PJI Scores Victory for Christian Foster Care Applicants in Oregon

PJI Scores Victory for Christian Foster Care Applicants in Oregon

Court rebukes Oregon for denying foster care license based on Christian beliefs, reaffirming First Amendment protections

SALEM, Ore. - A Christian married couple who were denied a foster care license because their religious beliefs prohibited them from providing "affirming" care to LGBTQ+ children have successfully challenged that denial with the help of Pacific Justice Institute (PJI).

Oregon's Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed a 2022 decision by the state's Department of Human Services (DHS) denying a foster care license to Shawn and Teresa Kellim and remanded the case to DHS for reconsideration. DHS' order denying the Kellims a foster care license openly acknowledged that it was the Kellims' "faith-based refusal to affirm LGBT+ youth … that triggered the Department's decision to end Applicants' certification process."

Ray D. Hacke, PJI's Oregon-based staff attorney, had argued before the administrative law judge whose decision DHS ultimately adopted that, in denying a foster care license to the Kellims, DHS had violated the Kellims' freedoms of religion and speech, which are dually protected under both the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment and the Oregon Constitution. DHS, however, found that the state's interest in protecting the mental health and well-being of LGBTQ+ foster youth justified infringements on the Kellims' freedoms.

DHS' decision left Hacke no choice but to appeal the ruling on the Kellims' behalf.

"In declaring that the need to protect vulnerable foster youth justifies limitations on the Kellims' freedoms of religion and speech, DHS strongly implied not only that foster youth need protection from certain religious teachings, but also from people who believe those teachings," Hacke said. "The First Amendment protects against religious hostility, whether masked or overt. In effectively declaring Christians dangerous to LGBTQ+ foster youth, DHS demonstrated overt hostility toward the Kellims' religious beliefs."

Oregon's Court of Appeals was largely influenced by Bates v. Pakseresht, a decision by the U.S.

Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit involving facts substantially similar to the Kellims' case. The Ninth Circuit's decision in Bates-which came nearly a year after the Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in the Kellims' case in 2024, and which Hacke brought to the court's attention by filing a notice of new authority-overturned a lower court ruling on which DHS heavily relied in its briefing before the Court of Appeals.

The Oregon Court of Appeals' decision also comes on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision earlier this week in Chiles v. Salazar, in which the Court declared that states cannot condition licensure upon applicants' willingness to convey pro-LGBT+ messages.

"This is a long-awaited decision, and I'm thrilled that the Oregon Court of Appeals made the right one," said Brad Dacus. "The Bible calls Christians to care for widows and orphans, and the Kellims stepped up to answer that call. Hopefully, moving forward, DHS will remember that many people who oppose LGBTQ+ ideology do so based on sincerely held religious beliefs and will give them the impartial consideration they deserve."

For more information about this case or Pacific Justice Institute, visit www.pacificjustice.org.

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