Kansas senator wants state to pay more to married, heterosexual foster parents

TOPEKA – Sen. Forrest Knox plans to revive a bill he pushed last year that would reward more money to foster parents who are in long-term heterosexual marriages.

He stopped short of calling for a ban on same-sex couples as foster parents, but said research shows “a traditional home with a father and a mother and a committed long-term marriage is the best for meeting the needs of kids.”

“It’s like, duh,” said Knox, R-Altoona. “This is extremely controversial politically, but in terms of meeting needs from kids it’s pretty straightforward.”

Knox chaired a meeting of a special committee on foster care Tuesday that reviewed, among other topics, whether same-sex parents should be allowed to be foster parents.

He arranged for the Rev. Donald Paul Sullins, a professor of sociology at the Catholic University of America, to testify by phone. Sullins is the author of a study published in January that says children raised by same-sex parents are at greater risk for depression and other emotional problems.

Sullins made numerous claims about the correlation between having same-sex parents and a host of mental health problems, but said he didn’t want to be described as saying that children of same-sex parents “are going to be ruined.”

“What we know from children who have been raised by lesbian parents is that they report the loss into adulthood of having a relationship with a father,” he said. “These children who are now adults say ‘our parents were loving in many ways, but we struggle with relating to the opposite sex because we didn’t have that model in our family growing up.’”

‘There’s just no reality to what they’re saying’

Speaking in opposition to Sullins was Clinton Anderson, a researcher with the American Psychological Association, who said no credible scientific research supports the discrimination of foster parents based on sexual orientation.

Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka, questioned Sullins’ credentials, noting his involvement with the Family Research Council, a group considered an anti-gay hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Tom Witt, executive director of the gay rights group Equality Kansas, called the hearing offensive.

“The notion that we’re less fit parents is ridiculous. My own family, our daughter did so well in school both academically and with extracurricular activities that (U.S. Sen.) Pat Roberts nominated her for the Naval Academy,” said Witt, noting that she graduated in the top 10 percent of her class at Wichita East High School. “There’s just no reality to what they’re saying.”

Kansas law does not prevent married same-sex couples, or gays and lesbians who are single, from serving as foster parents, said Phyllis Gilmore, secretary of the Kansas Department for Children and Families. DCF also said it does not track marital status or sexual orientation when it licenses a foster home

Knox said he found it interesting that the state does not consider family structure when it makes foster care placements. He said he thought the committee should review whether it should; the committee made no recommendation on that Tuesday.

He said after the hearing that he probably would make improvements to the bill he pushed last year and offer it again. That bill would have awarded foster care parents higher pay if they met a list of requirements, including being in a heterosexual marriage for seven years and regularly attending a social organization, such as a church. Other requirements were that a couple have no alcohol or tobacco in the home.

Knox recalled a single woman he knows who served as a foster parent. He said she did a great job, but then added, “Do I personally think those kids’ needs would have been better met with a father and a mother in the home? Well, yeah, I think so.”

Utah decision

The hearing comes after controversy in Utah about a judge’s decision, since reversed, to remove a foster child from a lesbian couple.

“I think that the Kansas legislators should have took notice of how much that issue exploded (in Utah),” said Kerry Wilks, a Wichita State University professor and plaintiff in the federal lawsuit that struck down the state’s same-sex marriage ban last year. “There was a backlash, national news talking about how this was ridiculous. I don’t want Kansas to be on that path. We’re better than that.”

Knox said DCF should try to “match kids to homes where their needs are going to be met.”

“So you’ve got somebody of color and you put them in a home — and that’s discrimination — but you’re trying to meet the needs of kids,” he said. “You try to put a child in a home most like where he was taken (from).”

Knox said a shortage of foster parents had forced DCF to “take what you can get.”

This story was originally published November 17, 2015 at 12:16 PM with the headline "Kansas senator wants state to pay more to married, heterosexual foster parents."