A married couple from Vermont, Melinda Antonucci and Casey Mathieu, has successfully reclaimed their foster care license after reaching a settlement with the state concerning their ideological beliefs about child gender transitioning. Their foster care license had been revoked by the Vermont Department for Children and Families (DCF) after they expressed personal reservations regarding transgender treatments for children. The couple was required to participate in LGBTQ+ training as part of their license process, which they contested as an infringement on their beliefs.

During the dispute, they were supported by the Center for American Liberty, a civil liberties organization that litigated on their behalf, arguing that Vermont was imposing an ideological screening process that infringed upon the couple’s freedom of speech and parental rights. The lead attorney, Josh Dixon, stated that the state's actions were an attempt to dictate the necessary ideology for fostering children, effectively conditioning the ability to care for vulnerable kids on their compliance with state-preferred views.

The settlement reached not only reinstates the couple's foster care license but is also seen as a victory for the protection of constitutional rights in the context of child welfare services. This ruling could have broader implications for how states enforce training and licensing requirements in foster care, particularly in matters involving sensitive topics like gender identity and expression, which are increasingly hotly debated across the United States.