City attorneys this week urged the Third Circuit Court of Appeals to reject a request from Catholic Social Services to resume referring foster children to the agency.
CSS claims its foster-care program, which now cares for 100 children, is in danger of closing if the appeals court doesn’t order an immediate resumption of foster-child referrals to the agency. The city suspended the referrals in March after learning that CSS won’t certify same-sex couples as foster parents.
U.S. District Judge Petrese B. Tucker declined CSS’ July 13 request to issue an injunction that would have required the city to refer foster children to CSS. The judge also rejected CSS’ claims that its constitutional rights were being violated.
Three days after Tucker’s ruling, CSS submitted a 42-page document asking the Third Circuit to issue an emergency order for resumption of the referrals. In its July 23 response, city attorneys emphasized that foster-care services must be provided in an unbiased manner in accordance with the law.
“CSS is not entitled to insist that it be permitted to impose its religious beliefs upon — or discriminate against — foster parents who are compensated by the government and who take care of children in the government’s legal custody,” the attorneys stated in a brief.
They also maintained that city officials aren’t hostile to CSS’ religious beliefs regarding same-sex marriage: “Insistence that entities who contract with us comply with our civil-rights laws does not constitute religious hostility. It is impossible to draw an inference that the City’s insistence upon compliance was motivated by religious animus, as opposed to its longstanding deep commitment to equal rights in public life for LGBTQ citizens.”
The city also contended it has a “compelling interest” for its 30 foster-care agencies to comply with the city’s Fair Practices Ordinance. “Respecting and following the City’s antidiscrimination law is a compelling interest. CSS’ attempts to impugn our interest in antidiscrimination lack any merit,” the brief held.
Moreover, the city maintained it doesn’t request that CSS articulate a policy toward marriage equality. According to the brief, “our contract seeks no policy statement from CSS on same-sex marriage. It simply asks CSS to certify as foster parents any applicants who are qualified under the governing state-law criteria.”
In a statement July 24, a city spokesperson said it will “vigorously oppose CSS’ appeal.” The City is committed to ensuring that government services are provided in an accessible way to all Philadelphians and we must ensure that the foster care services CSS provides are done so in a non-discriminatory way according the Fair Practices Ordinance and our contract.”
Also on July 24, attorneys for CSS submitted a reply brief to the Third Circuit, claiming, “The city has set itself up as judge, jury and executioner” regarding the fate of CSS’ foster-care program. The brief also maintains the agency’s religious-freedom and free-speech rights are being violated by the city.
The controversy involving CSS and another foster-care provider, Bethany Christian Services, came to the public’s attention in March, after the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Bethany turned away a lesbian couple who wanted to be foster parents. The news coverage prompted an investigation by city officials, resulting in a freeze on foster-care child referrals to Bethany and CSS.
The city resumed referring foster-care children to Bethany last month after the agency adopted an antibias policy. But some LGBT advocates say Bethany’s policy isn’t adequate because it doesn’t specify the categories that are protected, including “sexual orientation,” “gender identity,” “marital status” and “religion.”
The city has multiple contracts with CSS to provide a variety of services for children and adults apart from foster-care services. On July 5, PGN filed a state Right-to-Know Law request for the total amount of city funds CSS received from the city between July 2017 and June 2018. As of presstime, the request was pending.
According to court testimony, CSS also won’t certify unmarried opposite-sex couples as foster parents, even though the city’s Fair Practices Ordinances also bans discrimination based on marital status.
This week, Kenneth A. Gavin, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, had no comment regarding whether CSS would adopt a comprehensive antibias policy covering sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status and religion.