Sex | Joliet Catholic Charities Puts Brakes On Adoptions As Civil Unions Begin

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Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Joliet has notified the state that it has stopped signing up new families for foster care and adoptions.

The notice was made effective Wednesday, the day same-sex civil unions became an option in Illinois.

A letter from Catholic Charities in Joliet to the state does not mention the civil unions but does address the issue of same-sex couples.

"It is the religious practice of Catholic Charities not to place children with unmarried, cohabiting couples, whether same sex or opposite sex," says the letter from Glenn Van Cura, executive director of Catholic Charities in Joliet.

The new law makes civil unions avaible to heterosexual and homosexual couples.

Van Cura could not be reached for comment.

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Rockford last week gave the state similar notice regarding its foster care and adoption services in a letter that specifically referred to the civil union law and stated that the law did not include "an amendment allowing religious entities such as Catholic Charities to perform these services in a way that would not violate church teachings."

Catholic Charities had sought an amendment to the civil union law that would allow it to refer homosexual couples to other agencies that license foster and adoptive parents.

The letter from Catholic Charities in Joliet says the agency is "temporarily suspending the processing of new foster care and adoption applications" but does not suggest when or how it might start up again.

Catholic Charities in Peoria also notified the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services this week that it would stop licensing new foster and adoptive parents.

All the Catholic Charities organizations said they would continue working with the children they have already placed in homes.

However, DCFS spokesman Kendall Marlowe said, "Long term, this is not a workable solution." The Catholic Charities organizations in Joliet, Peoria and Rockford eventually will run out of homes to place children if they don't license new parents, Marlowe said.

Marlowe said DCFS will continue to work with Catholic Charities in the three dioceses to prevent disruption in the children's lives.

While the issue has come to the fore this week, Marlowe said, "We would have been in this situation even without the civil union legislation."

Lawyers for DCFS and the Illinois attorney general also were reviewing whether private agencies that take state money for adoption and foster care services could refuse to license same-sex couples without violating the state Constitution and Illinois Human Rights Law, he said.

Catholic Charities in Joliet is handling 210 foster care and adoption cases. There are 45 private child welfare agencies in Illinois that license parents for foster care and adoption.