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All Children-All Families: Training Curriculum

As part of the broader All Children-All Families initiative, the curriculum is intended to provide expert LGBTQ competency support that can be customized based on the needs of the organization. The curriculum includes 1) An Introduction to LGBTQ Competency for Child Welfare Professionals, 2) Best Practices for Serving LGBTQ Families, and 3) Best Practices for Serving LGBTQ Youth in Foster Care. The training is supported through a fee-for-service with an average cost approximately $1,500 per trainer per day.

Human Rights Campaign

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Caring for LGBTQ Children & Youth: A Guide for Child Welfare Providers

This booklet was developed to provide information about the care and support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning children and youth.  Unfortunately, we know LGBTQ youth are disproportionately represented in the child welfare system and often face discrimination and mistreatment in out-of-home care. This guide includes information on terminology and several basic, but key, tips on how to best support and care for LGBTQ children and youth.

Human Rights Campaign  (n.d)

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Fight for Our Girls: Introduction

Through this series, Fight for Our
Girls, the Center for the Study of
Social Policy’s Alliance for Racial
Equity in Child Welfare seeks to radically shift the narrative surrounding girls of color and status offenses from a focus on delinquency and misbehavior to structural discrimination, trauma and youth well-being. This is an introduction to a series of briefs that will promote programs, policies and initiatives aimed at developing a trauma-informed approach to addressing status offenses and supporting the ability of girls of color to thrive.

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Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth within in welfare: Prevalence, risk and outcomes

The purpose of this study was to estimate the population of sexual minority or LGB (lesbian, gay and bisexual) children and youth involved with the child welfare system, and to compare their health, mental health, placement and permanency outcomes to those of non-LGB youth. Data were drawn from the Second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW-II), a nationally representative sample of children who were referred to child welfare due to a report of abuse or neglect over a fifteen month period.  Results indicate that approximately 15.5% of all system involved youth identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual, and that lesbian and bisexual females, and LGB youth of color are both overrepresented within child welfare systems. Although no substantive difference in risk factors, permanency and placement were found between LGB and Non-LGB youth, LGB youth were significantly more likely to meet the criteria for adverse mental health outcomes. Implications for child welfare practice and policy are presented, along with recommendations for future research in this area.

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Safe Havens: Closing the Gap Between Recommended Practice and Reality for Transgender and Gender-Expansive Youth in Out-of-Home Care

This new report offers the first comprehensive analysis of the troubling lack of explicit laws and policies in most states to protect transgender, gender-expansive and gender non-conforming (TGNC) youth in the child welfare, juvenile justice, and runaway and homeless youth systems (“out-of-home care systems”). The report is co-authored by Lambda Legal, Children’s Rights and the Center for the Study of Social Policy.

Lambda Legal, Children’s Rights and the Center for the Study of Social Policy.

 

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Sharing Our Lived Experiences: Eight Tips for Understanding the Two-Spirit/LGBTQ Journey for Native Youth in the Child Welfare System

This fact sheet is intended to assist and support Native youth who may be Two-Spirit and/or LGBTQ (lesbian/ gay/ bisexual/ transgender/ questioning). Native youth in child welfare placements can experience many challenges, including feelings of abandonment, guilt, shame, disconnection from extended family, and many feelings related to unresolved grief and loss due to multi-generational historical traumas.
The goal of this document is to strengthen families in achieving wellness and stability by assisting youth in feeling connected to resources and communities. It is also meant to support healthy identity, healthy development, reduce the risks of suicide and substance abuse, and strengthen ICWA (Indian Child Welfare Act) compliance.