If the Supreme Court rules that cities and states don’t have the power to deny public support to discriminatory foster care agencies, it won’t just set religious freedom back; it will make it more difficult for children stuck in foster care to find forever homes.

During the 1990s, the federal government and many states began aggressively promoting the idea that religious groups, backed by taxpayer funding, could serve as agents of the government in tackling various social problems such as poverty, substance use disorders, homelessness, chronic unemployment and others.