A Place of Respect: A Guide for Group Care Facilities Serving Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Youth

This guide offers group care facilities information and tools to provide transgender and gender non-conforming youth with appropriate and informed care. It  describes laws requiring facilities to protect these  youth from harassment and abuse and to provide them with appropriate medical care. This publication assists staff in understanding the experiences and concerns of transgender and  gender non-conforming youth, and responding to these youths’ safety,  programmatic, and health care needs.

National Center for Lesbian Rights and Sylvia Rivera Law Project (2011)

Caring for LGBTQ Children & Youth: A Guide for Child Welfare Providers

This booklet was developed to provide information about the care and support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning children and youth.  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.

Human Rights Campaign  (n.d)

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)

Guidelines for Managing Information Related to the Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity and Expression of Children in the Child Welfare System

This publication was developed in conjunction with the Putting Pride into Practice Project (“P4”), a three-year effort undertaken by Family Builders by Adoption, in partnership with the California Department of Social Services, to implement CWLA’s Best Practice Guidelines for Serving LGBT Youth in Out of Home Care in several county child welfare systems in California. The project provides training and technical assistance to build agency capacity and improve organizational competency through leadership and policy development, community and constituency engagement, and recruitment, training and support of placement resources.

Family Builders, Legal Services for Children, National Center for Lesbian Rights, Center for the Study of Social Policy (2013)

Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming People

Psychologists who work with transgender or gender nonconforming people should seek to provide acceptance, support and understanding without making assumptions about their clients’ gender identities or gender expressions, according to practice guidelines adopted during the American Psychological Association’s 123rd Annual Convention.

American Psychological Association (2015)

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.

Los Angeles LGBT Center: Recognize. Intervene. Support. Empower (RISE)

RISE offers comprehensive care coordination through a Care Coordination Team (CCT). The CCT partners with families of LGBTQ youth ages 5 and older and focuses on barriers to permanency. RISE also includes an outreach and relationship-building component to support public and private agencies in working with LGBTQ youth. This component includes a three-hour LGBTQ foundation training, a three-hour social work practice with LGBTQ training for foster parents and kinship care, and organizational coaching.

Wilson et al, 2016

Model Anti-Harassment and Nondiscrimination Policy for Child Welfare or Juvenile Justice Agencies

This model anti-harassment and non-discrimination policy is for child welfare and juvenile justice agencies who wish to adopt a policy that would prohibit all forms of harassment, create a safe environment for all youth and service providers, and ensure that all youth have equal access to all available services, placement, care, treatment, and benefits provided by the agency.

National Center for Lesbian Rights (2006)