A new agency

I wrote this post back in July when Illinois passed it's Civi.l Un.ion Act (CUA as I'll call it here).  Well, recent events have made what I feared in that post a reality.



We live in one of the diocese that was fighting for Catholic Charities (CC) .  They were fighting to have the Religious Freedom Act trump the CUA with regards to faith based organizations abiding by their own moral values.  The state, however, felt that the CUA was more important and CC had to either abide by their ruling that same sex or cohabitating couples could be a part of their foster care and/or adoption programs or close their doors.  They would no longer be allowed to refer these couples to other agencies.

So with much prayer and a great deal of reluctance, the bishop of our diocese had no choice but to have CC stop its adoption and foster care programs.  However, the bishop and executive team at CC have worked very hard to create a plan that will not disrupt any of the children being served or any of the families in the foster care and/or adoption process. 

Basically the executive team formed a new organization.  This new organization has been formed.  The executive team from CC is now running this new organization.  It is in no way funded or connected to the Catholic Church, so it can function within state guidelines and continue to provide care. 

The staff from CC is being rehired at this new orgaization.  Records from CC are all being moved.  The children in the foster care programs will not even feel the switch.  Families may have a little paperwork but they're making that as minimal as possible.  Fee structures are changing a little, but it's all for the better.
  
I'm glad they had a plan.  It puts me at ease knowing that the case workers who have operated under a moral code for so long are going to be the same ones we continue to work with. 

Yes, they will have to start accepting civil unions in addition to marriages and single people.  And our case worker addressed us specifically to see our thoughts on this.  We took it to prayer and really had to think about our options.

The reality is that we live in a state that is failing financially and morally.  It was recent news that our state is #49 when ranked as far as finances are concerned.  Only California is worse than our current financial situation.  It's also a reality that unfortunately Illinois is paving the way for many of these civil liberty laws that are extremely contrary to our Catholic faith.

With those realities in mind, we know that God is calling us to adopt again.  And to possibly foster down the road.  He's made that very clear through prayer.  So although this new agency (CYFS) will have to abide by our state's laws, we will stay with them.  There is nowhere else to go, and we're not moving to a different state.  I know that the caseworkers are struggling more than we are.  CC in our diocese operated with the guidance of the Catholic Church for over 100 years.  At least those principles (especially the Right to Life attitude) are still instilled in our caseworkers.  I'm confident that they will continue to respect life at all costs and do what is best for the children.

It just saddens me that a religious organization had their freedom of religion taken away.  It's sad that a country built on religious freedom is now taking those very freedoms away.  It takes away some of my hope in the coming generations.  It makes it more challenging to raise holy children who look to the Church for guidance. 



That was much longer than I intended it to be, but for family and friends, it's important to know as this will all be hitting the news in the near future.  We will be beginning the process to adopt again here shortly and we will begin with the new agency (CYFS).  Please pray for all of those affected by this situation and for our upcoming adoption journey #2.