Shane and Jennifer Degross have been licensed to provide foster care to children for over 9 years in the state of Washington.
That all changed in 2022 when the couple tried to renew their foster care license, but realized there were new rules regarding gender ideology within the paperwork.
Yup, you guessed it. In order to provide foster care in Washington state, you must affirm each child's gender no matter how ridiculous it is. And as Christians, the Degross's just couldn't follow the new regulations, so the state denied them their license renewal. And now the Degross's are suing the state.
A couple has filed a lawsuit against Washington state officials accused of denying their foster care renewal license because they will not abide by gender ideology rules that clash with their Christian faith.
During an appearance on "America's Newsroom," Shane Degross said that when he went through the re-licensing process, he found new regulations and rules not present in previous years.
According to his wife, Jennifer DeGross, one of those rules required the couple to adhere to specific policies regarding "gender ideology" …
Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing the couple, said that when they tried to renew their license with the foster-care licensing agency Olive Crest, the couple was informed the Washington Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) enacted new regulations "that require all foster parents to use a foster child's inaccurate pronouns based on their perceived gender identity, not their actual sex" …
DCYF officials allegedly denied their application despite repeated appeal attempts by Olive Crest.
Bro, these kids come from broken homes and suffer from all sorts of mental issues. At least let the foster parents help them back to reality with their gender. But no, because mental illness is encouraged nowadays, Washington will weed out all the gender ideology non-conforming foster parents (i.e. the good ones) and only allow the groomer types to provide foster care.
Good luck with that, Washington.
Here's Washington's argument:
It is well-documented that children and youth who identify as LGBTQIA+ have high rates of depression, anxiety, suicide, self-harm, and eating disorders. They are 4 times more likely to attempt suicide, have suicidal thoughts, or self-harm than youth who are cis-gender or straight. Whether a family accepts or rejects a child's sexual orientation, gender identity or expression (SOGIE) has a profound impact on their wellbeing, and children and youth who identify as LGBTQIA+ are over-represented among the foster care population. In Washington, we are committed to ensuring that these vulnerable children and youth do not experience additional trauma when placed out-of-home into foster care."
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington entered a permanent injunction in Blais v. Hunter, in which it ordered that we have authority to require that foster parents follow a child's case plan, which is determined by the dependency court, DCYF, and the child's legal parents or guardians. Specifically, the injunction states that applicants ‘must agree to follow the child's case plan and to allow the physical, medical, psychological, emotional, cultural and social needs of foster children who identify as LGBTQ+ or who may so identify in the future to be met in their care.' This does not mean that foster parents must agree with or support all of DCYF's policies. We cannot and do not disqualify people from becoming foster parents on the basis of sincerely held religious beliefs. However, the permanent injunction does permit DCYF to take an applicant's views on LGBTQ+ issues into account when reviewing foster family home license applications or family home study applications.
So now, if Shane and Jennifer want to provide foster care they'll have to move to a state where you can still be Christian and provide foster care.
Here's the Degross's interview on Fox News:
Every child deserves a loving home, and when the state puts ideology above children and when Christian families who exercise their faith are discriminated against, it only harms children, and it decreases the number of foster families that can help provide a needed service.
Man, I hope Washington loses this battle in court!
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