PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Catholic Social Services is once again providing foster care services for the City of Philadelphia, even though it still refuses to place children with same-sex couples.
It’s part of an agreement that was approved last month to settle a four-year case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The city also agreed to pay the agency’s $2 million in legal bills.
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The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported the settlement on Tuesday.
When the Supreme Court ruled in June that it was unconstitutional for Philadelphia to halt its contract with Catholic Social Services because the agency discriminates against same-sex couples, that was not the end of the matter, according to Deputy Mayor Cynthia Figueroa.
“We had to be judicially compelled to come to some level of agreement to provide some measure of relief to Catholic Social Services,” she said.
Figueroa said the loss felt devastating, but at least the case was decided narrowly. The high court said the city could have granted the agency a waiver, rather than vacating the city’s non-discrimination provision, so the city worked out the agreement.
“We did not fight or, what I would say in layman’s terms, take the bait to fight it further to assure that we did not erode gains that have been made in LGBTQ communities,” she added.
The city has since removed waivers from its contracts, and, while it now grants Catholic Social Services an exemption, it also required the agency to post a notice on its website that it does not accept same-sex couples, and it must report whether it turns anyone away because of that.