CWLA Best Practice Guidelines: Serving LGBTQ Youth in Out-of-Home Care

This easy-to-use resource contains the first-ever set of comprehensive professional guidelines for how child welfare and juvenile justice professionals can best serve LGBT youth in state care. The Best Practice Guidelines for Serving LGBT Youth in Out of Home Care developed out of recommendations from the Model Standards Project, a collaboration between Legal Services for Children and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

Child Welfare League of America (2006)

Ensuring Competent Residential Interventions for Youth with Diverse Gender and Sexual Identities and Expressions

This paper focuses on the many issues faced in the field in providing quality residential interventions for youth of sexual diversity, including sexual orientation and gender identity. For lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, and two-spirit (LGBTQI2-S) youth in residential care, open expression of sexuality or gender identity can be a significant challenge, with many barriers faced both within the program and in the community at large. This paper provides guidelines and strategies for serving and supporting LGBTQI2-S youth, building on the efforts of programs that have successfully created “sexual and gender minority-positive” cultures.

American Association of Children’s Residential Centers (2014)

Latinx LGBTQ+ Immigrant Youth: A Provider Fact Sheet

This Each Mind Matters fact sheet was created as a resource for service providers, including nonprofit staff, community-based organizations, health care professionals, and other providers. It provides an introduction to the unique challenges faced by Latinx LGBTQ+ immigrant youth, relevant resources, and best practices. In English and Spanish.

Teen SENSE: Model Sexual Health Care Standards for Youth in State Custody

This resource reflects the minimum requirements that facilities should meet in order to appropriately address the sexual health care needs of youth in the state’s care. Youth should be provided with confidential, culturally competent care including physical and mental health screenings; universal offers of STI and HIV testing; written information, counseling, and treatment related to pregnancy, STI and HIV transmission and prevention, and sexual violence; and ongoing care and discharge planning related to sexual and reproductive health.

The Center for HIV Law and Policy (2012)