(RNS) — After six years as a foster parent with Bethany Christian Services, Stacey Goodson, based in Western Michigan, has served her last foster youth — for now.

“I closed my license immediately,” Goodson told RNS. “I’m just not willing to be a part of something that I’m so strongly against.”

Her decision comes as stakeholders respond to the news that the influential evangelical nonprofit, which offers adoption, foster care and refugee and immigration services, will no longer employ or partner with people who are LGBTQ-affirming. The changes require staff, board members and foster and adoptive families to “personally agree and adhere to” a belief statement that defines marriage as “a covenant between one man and one woman.”

“The decision is really, really disappointing, because I want to continue fostering, and also I’m not going to support an agency that is so explicitly discriminatory,” said Goodson.

The move is a particular blow for those who celebrated Bethany’s 2021 decision to serve LGBTQ+ foster and adoption parents in the more than 25 states where it operates.

In a statement to RNS, the organization said its policy change was “solely motivated by our conviction that faithfulness to God’s Word must remain central to our mission of demonstrating the love and compassion of Jesus through quality social services.” Some outside voices, including Katy Faust, a conservative activist who believes same-sex couples should not be parents, celebrated the change; on X, Faust said it was evidence that the “vibe shift” is having a “measurable impact.”

The social acceptance of LGBTQ+ relationships and same-sex marriage has been declining over the past few years. While 65% of Americans still favor legal same-sex marriage, that’s six percentage points fewer than its peak in 2022-2023, according to Gallup. Similarly, the percentage of Americans who view gay or lesbian relations and gender transitions as morally acceptable have fallen since the early 2020s.

But while Bethany expects the change to create more foster placements among evangelical supporters, LGBTQ-affirming advocates fear foster youth will bear the cost of the change. Data shows that LGBTQ+ people are over 2.5 times more likely than non-LGBTQ+ people to seek to foster and adopt, and according to the Administration for Children and Families, there are over 325,000 children in foster care in the United States, and only 57 licensed homes for every 100 kids in care. LGBTQ+ youth, advocates pointed out, are also overrepresented in the foster care system.  

“The child welfare community is in such dire, literally desperate need for foster homes, we don’t have the capacity to tell anybody that we’re not going to allow them to foster, unless it’s a real safety reason,” said Goodson.

Legal terrain and political climate

Over the past decade, Bethany has had an inconsistent track record working with LGBTQ+ people — thanks in part to the patchwork of state laws dictating who child welfare agencies must serve. Sixteen U.S. states have religious exemptions allowing some state-licensed child welfare agencies to refuse to serve LGBTQ+ adoptive or foster parents, while at least 20 states have some legal protections for prospective LGBTQ+ parents.

(Photo courtesy of Bethany Christian Services)

These uneven guidelines are complicated by the fact that much of Bethany’s foster and adoption services are fueled by state and federal tax dollars.  

“We’re not just talking about an agency that’s doing a private adoption,” said Naomi Goldberg, executive director of Movement Advancement Project, a think tank that tracks LGBTQ+ laws and policies. “These are agencies that are working in a space alongside the state, often with federal funding, to care for our most vulnerable children.”

It’s because of its public partnerships that Bethany first opened its doors to same-sex couples. Facing the possible loss of government contracts, Bethany began serving LGBTQ+ parents in Philadelphia in 2018 and in Michigan the following year before expanding that commitment to all locations in 2021. 

But the legal and political landscape has changed significantly since then. 

Luce Remy, vice president of public policy for Family Equality, pointed to executive orders that condemn “gender ideology” and back non-LGBTQ-affirming faith-based organizations that are excluded from federally funded child-welfare programs. Jay Kaplan, staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan’s LGBTQ+ Project, added that recent decisions, including Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, show that the conservative-majority Supreme Court is “highly sympathetic to people of faith who do not wish to comply with civil rights laws or non-discrimination policies when it comes to LGBTQ people.”

Agency options for LGBTQ+ prospective parents

Despite Bethany’s policy change, there remains an ecosystem of explicitly LGBTQ-affirming adoption and foster care agencies. Many LGBTQ+ individuals, including several who spoke with RNS, seek out such agencies. But sometimes, Christian options are a better fit. Many Christian agencies focus on serving sibling groups, older children and disabled youth. Bethany’s size means it’s often the most accessible and has a large pool of children needing homes. Plus, there are Christian LGBTQ+ or LGBTQ-affirming couples who prefer to work with a faith-based agency.

Though she’s a queer adult and not a Christian, Katy Chatel, who works as the development director for LGBTQ+ advocacy group COLAGE, began partnering with Bethany in 2022 because it was the only organization in Pennsylvania contracted to provide foster care for unaccompanied refugee minors.

“I was hesitant, knowing Bethany’s history,” said Chatel, who is based in Philadelphia. But on the heels of Bethany’s nationwide decision to partner with LGBTQ+ people, she figured Bethany would be eager to prove itself.

After hosting one foster child through Bethany, Chatel, who had built trust with local Bethany staff, continued working with the agency, even seeking to adopt an older child. But she says she experienced significant delays during the process and ultimately stopped fostering through Bethany in 2024 due to a lack of data on placements with LGBTQ+ parents.

“LGBTQ parents make up a disproportionate number of foster and adoptive parents in this country,” said Chatel. “There’s a missed opportunity for young people in this world to feel a deeper sense of safety, belonging and connectedness by removing a huge number of waiting parents.”

Foster youth impact

Katy Chatel. Courtesy Chatel

Chatel also opted for Bethany because children in the child welfare system don’t choose what agency they are served by, and she hoped to be an affirming home for LGBTQ+ youth in Bethany’s care. Under the new changes, Chatel noted, LGBTQ+ youth served by Bethany will only be paired with non-LGBTQ-affirming homes, since any prospective foster or adoptive parent has to sign the statement of belief.

A spokesperson for Bethany told RNS the agency “remains committed to providing compassionate, high-quality services rooted in respect, dignity, and care for every person it serves.”

The spokesperson added that they expect the policy change to expand Bethany’s reach. “We are confident that bringing clarity and alignment to our Christian faith will build restored trust with the Christian community and we will see an increase in engagement with foster care from the church.”

Bethany says it will also support its current foster families who are not aligned with the new faith statement “through a thoughtful transition process.” 

While Bethany is betting that the faith statement will strengthen its appeal to its base, according to some experts, data suggests it is overlooking willing partners. Elisha Marr, director of gender studies at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, pointed to a 2017-2019 National Survey of Family Growth showing that LGBTQ+ people are 2.83 times more likely than heterosexual people to seek to adopt and that people who have no religious affiliation are 30% more likely to adopt than evangelical protestants.

Laura McGinnis, senior manager of public relations at PFLAG, which offers resources for caregivers of LGBTQ+ youth, said the top priority for child welfare agencies should be pairing as many youth as possible with a “neutral landing place” filled with “love and affirmation.” McGinnis is a Christian who, along with her wife, has fostered and adopted two children from an LGBTQ-inclusive agency.

“Immediately limiting the kind of love that they might need at that time of trauma and fear and uncertainty for them is really unimaginable, especially from a Christian organization,” she said.

Marr added that, at a macro-level, the research says LGBTQ+ people are just as qualified as straight, cisgender parents.

“When they have two people in their lives that are caring for them socially, emotionally and financially, they’re as well adjusted as kids in heterosexual families,” she said.

That was the case for former foster youth adopted by LGBTQ+ parents who spoke to RNS. Melia Scanlon, 31, was fostered by her moms from age 3 to 6 before she was adopted. She told RNS that people often care too much about qualities that don’t impact people’s ability to care for children.

“Being a part of the LGBTQIA+ community does not mean you will be a bad parent, nor does it automatically mean you will be a good parent,” said Scanlon. “My parents made sure that each and every child who entered our home knew they were safe, cared for, loved and important. … I have always said, and firmly believe, that being in foster care, and then adopted, saved my life.”