Rep. Craig Reintroduces Legislation to Prevent Discrimination in America’s Adoption and Foster Care Systems

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Representatives Angie Craig (MN-02) and Danny K. Davis (IL-07) and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced legislation to prevent discrimination in America’s adoption and foster care systems and ensure that all children in the foster care system have the opportunity to end up in a loving home. The John Lewis Every Child Deserves a Family Act would also improve services to LGBTQ+ and religious minority youth by prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, and marital status against families and youth in taxpayer-funded child welfare services.

The John Lewis Every Child Deserves a Family Act is named after the late Congressman and civil rights hero John Lewis, an adoptive parent who worked alongside Representative Craig to champion this bill in the 116th Congress.

Reps. Judy Chu (CA-28) and Gwen Moore (WI-04) are also cosponsors of the legislation.

"As an LGBTQ+ adoptive parent and a mother who had to fight in court to adopt my son, I have witnessed firsthand the widespread discrimination in our country's adoption and foster care systems," said Rep. Craig. "No state should allow discrimination against LGBTQ+ foster children or adoptive parents who can provide a safe and loving home. I'm proud to help carry on the late John Lewis' legacy through this critical legislation we crafted together to ensure that LGBTQ+ adoptive parents and children are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve."

The bill is endorsed by Family Equality, the Human Rights Campaign, FosterClub, Lambda Legal, PFLAG, True Colors United and others. 

"Children enter the child welfare system through no fault of their own, and our communities have a shared responsibility to ensure they are cared for with dignity and fairness,” said Darra Gordon, CEO, Family Equality. “This bill is a vital, practical step toward ending discriminatory barriers that prevent thousands of children from finding the safe, loving, and permanent homes they deserve. We thank Rep. Davis and Sen. Gillibrand for their leadership and urge Congress to act swiftly.”

"Every child deserves a safe, loving, and affirming home. But too often, LGBTQ+ youth face unique challenges in the foster care system,” said David Stacy,Vice President of Government Affairs, the Human Rights Campaign. “When youth enter foster care, the State has a responsibility to place them with families that will support them—not exclude them because of who they are or who their caregivers are. That’s why we support the Every Child Deserves a Family Act, which ensures that agencies receiving federal funds cannot discriminate based on religion, marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity."

“LGBTQ+ and Two Spirit children, parents, kin, and families have the right to be free from discrimination and harm while involved with the child welfare system and to be treated with dignity and respect,” said Currey Cook, Senior Counsel, Lambda Legal and Project Director, Youth in Out-of-Home Care. “The John Lewis Every Child Deserves a Family Act is an important step forward to ensure those rights are clear and explicit so children and families can expect and receive fair treatment by a system that too often harms rather than helps.”

“Having grown up and aged out of the foster care system, I know firsthand why this legislation is vital to reducing the number of children who linger in care without a place to call home. Too many children still lack foster families and end up in group homes or residential centers simply because there is nowhere else to place them,” said Schylar Baber, a foster care alum. “I was part of what is now called the generation that waits—removed at age six, denied adoption at age twelve because the prospective parent was an unmarried male, and told I was ‘unadoptable.’ Instead of permanency, I endured years of instability and trauma caused by outdated policies and discrimination. Love eventually prevailed when I was adopted at age 25 by the same person who had been denied years earlier, but that was six years of a home I should never have been denied. We must remove barriers that exclude viable families, because every child deserves permanency, stability, and love.”

Representative Craig was the first LGBTQ+ mother in Congress and serves as a co-chair of the LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus. She is an original cosponsor of the Equality Act. You can learn more about her own adoption struggle here.

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