South Carolina governor celebrates court victories preserving faith-based foster care partnerships
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Governor Henry McMaster celebrated what he considered victories in the courtroom.
The South Carolina governor faced two lawsuits centered around allowing the state to partner with faith-based foster care ministries. And in both cases, the U.S. District Court ruled in his favor.
"These two rulings from the U.S. District Court represent significant wins for religious liberty and South Carolina's faith-based organizations like Miracle Hill, which will be able to continue their crucial mission of connecting children in foster care with loving homes," McMaster said. "These victories will directly benefit countless children by further ensuring that faith-based organizations will not be forced to abandon their beliefs to help provide critical services to our state's youth."
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The statement released by the governor said that in two opinions, the federal court protected the state's freedom to partner with faith-based agencies that serve children.
South Carolina works directly with families seeking to foster and adopt children in crises, serving children and families from all backgrounds, according to the statement released by the governor's office.
The state also partners with an array of private agencies that help support more families of foster children.
“This is a major victory for the children in South Carolina’s foster care system who were at risk of losing out on loving homes,” said Lori Windham, vice president and senior counsel at Becket.
“The attempt to shutter faith-based foster care agencies and decrease the number of foster homes for these kids violated the law and common sense. We are glad that South Carolina stood up for foster children and faith-based agencies and that the court protected them.”
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