Dear Board Members: 

I am a gay father of three children and the grandfather of one.  Families today, as they always have, come in all different shapes and forms.  When you decide with whom a child should be placed, the best interests of the child should be the sole factor in deciding whether a child should be placed with a prospective foster care or adoptive parent or parents.

Discrimination against a child or his/her prospective parents based on race, national origin, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, political beliefs, sexual orientation, disability and family status should not be allowed by State-licensed agencies.

The State Board of Social Services should restore to the final rules the protections against such discrimination included in the proposed rules.  Please focus on the child who needs the love and caring that foster or adoptive parents can give.