Religious foster parents cheer Washington state legal win

A couple settled a lawsuit Wednesday with the state of Washington, where officials had blocked them from fostering children due to their Christian beliefs on sexuality. The settlement will ensure religious families can freely serve as foster parents without compromising their beliefs, said the Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented the parents. State officials agreed to a permanent injunction that removed a policy requiring foster families to use a child’s preferred pronouns.

It was a win for foster families of faith across Washington, and for kids in need of good homes, said Kirsten Waggoner, president of ADF.

How did the case get to this point? In 2022, officials declined to give Shane and Jennifer DeGross a full foster license under Washington state’s pronoun policy. They had served as foster parents for nine years, caring for four children, before Washington enacted the pronoun policy. Officials rejected their foster license when the couple said they wouldn’t encourage a child to alter the child’s own biological sex. The DeGrosses sued the state for religious discrimination in 2024.

As part of the settlement, state officials also agreed to pay $250,000 in attorneys’ fees.

Dig deeper: Read Steve West’s report for Roundups on his conversation with the Degross family about the impact this policy had on their family.