SOURCE:
CHRISTIAN POSTURL:
https://www.christianpost.com/news/catholic-charities-buffalo-ends-adoption-foster-services-avoid-placing-kids-gay-couples-226993/by Samuel Smith
Catholic Charities of Buffalo will no longer provide foster care and adoption services to new clients because a New York state law would force it to violate Catholic teachings on homosexuality and marriage.
The organization, which serves people of need across Western New York, announced Thursday that it has become the latest Catholic Charities branch to halt adoption and foster services because of conflicts with state and local LGBT discrimination protections.
The entity will continue to serve its existing foster families but will not accept new applications until its contract with Erie County Department of Social Services expires in March 2019.
The move comes weeks after a same-sex couple submitted an application with Catholic Charities to become adoptive or foster parents, according to a news release. The charity doesn't place children with same-sex couples because it follows Catholic teachings that dictate that marriage is between only one man and one woman.
However, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is prohibited under the state's Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act.
"It is with deep sadness we acknowledge that the legacy of the high quality, exceptional services which our staff provides to children and families through foster care and adoption will be lost," Catholic Charities CEO Dennis C. Walczyk said in a statement.
Walczyk said that charity is working with the New York Office of Children and Family Services and the Erie County Department of Social Services to ensure a "smooth transition" for foster care children and parents affiliated with Catholic Charities as well as those who have applied to be foster or adoptive parents.
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