A group of Illinois Catholic charities that forfeited state foster-care contracts by refusing to place children with civil-union couples will be sending their cases to a new agency, created in response to the legal battle with the state.
The Catholic Diocese of Belleville has split with its charitable arm, the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Belleville, so that the agency can follow civil-union law and continue foster-care work.
The new agency will be called Christian Social Services of Illinois.
"This solution is what is best for the children by providing for their continuity of care and allowing for the retention of the caring, dedicated and professional staff employed by the agency," said Gary Huelsmann, executive director of the new agency, in announcing the split.
Catholic Charities of Belleville, Peoria, Springfield and Joliet filed suit against the state earlier in the year over lost foster-care contracts. The state argued that given the new civil-union law, it could not legally contract with agencies that discriminated against same-sex couples.
The Charities lost that suit and dropped their appeal last week.
A handful of Catholic publications criticized the new agency's intention of placing children with same-sex civil-union couples.
Bernard Cherkasov, CEO of Equality Illinois, said he feels that the resolution brings what is important back into focus.
"Really, what we're talking about is children," he said. "The children won in this case."