Test Drive Our New Site! We have some improvements in the works that we're excited for you to experience. Click here to try our new, faster, mobile friendly beta site. We will be maintaining our current version of the site thru the end of 2024, so you can switch back as our improvements continue.
Legislation Quick Search
Advanced Search
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
04/25/2024 04:37 PM
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20190&cosponId=31287
Share:
Home / House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

Subscribe to PaLegis Notifications
NEW!

Subscribe to receive notifications of new Co-Sponsorship Memos circulated

By Member | By Date | Keyword Search


House of Representatives
Session of 2019 - 2020 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: February 26, 2020 03:32 PM
From: Representative Jim Cox
To: All House members
Subject: Private Child Placement Agency Protections
 
In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation that will protect the rights of a private child placement agency when that agency refuses to perform, assist, counsel, recommend, consent to, refer, or participate in any placement of a child for foster care or adoption when the proposed placement would violate the agency's written religious or moral convictions or policies.

Across the country and in some parts of Pennsylvania, faith-based adoption and foster-care agencies are being denied the ability to operate because they prefer to place children according to the dictates of moral and religious grounds. Religious organizations have always played a fundamental role in adoptive and foster care in Pennsylvania. In 2018 alone, Catholic Charities in Philadelphia, Erie, Harrisburg and Greensburg handled over 580 adoptions and foster care placements. At the heart of the charitable expression of many religious organizations is the directive to care for the orphaned. The exclusion of these organizations has left DHS struggling to find enough families to participate in adoptive and foster care thereby exacerbating the plight of these at-risk children.

Under my legislation:
  • a private adoption agency could not be required to participate in such a placement;
  • the Department of Human Services could not deny the agency’s application for an initial license, a license renewal, or revoke its current license because of a decision not to participate in a child placement based on moral or religious grounds;
  • a state or local government could not deny the private adoption agency a grant, contract or participation in a government program based on the agency’s objection to a child placement; and,
  • refusal of a private adoption agency to perform, assist, counsel, recommend, consent to, refer, or participate in a child placement that violates the agency's written religious or moral convictions or policies may not be the basis of a civil action.
This legislation does not prohibit an adoption or foster care service from placing children into same-sex households, it merely removes the mandate that religiously-affiliated agencies be required to do so. This legislation is intended to ensure that faith-based agencies are able to help vulnerable children find their forever families while following their deeply-held beliefs.

I hope you can join me in supporting this legislation.