A circuit court judge has overturned an Arkansas state policy banning the placement of foster children in any household with a gay adult, saying the state agency that created it had unconstitutionally overstepped its bounds.
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Timothy Fox ruled Dec. 29 that the Arkansas Child Welfare Agency Review Board could not enforce the policy.
This is because the agency has no authority under the Arkansas Constitution to regulate “public morality,” the judge said.
The foster-care ban was the only one of its kind in the nation. But Arkansas law does not ban gays and lesbians from adopting children permanently.
Arkansas legislators endowed the child welfare agency with the responsibility to “promote health, safety and welfare of children,” Fox said.
However, he added, the ban on gay foster parents and household members did nothing to further that goal.
Fox said the ban was a bureaucratic attempt to influence public policy on issues that go beyond child welfare.
(ABP)
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