Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Local Agency Breaks Away from the Catholic Church

A local foster care program separates from the Catholic Church so it can comply with a new law.

The Illinois civil union law, which took effect in June, mandates adoption and foster care rights for same sex couples. That's forcing Catholic Social Services to break away from the Diocese of Belleville so it can continue to provide foster services.

Allowing same-sex couples to be licensed foster parents goes against Catholic teachings. So CSS was forced to choose between its connection with the church and its service to hundreds of children in southern Illinois.

Although Catholic Social Services is changing its name to Christian Social Services, Regional Director Mary Lou Loos says that won't change their mission of putting children first.

"We're always in need of good, healthy, safe homes for children for foster parenting," said Loos.

But the passing of the new Illinois civil unions law put CSS in a bind with the state.

"The state had a timeline where they would transfer all of our foster care cases to other agencies and we were given a date of the end of November," said Loos.

CSS did not want to serve same sex couples because of the agency's ties to the Catholic church-which opposes civil unions. However, the state requires that social services abide by the law.

"Because we have a contract with them and that is public funds, we would have to follow that same regulation," said Loos.

So the organization had to choose between its loyalty to the church and the services it provides.

"We were kind of at the last straw, it was either close our doors or continue working with the families and children," Loos explained.

Deborah Bouton said she supports the decision but is disappointed in the church's position on the new law.

"We don't like the way these people live so therefore, we're not gonna do business with them?" questioned Bouton. "Nevermind that we have thousands of children that are in need of a good home," she proclaimed.

Bouton has personal experience with foster care. She worked at Lutheran Social Services for four years. She doesn't believe the change in foster care rules will affect the way children are raised.

"It really has nothing to do with who the parents are," she explained. "It has everything to do with the quality of parents that they are," she continued.

The organization will continue to serve 600 children across 28 southern Illinois counties.