The Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s All Children – All Families program has created a variety of guides and resources to assist youth-serving professionals on a full range of issues facing LGBTQ+ youth. From how to respond to LGBTQ+ misconceptions all the way through supporting LGBTQ+ youth in foster care. We hope you find the resources below helpful and informative.
To learn more about the All Children – All Families program, please visit hrc.im/acaf, or sign up for our Field Forward newsletter.
LGBTQ+ people live in every county across the U.S. Simply put: if you work in child welfare, you can safely assume that you have LGBTQ+ youth and parents coming through your doors to access services. In fact, LGBTQ+ youth are overrepresented in foster care and LGBTQ+ adults are most likely to be raising children in states with the least amount of legal protections -- not only in places like New York City.
Despite recent progress toward legal and social equality for LGBTQ+ Americans, societal stigma remains strong and LGBTQ+ youth and parents continue to be vulnerable to discrimination. Now -- as some lawmakers work to legalize discrimination against LGBTQ+ youth and parents -- it is perhaps more important than ever for child welfare systems to take action to ensure LGBTQ+ youth and parents receive the services they deserve free from discrimination. This is not only the right thing to do. It is necessary work in order to ensure compliance with federal standards around LGBTQ+ non-discrimination and the best practice recommendations of leading professional associations.
Every single child welfare professional -- from frontline workers to administrators and executives -- has a role to play and this Beginner’s Guide to LGBTQ+ Inclusion is designed to give you ideas of where to start.
As a child welfare professional, you may find yourself confronted with homo/bi/transphobic beliefs and statements from time to time. You may want to stand up for LGBTQ+ people or correct misconceptions but find it difficult to respond to these situations in a confident, effective, and articulate way.
The sample language in this guide was compiled to help you refute harmful misconceptions about LGBTQ+ people, and to do so knowledgeably and confidently.
A pronoun is a word used to refer to either the people who are talking (like “I” or “you”) or a person being talked about in the third person (like “she/her,” “he/him,” and “they/them”). Since some pronouns are gendered (“she/her” and “he/him”), it is important to be intentional about the way we use pronouns as we all work to create as inclusive an environment as possible.
Ask yourself how many times someone has used your name or a pronoun to refer to you today. Chances are this has happened countless times. Now, imagine that your coworker, or a family member, or your doctor or a friend routinely calls you by the wrong pronoun. That would be hard. This is why using a person’s chosen name and pronouns is essential to affirming their identity and showing basic respect. The experience of being misgendered – having someone use the incorrect pronouns to refer to you – can be uncomfortable and hurtful. The experience of accidentally misgendering someone can be difficult for both parties. Routinely asking and providing pronouns helps everyone avoid assumptions and feel comfortable interacting.
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. Also included are resources and helpful websites for more information to competently serve all children and youth in care, including those who may identify as or be perceived as LGBTQ+.
Special thanks to the Alameda County Social Services Agency Department of Children and Family Services. This resource has been adapted from Caring for Alameda County LGBTQ+ Children and Youth, which was prepared by the Alameda County Social Services Agency Department of Children and Family Services’ LGBTQ+ Workgroup.
The "Promising Practices" guide is the first comprehensive, practical tool aimed to help adoption and foster care agencies as well as exchange organizations improve policies and practices that affect their work with LGBTQ+ prospective parents.
It features sample policies and materials, along with tips from leaders of welcoming agencies and exchange organizations, researchers in the field and LGBTQ+ adoptive and foster parents. Topics include leadership and governance; staff training and recruitment strategies; pre-adoption services; home study practices; placement; services for foster parents; post-permanency support for adoptive families and retention of foster families.
“Promising Practices for Serving Transgender & Non-Binary Foster & Adoptive Parents” is a first-of-its-kind comprehensive guide for child welfare professionals seeking to intentionally recruit, certify and support transgender and non-binary adults to serve as resource parents for young people in care. The guide covers key lessons learned through interviews with transgender and non-binary foster and adoptive parents as well as agency administrators from across the U.S.
This guide is intended for a range of audiences inside child welfare agencies and arranged by key areas of need. You can read from front-to-back or jump to specific sections addressing current challenges:
Subscribe to Field Forward, a monthly newsletter from HRC Foundation's All Children - All Families project that offers best practice resources based on challenges and inquiries that you and your peers are currently navigating – allowing you to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to supporting and serving LGBTQ+ youth and families. Each newsletter will also feature the latest child welfare resources, share examples of how agencies like yours are leading the field, and much more!