Media Contact

April 23, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PHOENIX—The ACLU of Arizona applauds Gov. Doug Ducey’s decision to reverse a misguided Department of Child Safety policy instituted in February that prohibited joint foster parenting and adoption by married same-sex couples.

Alessandra Soler, executive director of the ACLU of Arizona said:

“When we learned about this unconstitutional foster care and adoption policy in February, we immediately called on the Department of Child Safety and the Attorney General’s Office to go back to allowing married same-sex couples to be joint foster and adoptive parents. For months, they did nothing to fix their discriminatory policies.

“The ACLU and families across Arizona are grateful that Gov. Ducey took swift action to remedy this problem as soon as he heard about it yesterday. The Department of Child Safety was preventing children in foster care from being placed with loving parents at a time when Arizona’s child welfare system is in crisis. Gov. Ducey’s unapologetically pro-adoption stance is in the best interest of Arizona children and serves to advance the U.S. Constitution’s equal protections principles.”

Gov. Ducey’s announcement, however, does not alter the ACLU of Arizona’s plans to sue the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for turning away same-sex married couples seeking no-cost adoption assistance.

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