New York Agrees to Pay $250K to End Lawsuit With Christian-Based Adoption Agency

New York State officials have agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a discrimination-based lawsuit against a non-profit adoption and pregnancy resource center.

In 2018, New York State’s Office of Children and Family Services targeted the Christian non-profit group, New Hope Services Facility, and threatened to close operations if they did not reverse their policy of placing children only in homes where there was a married man and woman. The state argued that the non-profit facility’s religious policy was discriminatory against LGBT couples.

New Hope facility is both an adoption agency and a pregnancy resource center providing counseling and support for individuals who are looking for options. The facility operates without government funding and is instead funded through its ministry, individual donors, and private grants.

The non-profit was represented by lawyers from the advocacy group, Alliance Defending Freedom. Senior Counsel Roger Brooks with the ADF argued that “New Hope is a private religious ministry that doesn’t take a dime from the government. Shutting down an adoption provider for its religious beliefs—needlessly and unconstitutionally reducing the number of agencies willing to help—benefits no one—certainly not children.” Brooks added, “New Hope’s faith-guided services don’t coerce anyone and do nothing to interfere with other adoption providers who have different beliefs about family and the best interests of children. The decision from the court simply allows New Hope to continue serving the community so that more kids find permanent homes, more adoptive parents welcome a new child, and more birth parents enjoy the exceptional support that New Hope has offered for decades.”

Brooks went on to argue that the state’s allegations were nothing more than violations of the nonprofit’s First Amendment rights.

In September 2022, a federal court granted New Hope’s request for a preliminary injunctionpreliminary injunctionA preliminary injunction is a temporary court order issued before a case is finally decided that requires a party to take or stop an action while the litigation continues. Federal courts generally consider the likelihood of success, irreparable harm, the balance of equities, and the public interest before granting one.Read more → to allow them to continue working with infants with disabilities and other factors that made them “hard to place” in permanent homes.

In granting that request for a preliminary injunction, the federal district court permanently prevented the state from going after the nonprofit and enforcing state law “insofar as it would compel New Hope to process applications from, or place children for adoption with, same-sex couples or unmarried cohabitating couples, and insofar as it would prevent New Hope from referring such couples to other agencies.”

The order from the federal district court came after a temporary order was issued in October 2020 after the US Court of Appeals for the second circuit ruled in favor of the non-profit organization. The case was sent back to the district court for further processing.

Following news of the settlement win, New Hope Family Services Executive Director Kathy Jerman shared, “Every child deserves a home with a loving mother and father who are committed to each other.” Jerman adds, “New Hope walks with adoptive families and birth parents alike to place children with adoptive families. It’s regrettable that New York ever threatened to shut down our adoption services, through which we have placed more than 1,000 children with adoptive families since we began in 1965. We live in a diverse state, and we need more adoption providers, not fewer. We’re grateful this case has reached a favorable end that allows us to keep serving children and families.”