Ministry supporting sex trafficked girls vindicated after faith hiring row

A Christian ministry in Ohio, which had been excluded from the foster care system, has been reinstated following a legal challenge.

Montgomery County referred teenagers in foster care to Gracehaven, a ministry which supports young women who are victims of sex trafficking. However, after discovering that Gracehaven only employed Christians, the County stopped any further referrals.

Christian ministries in Ohio have a legal right to restrict employment to people who share their faith and ethos, and so the County has reinstated Gracehaven and been ordered to pay the ministry’s legal fees of over $120,000.

Faith is essential

The Director of Gracehaven, Scott Arnold, explained: “Our team of Christian employees is paramount to this work. As we help these girls work through their pain and trauma and move toward living healthy, fulfilling lives, our ability to hire like-minded people of faith to carry out our mission is essential.”

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) Legal Counsel Jake Reed, who supported Gracehaven in their case, commented: “Gracehaven is a force for good, offering comprehensive care, support, and a safe place to call home to the most vulnerable girls in Ohio. We’re pleased to favorably settle this lawsuit. The county agreed that it cannot exclude Gracehaven from the foster care system simply because it hires those who share its faith.”

He concluded: “The government can’t deny public benefits to a Christian ministry that is caring for young survivors of sex trafficking solely because of its religious character and exercise”.

Biblical belief

In Vermont, new guidance for licensing foster parents states that an applicant’s “sincerely held personal, cultural, religious, moral, or philosophical beliefs shall not be considered in the licensing process”, and that candidates are not required to endorse transgender ideology.

The policy change marks the end of a legal battle with Vermont officials launched by two Christian couples — supported by ADF — who had their foster care licences revoked because of their biblical belief that sex is binary and cannot be changed.

Speaking before the Presidential Religious Liberty Commission in March, Pastor Brian Wuoti said: “We told the state that we would love any child who came through our door, and loving a child means speaking the truth in love. We believe every child is wonderfully made, we would never tell a child God made a mistake and that he or she was born in the wrong body.”

He concluded: “The government shouldn’t target parents who embrace the truth that there are only two sexes, equal in worth, different in design.”