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A woman working in a government foster care system has won a court determination that she should be reinstated months after she was suspended for failing to prevent a Muslim girl from converting to Christianity. 

According to the Christian Institute, which worked on behalf of the woman whose name was withheld to prevent the teen from being identified, the case erupted in November 2008 when the Gateshead Council in the United Kingdom discovered the girl, 16 at the time and of age to make her own faith choices, converted. 

The government agency simply "deregistered" the foster mother, preventing her from participating in her work: service to needy children. 

Now, however, a High Court ruling has reversed the council's actions. 

Nigel Priestley, senior partner with Ridley and Hall of Huddlesfield, explained his client had offered the government agency "every opportunity" to reverse itself. 

"If other people of faith in positions of responsibility find themselves in a similar situation, they should not be frightened of standing up for what they believe," he told the Institute. 

The woman told the organization she was pleased with the result, even thought it's been both traumatic and expensive. 

"The whole thing has been a living nightmare," the women said. "I just want to get my life back. I am negotiating with the local authority to see what proposals they will make to restore my battered financial state." 

She said the precipitous loss of income cost her the farmhouse she had rented to provide for foster children. 

Mike Judge of the Christian Institute said, "There is clearly a lack of understanding about religious rights amongst individuals in Children's Services at Gateshead. All local authorities should take a hard look at this case and ensure they do not repeat Gateshead's mistakes." 

The case developed when, although the girl was 16 and had made up her own mind to change religion, the foster care provider, a Christian who already had worked successfully with dozens of children, was not able to stop her. 

The local government's plan was to keep the girl away from her chosen church – an evangelical Christian assembly – for six months and encourage her to take part in "normal" teen activities. 

According to testimony in the case, the teen already was exploring Christianity before she was placed in the foster home. But when she announced she wanted to be baptized as a Christian, local government officials claimed the foster care giver "failed" to preserve the girl's religion. 

This came, according to reports, even though authorities found before the baptism the girl's emotional needs were being met and the caregiver was showing understanding and respect for the girl's culture. 

The girl had been placed in foster care after allegedly being assaulted by a family member. 

The caretaker testified, "I offered her alternatives. I offered to find places for her to practice her own religion. I offered to take her to friends or family. But she said to me from the word go, 'I am interested in Christianity and I want to come to church." 

Mike Judge commented, "I cannot imagine that an atheist foster carer would be struck off if a Christian child in her care stopped believing in God. This is the sort of double standard which Christians are facing. 

"In recent months we have seen grandparents, a nurse, adoption agencies, firemen, registrars, elderly care homes – and now a foster carer – being punished because of the Christian beliefs they hold. It has to stop," he said.