Police officers received a 911 call about two little girls in diapers getting wet in the rain in their backyard, screaming for their parents. However, they found something much worse when they got there.
Catholic Social Services (CSS) is a faith-based foster care agency that has served the City of Philadelphia for over 100 years. In March 2018, city officials targeted the agency over its religious beliefs about marriage, forcing the agency to either agree to certify same-sex couples as foster parents or end its foster care services. Since CSS would not agree to violate its religious beliefs by certifying same-sex foster parents, the city ended its partnership with CSS. As a result, dozens of CSS’s foster homes sit empty even as the city faces an unprecedented foster care crisis.