in the foster care system who are legally free for adoption. In a society that truly cares about children, no agency should continue to impose barriers to children having the opportunity to join and be loved and supported by a family and that includes families within the LGBTQ community.”
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) proposed a 2019 rule that would have allowed recipients of federal grants from the health agency, including faith-based adoption agencies and foster care providers, to turn away same-sex couples. The Barker Adoption Foundation filed comments in opposition to the Federal Notice of Proposed Rulemaking the same year. By shutting out these parents, the Proposed Rule would increase the length of time children spent in foster care, thereby increasing health and economic disparities for these vulnerable children. Barker was pleased to see that DHHS very recently paused the regulation from going into effect.
Barker is proud to join forces with all the major child welfare advocacy organizations in the United States that uniformly oppose the use of religious or sexual orientation as a placement factor in the public child welfare system. “We are pleased to see Bethany Christian Services take this step in ensuring that all people are provided access to and receive quality services,” said Hollar. “Our hope is that Bethany’s willingness to join Barker’s tradition in recognizing that all people should be treated fairly and with dignity will lead to other child-welfare organizations doing the same.”
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