Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Report says states failing trans, gender-expansive, gender-nonconforming youth
From a Center for the Study of Social Policy nrews release
2017-04-23

This article shared 675 times since Sun Apr 23, 2017
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email


( New York, April 24, 2017 ) — A new report published today, Safe Havens: Closing the Gap Between Recommend Practice and Reality for Transgender and Gender-Expansive Youth in Out-of-Home Care, 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.

While in most places state law, policy and practice must catch up with professional standards and requirements of federal law, a growing number of providers are turning recommended practice into reality to the benefit of TGNC youth in their care. Ashley, a transgender girl in an affirming program in the southeast who contributed to the report, says "Now that I feel safer, I don't have to worry about all of these other things. I'm able to focus on my future and doing the things I need to do to be successful."

Child advocates and other experts have long observed that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer ( LGBTQ+ ) youth—and TGNC youth in particular—are dramatically overrepresented in out-of-home care systems compared to the general population and too often face harsh treatment and discrimination in programs designed to help them. These issues are particularly acute for TGNC youth, because of the way out-of-home care systems define and segregate youth on the basis of sex ( or gender ).

"It's critical for policymakers, administrators and service providers as they do essential reform work to these systems to listen to the voices of TGNC youth to ensure their safety and well-being. TGNC youth face unique challenges when they come into contact with out-of-home care systems because most placements and facilities are sex-specific and too often don't affirm their identities," said Currey Cook, Lambda Legal's Director of the Youth in Out-of-Home Care Project and co-author of the report.

The report profiles and provides recommendations from six TGNC youth who experienced affirmation in out-of-home care systems and four providers — a family acceptance program, a shelter for homeless youth, a detention facility and a foster care agency — who affirm TGNC youth in their programs.

Key findings from the report's fifty-state analysis of state law, policy, and licensing regulations include:

ï申 Only 27 states and D.C. explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identity in non-discrimination protections specific to the child welfare system; only 21 states and D.C. do so in their juvenile justice systems; and only 12 states and D.C. do so in their facilities serving runaway and homeless youth.

ï申 Only three states in the nation define sex ( or gender ) to include gender identity, and only one of those does so in a regulation specific to out-of-home care even though all states use these terms in law governing housing, clothing and body searches.

ï申 Only four states have statutory or regulatory guidance regarding placement of transgender youth in accordance with their gender identities in out-of-home care.

ï申 Twenty-four states provide no explicit statute or regulation that would allow TGNC youth to dress and express themselves in accordance with who they are in their child welfare systems; forty states provide no such allowance in their juvenile justice systems; and thirty-four states provide no such allowance in their homeless and runaway youth facilities.

"Too many young people are not sleeping safely at night, despite the fact that our Constitution enshrines the right to be protected and treated equally in state care," said Christina Remlin," Children's Rights Lead Attorney and co-author of the report. "It is our hope that states, agencies and providers will embrace the wise counsel of TGNC youth themselves and heed the call to prioritize their safety and well-being."

New York and California are the only states to have comprehensive protections in place to protect LGBQ and TGNC youth across all of their out-of-home care systems. In contrast, Alaska and North Carolina provide no explicit protections for LGBQ or TGNC youth in any of their out-of-home care systems.

"Too often, out-of-home systems of care that are supposed to protect transgender and gender expansive children and youth in their care end up replicating the same harmful discrimination or abuse that these young people experienced outside of these systems," said Bill Bettencourt, director of CSSP's getR.E.A.L ( Recognize, Engage, Affirm, Love ) Initiative. "Policy and practice reform that emphasize healthy sexual orientation and gender identity development is needed to ensure that all young people are supported and affirmed throughout their involvement with out-of-home systems."

The report ends with recommendations for eliminating barriers to affirming treatment for TGNC youth, including:

ï申 States must adopt comprehensive and explicit statutory, regulatory, and policy protections for TGNC youth, such as defining sex ( or gender ) as inclusive of gender identity; requiring placement in accordance with gender identity; eliminating sex ( or gender ) from regulations regarding clothing, grooming, and expression; among others.

ï申 Agencies and providers must require affirming placement and classification procedures; promote healthy gender identity development and expression; mandate affirming gender-responsive programming and activities while in care; and provide clear and ongoing training and competency requirements for staff.

ï申 Advocates and administrators must utilize existing protections to ensure that children and youth are treated fairly, while proactively working to develop law and policies so protection is explicit and complete.

ï申 TGNC youth must be engaged to ensure that their voices are part of policy development and so their experiences can serve as examples to guide life-changing system improvements.

Read the full findings from the Safe Havens report here www.lambdalegal.org/safe-havens. To learn more about Lambda Legal's Youth in Out-of-Home Care project visit http://www.lambdalegal.org/issues/youth-in-out-of-home-care

Lambda Legal is the nation's oldest and largest legal organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and everyone living with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work. Lambda Legal's Youth in Out-of-Home Care Project raises awareness and advances reform on behalf of LGBTQ youth in child welfare, juvenile justice and homeless systems of care. The project aims to increase the will and capacity of youth-serving organizations to prepare and support LGBTQ youth as they transition from adolescence to independence.

Children's Rights: Every day, children are harmed by America's broken child welfare, juvenile justice, education, and healthcare systems. Through strategic advocacy and legal action, Children's Rights holds governments accountable for keeping kids safe and healthy. Since 1995, the non-profit has secured court orders to achieve critical reforms in more than a dozen child welfare systems throughout the country, and has helped hundreds of thousands of children. www.childrensrights.org

The Center for the Study of Social Policy ( CSSP ) is a national policy organization that works with policymakers and communities across the country to improve the lives of the most vulnerable children and families. CSSP's getR.E.A.L ( Recognize. Engage. Affirm. Love ) initiative is designed to help transform child welfare policy and practice to promote the healthy sexual and identity development of all children and youth.


This article shared 675 times since Sun Apr 23, 2017
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Nex Benedict's autopsy report released 2024-03-27
- The full autopsy report for Nex Benedict (he/they)—a 16-year-old transgender and Indigenous student from Oklahoma's Owasso High School who died in February a day after a school fight—has been released. The Oklahoma Office of the Chie ...


Gay News

An interstate trans healthcare crisis: Illinois prepares for influx of people seeking gender-affirming care 2024-03-26
- With hard-won rights, such as access to hormone replacement therapy or permission to use one's chosen pronouns in school, breaking down in states across the country, trans residents of all ages are left with a choice: ...


Gay News

No charges filed in Nex Benedict fight; campaigns call for Walters' removal 2024-03-22
- In Oklahoma, Tulsa County District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler announced that no charges will be filed in connection with the fight that happened the day before transgender, nonbinary high school student Nex Benedict died by suicide, NBC ...


Gay News

JP Karliak morphs into non-binary character for Disney+'s X-Men '97 2024-03-22
- series X-Men '97, a revival of the popular X-men: The Animated Series that's both continuing the ongoing mutant storyline and breaking new ground along the way. The character of Morph now looks more like the comic ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Va. marriage bill, AARP, online counseling, Idaho items, late activist 2024-03-21
- Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed bills protecting same-sex marriages at a state level, surprising some, WRIC reported. The bills—passed out of both chambers along mostly party lines—will require clerks ...


Gay News

Almost 8% of U.S. residents identify as LGBTQ+ 2024-03-16
- The proportion of U.S. adults identifying as LGBTQ+ continues to increase. LGBTQ+ identification in the U.S. continues to grow, with 7.6% of U.S. adults now identifying as LGBTQ+, according to the newest Gallup poll results that ...


Gay News

WORLD Leaked messages, Panama action, author dies at 32, Japan court, out athletes 2024-03-15
- Hundreds of messages from an internal chat board for an international group of transgender health professionals were leaked in a report and framed as revealing serious health risks associated with gender-affirming care, including cancer, according to ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Missouri measure, HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, judge, Texas schools 2024-03-15
- In Missouri, a newly proposed law could charge teachers and counselors with a felony and require them to register as sex offenders if they're found guilty of supporting transgender students who are socially transitioning, CNN noted. ...


Gay News

College athletes sue NCAA over transgender policies 2024-03-15
- Former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines was among a group of college athletes who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on March 14, accusing it of violating their Title IX rights by allowing trans swimmer Lia Thomas ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Lady Gaga, 'P-Valley,' Wendy Williams, Luke Evans, 'Queer Eye,' 'Transition' 2024-03-15
- Lady Gaga came to the defense of Dylan Mulvaney after a post with the trans influencer/activist for International Women's Day received hateful responses, People Magazine noted. On Instagram, Gaga stated, "It's appalling to me that a ...


Gay News

SPORTS Red Stars prepare to kick off NWSL season against Utah Royals 2024-03-15
- It's been a busy winter for the Red Stars, and it's time to put their work to the test. Following a last place finish in the 2023 NWSL season, Chicago has had an active offseason transforming ...


Gay News

LGBTQ+ people attacked by mobs in Greece 2024-03-14
- Just weeks after a landmark law granted same-sex couples in Greece the right to marry, nearly 200 people dressed in black chased a transgender couple through the town square in Thessaloniki, the country's "second city" and ...


Gay News

Howard Brown experts discuss advocacy and allyship for Chicago's trans community 2024-03-14
By Alec Karam - Howard Brown Health's Trans & Gender Diverse People's Rights & Patient Care panel convened March 12 to discuss both resources for—and opportunities to provide allyship to—the city's trans and gender diverse communities. The event hos ...


Gay News

UPDATE: Nex Benedict's death ruled a suicide; family responds 2024-03-13
- A medical examiner's report concluded that the cause of death of Oklahoma student Nex Benedict (he/they) was suicide, media reports confirmed. Benedicta 16-year-old transgender studentdied Feb. 8, a day after ...


Gay News

"X" gender marker now available on Illinois driver's licenses and state ID cards 2024-03-11
- After several years of preparation, the Illinois Secretary of State's office is has been making the X gender designation available for non-binary residents and others not utilizing the M or F designations, since the beginning of ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.