Foster Care Agency Charged With Religious Discrimination

A Muslim woman, with the help of the ACLU of Maryland, has filed a complaint with the Baltimore City Community Relations Commission charging that a state-licensed agency refused her application to house foster children because she will not serve pork products in her home. According to an ACLU press release, Contemporary Family Services, an organization that places foster children, denied Tashima Crudup's application for a foster care license on the ground that exclusion of pork products from her home could create a discrepancy between her expectations and the needs and personal views of a foster child. Cudrup had finished a mandatory 50 hours of training for foster parents. She and her husband agreed that they would accept children of other religious faiths, would not impose their own religious faith on them and would make arrangements for the child to attend the church of his or her choice. ACLU says that the foster care agency has discriminated against Cudrup because of her religious beliefs, in violation of a Baltimore City Code, Chap. 4, Sec. 3-4.