Best Interests of Children Triumph Over Politics in Missouri
ACLU and PROMO React to New Rule on Foster Care by Lesbian and Gay People
Statement
of the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri, the ACLU of Eastern
Missouri, the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project, and PROMO
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 19, 2006 Contact:
ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project: Chris Hampton, (212) 549-2673
ACLU of Eastern Missouri: Anthony E. Rothert, (314) 361-3635
ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri: Lisa Brunner, (816) 283-4633
PROMO: Julie Brueggemann, (314) 862-4900
KANSAS
CITY, MO -- The American Civil Liberties Union and PROMO, Missouri
statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality organization,
are very pleased with the new rule issued by the Missouri Department of
Social Services (DSS) allowing lesbian and gay people to be considered
as foster parents. DSS has rightly put the interests of children
ahead of politics. The foster care system is in crisis, with
thousands of foster children languishing in institutional and group
facilities due to a severe shortage in foster homes. The new rule
is a victory for the nearly 2,000 foster children in Missouri.
Lesbian
and gay people will now undergo the same rigorous individualized
screening procedures as heterosexuals who want to be foster
parents. This is in line with what a clear majority of Missouri
citizens believe about how gay parents should be treated by the
government. According to a recent poll conducted by Peter D. Hart
Research Associates and commissioned by Human Rights Campaign for
PROMO, a clear majority of people from all over the state are opposed
to categorically banning lesbian and gay people from being foster or
adoptive parents. The poll shows that 73 percent of voters favor
making decisions about child placement on a case-by-case basis focused
on what is in the child’s best interest, which is precisely the process
that the new rule establishes.
Every mainstream child
advocacy and mental health organization opposes foster care
policies that categorically ban lesbians and gay men. These
groups include the Child Welfare League of America, the American
Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association, and the
North American Council on Adoptable Children. Decades of social
science research have proven that lesbians and gay men are just
as capable of being good parents as straight people, that their
children are equally well adjusted, and that categorically banning any
group from the pool of potential foster parents unnecessarily hurts the
children who need homes the most.
After a similar ban was
unanimously struck down by the Arkansas Supreme Court last month,
Missouri was the only remaining state in the country with a formal
policy categorically banning lesbian and gay people from serving as
foster parents. Missouri has at last caught up with the rest of
the country, looking to the best interests of children instead of
prejudice and politics to determine the best possible placement for the
thousands of children who desperately need loving foster homes.
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