{"id":13190,"date":"2025-12-21T13:10:33","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T13:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=13190"},"modified":"2025-12-21T13:10:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T13:10:33","slug":"massachusetts-backs-down-allows-christian-couples-to-do-foster-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=13190","title":{"rendered":"Massachusetts Backs Down, Allows Christian Couples to Do Foster Care"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Reading Time:<\/span> 4<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

(LIFENEWS) \u2013 Thanks to a lawsuit from a pro-life organization, the liberal state of Massachusetts has been forced to allow Christian couples to do foster care.\n<\/p>\n

Find out when your state prays<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

As LifeNews previously reported, a\u00a0devout Christian couple in Massachusetts lost their foster care license after refusing to sign a state policy requiring them to affirm foster children\u2019s fake gender identities.\n<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a decision the pair says forces them to choose between their faith and caring for vulnerable infants.\n<\/p>\n

Lydia and Heath Marvin, who have fostered eight children under age 4 since 2020 \u2014 many with serious medical needs \u2014 were told by the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families in April that their license would not be renewed because they declined to agree to the policy\u2019s clause promoting LGBTQ. The requirement mandates that foster parents \u201csupport, respect, and affirm a foster child\u2019s sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression,\u201d according to the couple.\n<\/p>\n

The Marvins, parents of three biological children, said the stipulation conflicts with their religious beliefs rooted in Christianity.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were told you must sign the form as is or you will be delicensed,\u201d Lydia Marvin told WBZ-TV. \u201cWe will absolutely love and support and care for any child in our home, but we simply can\u2019t agree to go against our Christian faith in this area.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

The couple connected with Alliance Defending Freedom and filed suit against the state. As Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse tells LifeNews.com today, the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families ebacted a policy change in response.\n<\/p>\n

The move comes after ADF attorneys filed the federal lawsuit\u00a0Jones v. Mahaniah\u00a0in September on behalf of two religious families challenging a regulation that excluded them from foster care because of their commonly held beliefs about human sexuality. In September, federal officials from the Administration for Children and Families also sent Massachusetts a letter asking them to withdraw the unconstitutional policy.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cMassachusetts has told us that this new regulation will no longer exclude Christian and other religious families from foster care because of their commonly held beliefs that boys are boys and girls are girls,\u201d he said. \u201cOur clients\u2014loving, caring foster families who have welcomed vulnerable children into their homes\u2014as well as many other families affected by this policy, are eager to reapply for their licenses.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Widmalm-Delphonse continued: \u201cThis amendment is a step in the right direction and we commend Massachusetts officials for changing course. But this case will not end until we are positive that Massachusetts is committed to respecting religious persons and ideological diversity among foster parents.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Marvins\u2019 home in Woburn had been outfitted with cribs, play areas and baby monitors to accommodate the young children they cared for, including one infant who required medical attention every few hours and lived with them for 15 months.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery night for 15 months, we were up at least three times,\u201d Lydia Marvin said. \u201cWe certainly thought we would have young children in our home for \u2026 we didn\u2019t know how long, but we were not done.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Heath Marvin described their motivation as driven by Biblical principles, citing the Book of James: \u201c[The Book of James] says that true, undefiled religion is to care for the fatherless.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

The Department of Children and Families did not comment on the Marvins\u2019 case, citing ongoing litigation, but a spokesperson told The Boston Globe that foster homes serve as \u201ca refuge from serious child abuse and neglect and a place for children to heal.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Department of Children and Families works in partnership with foster parents to understand a child\u2019s trauma and to meet their physical and emotional needs by providing safe, consistent, and supportive relationships to thrive,\u201d the spokesperson said.\n<\/p>\n

The Marvins\u2019 situation highlights a growing tension in the liberal state\u2019s foster system, where about 30% of the 8,000 to 9,000 children in care identify as LGBTQ, a clear sign of the contagion that is affecting today\u2019s youth. Yet Massachusetts faces chronic shortages, with only about 5,500 licensed foster parents, and nearly half of foster children moved more than twice a year \u2014 one of the nation\u2019s worst stability rates.\n<\/p>\n

The state also ranks fifth-highest in children placed in group homes and fourth-highest in reported abuse within foster care.\n<\/p>\n

From a pro-life standpoint, the decision by DCF prioritizes ideological conformity over the urgent needs of medically fragile infants and toddlers, effectively sidelining dedicated caregivers who could provide stable, loving homes without government-mandated affirmation of gender theories that many Christians view as incompatible with scriptural teachings on human biology and identity.\n<\/p>\n

The Marvins, described by their own DCF social worker as \u201cuniquely dedicated\u201d parents willing to take in children others decline, appealed the revocation but lost. Their home now sits unusually quiet.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cNow it seems like there\u2019s no path forward,\u201d Lydia Marvin said. \u201cWe certainly thought we would have young children in our home for a long time. We weren\u2019t done having young children.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe weren\u2019t just going to say we care for the fatherless and widows and give money to some entity. We were actually going to do it ourselves, together as a family, and our kids would be a part of that,\u201d she added.\n<\/p>\n

The case has drawn federal scrutiny. Last week, the Trump administration\u2019s Acting Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families, Andrew Gradison, sent a letter to DCF condemning the policy and naming the Marvins.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThese policies and developments are deeply troubling, clearly contrary to the purpose of child welfare programs, and in direct violation of First Amendment protections,\u201d Gradison wrote.\n<\/p>\n

Two other Christian foster families have joined a federal lawsuit against DCF, represented by the Massachusetts Family Institute and Alliance Defending Freedom. The suit contends the state is forcing foster parents to \u201crenounce their beliefs in both speech and practice,\u201d violating religious liberty under the First Amendment.\n<\/p>\n

The Marvins said they are exploring legal options while mourning the potential end of their fostering journey.\n<\/p>\n

What do you think of this article? Share your prayers and scriptures below.<\/h4>\n

This article was originally published at LifeNews.<\/em>
\n \n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time: 4 minutes (LIFENEWS) \u2013 Thanks to a lawsuit from a pro-life organization, the liberal state of Massachusetts has been forced to allow Christian couples to do foster care. Find out when your state prays.\u00a0 \u00a0 As LifeNews previously reported, a\u00a0devout Christian couple in Massachusetts lost their foster care license after refusing to sign<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13191,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[3764,146,72,294,2293,3763],"class_list":{"0":"post-13190","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-prayer","8":"tag-backs","9":"tag-care","10":"tag-christian","11":"tag-couples","12":"tag-foster","13":"tag-massachusetts"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}