I write to object to the new regulation proposed by the Dept. of Social Services.  Every child deserves to have both a Mom and Dad.  The regulation being considered would deny children that right.  Kids who are already suffering don't need another obstacle to their future happiness and wholeness.  Passage of this new regulation would drive religious foster care and adoption agencies out of business, as has already happened in Boston.  If an agency provides good parents for children, that agency should be embraced,not rejected by the State of Virginia.  The message of exclusion you will send to children with strong religious identities, as well as to potential foster and adoptive parents, is unconscionable and destructive.  Please reconsider proposed passage of these new guidelines in favor of maintaining the present norms.  Thank you.