The best interest of the child must be the sole factor in deciding whether a child should be placed with a prospective foster care or adoptive parent(s).  Ensuring that placement decisions are in the best interest of the child will be impossible without a broad anti-discrimination policy that expressly includes race, national origin, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, political beliefs, sexual orientation, disability, and family status.  Therefore, the State Board of Social Services should restore to the final rules the protections against such discrimination included in the proposed rules.