Out of the Margins: A Report on Regional Listening Forums Highlighting the Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Youth in Care

N

4

Welfare Services; Personal Narratives; Negative Attitudes; Youth; Community Resources; Homosexuality; Child Welfare; Strategic Planning; Caregiver Role; School Culture; Rural Urban Differences; Emotional Experience

Between September 2003 and December 2004, the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) and Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund (Lambda) organized Regional Listening Forums in 13 different cities around the country. The objective of these events was to highlight the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth in care. The CWLA/Lambda Regional Listening Forums provided an opportunity for LGBTQ youth in care, and the adults who work with and care for them, to share their experiences and to work together to identify strategies for bringing about lasting change within the child welfare system. Out of the Margins consolidates the responses of the more than 500 youth and adult participants from 22 states who attended the Forums and offered personal stories of actual experiences and concrete solutions for building the capacity of the child welfare system to better meet the needs of LGBTQ young people in care. This report contains the following chapters: (1) Addressing Negative Attitudes About People Who Are LGBTO; (2) Safe and Supportive Placements; (3) Homeless LGBTQ Youth; (4) Community Resources and Services; (5) Issues Facing LGBTQ Youth in Schools; (6) Permanency Planning; (7) Transgender Youth; (8) Bridging the Rural -Urban Divide; (9) Faith-Based Child Welfare Service; (10) Adults Involved with the Child Welfare System; and (11) The Utility of the Regional Listening Forums for Policy, Practice, and Research: A Tripod (A. Chris Downs). The following are appended: (1) Adult Invitation; (2) Youth Invitation; (3) Youth Flyer; (4) Assent Forms; and (5) Listening Forums Outline.

ERIC

2006

ED492067