Judge orders state take foster child from couple; ‘astounding,’ says Rose Law Group Partner and Director of Family Law Department Kaine Fisher

By Martha Neil | ABA Journal

In a Tuesday ruling that apparently took the state Division of Child and Family Services by surprise, a Utah judge said a 1-year-old girl must be removed from a licensed foster home because the married couple in the home are not heterosexual.

There has been no issue concerning the quality of care provided in the foster home, and DCFS director Brent Platt said state law allows legally married couples to be foster parents, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. The foster parents, April Hoagland and Beckie Peirce, are legally married and had hoped to adopt the girl. She has been with them for three months.

The couple tell KUTV that they plan to get an attorney and appeal the ruling.

Continued: 

“This is just astounding.  You would think this would quickly get straightened out by a higher court. The judge’s close-minded ruling is one issue, but from a more ethical and procedural standpoint, the judge will likely have explain to someone why he felt it appropriate to base his decision on some ridiculous study and then refuse to disclose such authority to the parties.”

~ Kaine Fisher, Rose Law Group partner and family law attorney

UPDATE: A Utah judge has reversed his order removing a foster child from a same-sex couple because of their sexual orientation