The efforts of the New York Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) to shut down a Christian-based adoption and foster care agency because of its decision to only place children in the homes of families with a married mother and father has been thwarted by a US federal judge.
The future of the New Hope Family Services was threatened when the OCFS, insisted the faith-based adoption agency must place children in same-sex homes in order to comply with state law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. The OCFS threatened that the facility would “be required to submit a close-out plan for its adoption program, if it could not comply with the order.
New Hope filed a lawsuit, alleging the state violated its First Amendment rights. U.S. District Judge, Mae D’Agostino agreed and has issued a permanent injunction prohibiting the state from closing New Hope or from forcing it to place children in same-sex homes or the homes of cohabitating couples.
“[T]he loss of First Amendment freedoms, even for minimal periods of time, unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury. … [T]he balance of the hardships is in New Hope’s favor; it faces harm to its rights under the First Amendment and is subject to closure if the Court does not issue a permanent injunction,” the judge wrote.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) represented New Hope in the case.
“The court’s decision is great news for children waiting to be adopted and for the parents partnering with New Hope Family Services to provide loving, stable homes,” said ADF senior counsel Roger Brooks.
When unmarried or same-sex applicants reach out to New Hope, the agency generally informs them that they cannot provide them with adoption services because of its ”religious beliefs” and offers to provide these applicants with referrals to other agencies.
“New Hope is a private religious ministry that doesn’t take a dime from the government. Shutting down an adoption provider for its religious beliefs – needlessly and unconstitutionally reducing the number of agencies willing to help – benefits no one – certainly not children. New Hope’s faith-guided services don’t coerce anyone and do nothing to interfere with other adoption providers who have different beliefs about family and the best interests of children,” said Brooks.