State’s Gender Ideology Mandate Excludes Faithful Families Amid Foster Care Crisis
BOSTON — A federal lawsuit filed last week by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorneys accuses Massachusetts of excluding families from foster care based on their religious beliefs, despite a critical shortage of foster homes. The lawsuit, Jones v. Mahaniah, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, represents two families who claim the state’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) revoked or threatened to revoke their foster-care licenses over their faith-based views on gender identity and sexuality.
Massachusetts’ foster care system is grappling with a crisis, with over 1,400 children awaiting placement in loving homes. Yet, the state’s new policy requires all foster parents to affirm a child’s gender identity, including using preferred pronouns and supporting social or medical transitions, regardless of the parents’ religious convictions. This mandate applies universally, even to families caring for infants, relatives, or providing short-term respite care.
“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. Yet Massachusetts is putting its ideological agenda ahead of the needs of these suffering kids,” said ADF Senior Counsel Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse. “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. 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.”
The Jones Family: A Toddler at Risk
Nick and Audrey Jones, licensed foster parents since 2023, have cared for seven children under six, including a 17-month-old girl they’ve raised since she was two months old. The couple, motivated by their Christian faith, provided a nurturing home, and DCF initially deemed their care in the child’s best interest. However, the state now threatens to revoke their license and remove the toddler from their home solely because of their religious stance on gender identity.
The Schrocks: Decades of Service Ended
Greg and Marianelly Schrock, driven by biblical teachings to care for orphans, have fostered 28 children since 2019. Despite their exemplary record, DCF terminated their license in June 2025, citing their beliefs about sexual orientation and gender identity. The Schrocks emphasize they would provide a loving home to any child, including those identifying as LGBT, but cannot comply with a mandate requiring them to affirm gender transitions against their faith.
A Broader Issue
The lawsuit argues that Massachusetts’ policy infringes on the First Amendment by conditioning foster-care licenses on parents renouncing their religious beliefs in speech and practice. Both families assert they would treat any child with respect and care, but the state demands they sign a document pledging to “promote,” “support,” and “affirm” a child’s gender identity or expression, even hypothetically.
Legal Representation
ADF attorneys, alongside Sam Whiting of the Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center and Andrew Nussbaum and James Compton of First & Fourteenth PLLC, are representing the Joneses and Schrocks. The lawsuit seeks to overturn the state’s policy and protect the families’ rights to foster without compromising their faith.
As Massachusetts faces a foster care crisis, the outcome of this case could have significant implications for religious freedom and the well-being of children in need of stable, loving homes.
ThriveNews will continue to follow this story as it develops.
