TACOMA, Wash. – To settle a lawsuit brought by a Washington state couple, state officials agreed to a permanent injunction allowing religious families to serve as foster parents without promoting gender ideology.
Washington’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families has agreed to settle a second lawsuit over its policies excluding religious families. It previously settled a lawsuit brought by a couple seeking to care for their great-granddaughter. The state subsequently enacted a new policy requiring all families to use a child’s chosen pronouns. The state then declined to issue Shane and Jennifer DeGross a full license under this policy because of the couple’s religious objections to socially “transitioning” children that may be placed in their care. The DeGrosses are represented by ADF attorneys.
“Washington’s policy failed to respect religious diversity because it singled out applicants with traditional religious beliefs on the sanctity of the human body,” said ADF Senior Counsel Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse. “The DeGrosses merely asked to be treated the same as any other family—without being asked to compromise their core beliefs. This is a win-win because it will ensure more families can serve as foster parents to help meet the needs of every precious child in Washington’s foster-care system. We are thrilled to see common sense and religious liberty prevail.”
As part of the settlement agreement, DCYF officials will revise their licensing policies to respect all religious families’ deeply held convictions and won’t “attach[] any conditions or restrictions to the license solely because of their religious beliefs, including speech and actions pertaining to marriage, gender, or sexual relationships.” State officials also agreed to pay $250,000 in attorneys’ fees to settle the case, DeGross v. Senn.
The settlement comes on the heels of a federal district court ruling declaring that the state’s licensing rule requiring foster parents to “transition” foster children plausibly violated the First Amendment.
The DeGrosses served as loving foster parents for nine years before Washington enacted its new regulation. They then lost their license in 2022 because they could not certify that they could comply with the rule’s requirements on chosen pronouns. The DeGrosses sued state officials in 2024 for religious discrimination, and Washington subsequently allowed them to re-apply for their license.
But after an onerous renewal process, officials declined to issue the DeGrosses a standard license solely because the DeGrosses believe that a child should embrace, and not reject, their biological sex. Instead, the state prohibited the DeGrosses from foster-care placements for any child over five years old unless they agreed to abandon their religious convictions. As part of the settlement, Washington will remove its regulation on using chosen pronouns.
Washington Civil & Disability Advocate Founder and Head Attorney Conrad Reynoldson, one of more than 5,200 attorneys in the ADF Attorney Network, is serving as local counsel on behalf of the DeGross family.
- Pronunciation guide: Widmalm-Delphonse (VEED’-malm Del-FONS’)
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
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