1. An Advocate’s Policy Guide for Promoting System Change and Better Outcomes for LGBTQ Youth of Color in Child Welfare
Alexandra Citrin and Rosalynd Erney

2. Desired results Gain understanding of current state regulations
Increase understanding of effective policies for promoting better outcomes for LGBTQ and gender nonconforming youth of color
Engage with others in identifying strategies to better support advocacy efforts for policy change, system reform and client representation
Who’s in the room?

3. presentation overview
Setting the context
Current policy landscape
Opportunities to improve outcomes:
Policy
System reform
Practice
Q&A
Resources

4. What is SOGIE? LGBTQ+ and GNC
Gender Expression
Gender Identity
Sexual Orientation
22.8 percent of young people in out-of-home care identify as LGBQ; 57 percent of these young people are young people of color
19 percent of young people in LA County’s child welfare system identify as LGBTQ+
-also mention different than sexual attraction

5. What is Intersectionality?
Intersectionality: intersection of multiple forms of oppression
Race, gender, sexual orientation, immigration status, etc.
Limited policies, program and practices that are intersectional
Systems are capturing data on gender and race at best, lack nuanced data
Just scratching the surface with race, but we have so much further to go
We’ve spoken about what we know, but what we know gets more limited with it comes to youth’s complex identities

6. Child welfare does not operate in isolation
Public System Involvement: Juvenile Justice, TANF, Mental Health
Homelessness
Families and youth face overlapping systemic barriers (concentrated poverty, access to safe housing, employment)
Intersecting factors have a strong impact on children and youth of color (race, ethnicity, gender identity, immigration status)
Exposure to stress and racial discrimination have lasting negative effects on child and family well- being
Youth are being tracked into other systems based on their SOGIE

7. HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW…
Youth of
Color
LGBTQ+
Child Welfare
57 percent of youth in foster care are youth of color
22.8 percent of children in out-of-home care identify as LGBTQ
57 percent of LGBTQ youth were youth of color
Children and youth of color and those who identify as LGBTQ+ experience poorer outcomes compared to their peers

8. Table Talk: Guiding Questions
How do your clients’ identities impact how they experience placement, school, “normalcy”, etc.?
What do your clients need to thrive?
What barriers exist for your clients? (legal, practice, systemic)

9. WHAT WE KNOW… Connections to Family and Supportive Social Networks
To thrive, all young people need:
Connections to Family and Supportive Social Networks
Support Transition from Care/Aftercare Services
Affirming Placements
Medical and Behavioral Health Care
External Connections
Safe Schools
-These must drive policy and practice

10. Placement regulations
HOW DO WE GET THERE…
Federal policy
State and local policy
Placement regulations
System Reform
Practice Change

11. Federal Policy Landscape
Department of Health and Human Services non- discrimination in federally-funded agencies:
“It is a public policy requirement of HHS that no person otherwise eligible will be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination in the administration of HHS programs and services based on non-merit factors such as age, disability, sex, race, color, national origin, religion, gender identity, or sexual orientation.”
Title IX non-discrimination in education programs or activities
Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data collection

12. State Policy Landscape
Statute or Regulation
Ten states and the District of Columbia explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identity in statutes or regulations specific to their child welfare systems: California, Florida, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, Ohio (uses sexual identity versus gender identity), Rhode Island, and Washington. Florida’s protections cover youth placed in congregate care facilities and are not system-wide.
Agency Policy
Additionally, seventeen states contain explicit sexual orientation and gender identity protections in agency policy (either Department of Health/Human or Social Services or the child welfare agency itself): Connecticut (child welfare), Hawaii (DHS), Idaho (child welfare), Illinois (child welfare), Indiana (child welfare), Iowa (DHS), Maine (child welfare); Maryland (child welfare), Massachusetts (child welfare), Michigan, Minnesota (child welfare), Oregon (DHS), South Dakota (DSS), Tennessee (child welfare),Texas (child welfare), Utah (child welfare), and Vermont.
LGBTQ+ Specific State-Wide Policy
Nine states not only include sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression in their non-discrimination protections, but have an LGBTQ+-specific detailed policy: Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, and Utah. California has issued a statewide transmittal that summarizes the obligations of county systems under state nondiscrimination law, but does not go into further detail.
Nine states have no protection against discrimination on account of sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex or gender in child welfare-specific statute, regulation or policy: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Virginia. Virginia has a so-called conscience clause law, which allows providers receiving government funds to refuse to serve persons if doing so conflicts with their sincerely held religious beliefs.

13. Placement: State licensing regulations
Definitions of sex and gender
Admission procedures and facility licensing
Bedrooms
Clothing
Body searches
Training requirements

14. Table Talk: Guiding Questions
What barriers exist for your clients? (legal, practice, systemic)
Are there ways your clients’ identities are affirmed in practice?

15. Guidance from youth across the country
50+ LGBTQ youth of color involved with child welfare systems
20 jurisdictions, within 16 states
Urban, rural, suburban

16. Child Welfare System Reform
Written communications
Diversity trainings
Employment guidelines
Housing by gender identity
Anti-discrimination policies
Practice framework
Competency training and coaching
SOGIE development
Youth-defined supports
Remove barriers to kinship placement
Family Engagement
Aftercare service contracts
Connecting to LGBTQ-friendly employers
Access to legal resources to change legal identifying documents
Older Youth
Put state examples in the notes

17. Practice Change: Role of Attorneys
Ensure your clients SOGIE is affirmed
Use of personal pronouns
Placement
Signal that you’re committed to holding the system and others accountable
Placement procedures and regulations
Ensure implementation of reasonable and prudent parenting standards
Ensure young people are connected to external supports and services
Connect young people to LGBTQ-friendly employers
Ensure access to legal resources to change legal identifying documents

18. Table Talk: Guiding Questions
What opportunities exist in your practice?
How can you use this information?
What action steps can you take when you get back next week? In the next month?

19. Questions??

20. Additional Resources
Out of the Shadows: Supporting LGBTQ Youth in Child Welfare through Cross-System Collaboration
A Blueprint for Progress: A Policy Guide for Advocates Supporting LGBTQ Youth of Color in Child Welfare Systems
Guidelines for Managing Information Related to the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression of Children in Child Welfare Systems

21. Contact Us Alexandra Citrin, Senior Policy Analyst
(202)
Rosalynd Erney, Policy Analyst