Two Christian foster families, who have collectively fostered 35 children in Massachusetts, have filed suit against the state for revoking foster care licenses on the basis of religious beliefs.
In the midst of a foster care crisis, Massachusetts revoked Greg and Marianelly Schrock’s foster care licenses and is seeking to revoke Audrey and Nicholas Jones’ license after each couple declined to sign a document in which they would promise to encourage any gender-confused foster child to pursue gender transition and to affirm a child’s preferred gender identity.
The document, called the “Foster Care Agreement,” first became a state requirement for foster parents to sign beginning in 2023. By signing the agreement, foster parents also agree to the LGBTQIA+ Nondiscrimination Policy which defines what affirming a gender identity involves. This includes providing “gender-affirming clothing … in a timely manner” and providing affirming “medical care, mental health care, and community resources, including gender-affirming care when applicable.”
It also prohibits “attempts to convince LGBTQIA+ children/youth to reject or modify their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression” or “impose … personal, cultural, and/or religious beliefs on children and families involved with the Department.” By signing the document, foster parents must also agree to use a child’s preferred pronoun and name.
The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families prohibits religious discrimination against parents seeking to foster children in the foster application process. Yet, for the Schrocks and Joneses, affirming a child’s gender confusion and desire to “transition” violates their faith.
On the families’ behalf, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed suit on the grounds of violations against the First and 14th Amendments.
Of all 50 states, Massachusetts has the third-highest number of foster care placement changes for kids in the system each year, with 47% having more than two changes yearly, according to the Massachusetts Foster Care Survey, conducted by HopeWell. Between 8,000-10,000 children are in Massachusetts’ foster care system, according to HopeWell. State records from 2023 revealed the state was renting rooms and apartments for social workers to supervise foster children because of a shortage of group home beds and foster homes.
“Massachusetts’ foster care system is in crisis: The commonwealth has more than 1,400 children who are waiting to be placed with a loving family,” said ADF Senior Counsel Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse. “Yet Massachusetts is putting its ideological agenda ahead of the needs of these suffering kids.”
Motivated by their belief that God calls believers to love and take care of orphans, the Schrock family, who attend church weekly, sought foster care licensing and were licensed in 2019 before being denied in 2025 by Massachusetts. The family fostered 28 children in the state. The Joneses currently foster a 17-month-old girl, now at risk at being taken from their home.
“This is a particularly egregious case because the Joneses care for a little girl who is happy and healthy in the only home she’s ever known,” said Widmalm-Delphonse. “Now just because of the Joneses’ commonly held religious beliefs, the commonwealth says the Joneses are unfit to parent and is threatening to uproot this little child. That’s not putting children first, and that’s why we’re suing the commonwealth in federal court.”
Massachusetts has banned other religious families from fostering children, including Mike and Kitty Burke, a Catholic couple who believe in the Biblical view of gender. The couple filed suit in August 2023. The case is ongoing.