sidebar - LGBTQI Juveniles
The Legal Rights of Young People in State Custody: What Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Professionals Need to Know When Working with LGBT Youth
The legal rights of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) youth are discussed through the use of scenarios that show professionals in child welfare and juvenile justice what they may experience working with this population. This paper is divided into four parts: the Constitutional right to safety-- in foster care and juvenile detention and correctional facilities; other constitutional rights-the right to equal protection, and First Amendment rights; state non-discrimination laws; and conclusion. “Agencies and facilities that provide care to youth...
Best Practice Principles: Gay and Lesbian Youth in Care
“For adolescents, developing and integrating their identity can be difficult. For gay and lesbian youth, this task is greatly complicated because they must integrate an identity that diverges from mainstream society ... Gay and lesbian youth need help resolving adolescent identity crises” (p. 1). This article provides guidance for out-of-home care professionals in supporting gay and lesbian youth as they figure out who they are going to be. Best practices tend to cluster around three areas: vulnerability versus empowerment-using inclusive...
A Practitioner's Resource Guide: Helping Families to Support Their LGBT Children
This resource guide provides very important information for individuals helping families with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) children involved with the juvenile justice system. Its intent is to help practitioners “understand the critical role of family acceptance and rejection in contributing to the health and well-being of adolescents who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender ... [and] implement best practices in engaging and helping families and caregivers to support their LGBT children. The family intervention approach discussed in...
Keeping LGBTQ Youth Safe in Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Placements
“Many young people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity (LGBTQ) and in the custody of juvenile justice and delinquency systems are unsafe in their placements and are not receiving appropriate services. Professionals working within these systems must ensure that LGBTQ young people are protected from harm and supported in their development” (p. 1). This publication provides a brief, but very good, explanation of how people working with LGBTQ youth should treat them...
Responding to Sexual Abuse of Youth in Custody: Responding to the Needs of Boys, Girls and Gender Non-Conforming Youth
This is a 24-hour training covering the national Prison Rape Elimination Act Standards and implications for responding to the different needs of boys, girls and gender non-conforming youth who are sexually abused in custody. The following are the goals of this training: (1) review the applicable PREA Standards for responding to sexual abuse in custody and their gender impact; (2) review the dynamics of custodial sexual abuse for boys, girls and gender non-conforming youth; (3) identify the components of adolescent...
Ensuring Access to Mentoring Programs for LGBTQ Youth
"Youth mentoring programs, such as those of 4-H, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Boys and Girls Clubs of America, are an important strategy for supporting at-risk youth and preventing them from becoming entangled with the juvenile justice system. This white paper summarizes research showing that LGBTQ [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning] youth would benefit from access to these programs and makes recommendations for youth mentoring programs and local, state, and federal governments to ensure that access" (p. 1). Four...
Safe & Respected: Policy, Best Practices & Guidance for Serving Transgender & Gender Non-Conforming Children and Youth in the Child Welfare, Detention, and Juvenile Justice Systems
You should be familiar with this report if you work with transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) youth. This guide "offers child welfare and juvenile justice practitioners concrete guidance, strategies for success, and resources that will enable staff to meet the specific needs of TGNC children and youth. The guide features an overview of the barriers that TGNC children and youth face in foster care and juvenile detention, a glossary of terms, an overview of affirming resources, policies, and best practices...
OJJDP MPG Literature Review: LGBTQ Youths in the Juvenile Justice System
Youths’ sexual orientations and gender identities are complex. Youths experience an ongoing process of sexual development as they mature into young adults. Adolescence presents a time in people’s lives when they are unsure of themselves and begin to question who they are ... Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youths may present unique challenges in the juvenile justice system. Research has shown that LGBTQ youths are more likely to confront certain barriers and environmental risk factors connected to their...
LGBTQ Youth of Color: Discipline Disparities, School Push-Out, and the School-to-Prison Pipeline
This is an excellent report about an issue that is little known-the involvement of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning) youth of color in the juvenile justice system. Topics discussed include: LGBTQ youth of color and the school-to-prison pipeline (STPP); school push-out-the marginalization in school and/or forcing out of school of these youth before they graduate; LGBTQ youth of color report increased surveillance and policing; these youth report incidents of harsh school discipline and biased application of policies...
Restoring Justice: A Blueprint for Ensuring Fairness, Safety, and Supportive Treatment of LGBT Youth in the Juvenile Justice System
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, or LGBT, youth continue to be significantly over-represented in the nation’s juvenile justice system, even as overall rates of youth incarceration are on the decline ... This brief [explains] what works for LGBT youth by outlining the critical components of model juvenile justice policies that are already being implemented around the country and offers sample language that all jurisdictions can adopt (p. 1-2). Sections of this publication cover: LGBT youth experience high rates of discrimination...
Surviving the Streets of New York: Experiences of LGBTQ Youth, YMSM, and YWSW Engaged in Survival Sex
This is "the first study to focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) youth; young men who have sex with men (YMSM); and young women who have sex with women (YWSW) who get involved in the commercial sex market in order to meet basic survival needs, such as food or shelter. The report documents these youth’s experiences and characteristics to gain a better understanding of why they engage in survival sex, describes how the support networks...
Practice Guide: Creating a Juvenile Justice LGBTQ Task Force
"In an effort to adopt policies and/or establish community relationships so that LGBTQ [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning] youth and their families have access to supportive resources, some jurisdictions convened LGBTQ task forces or workgroups. The purpose of this practice guide is to provide instruction regarding how to establish a task force along with guidance on handling possible challenges to this work. This guide is directed toward the individual or group of individuals within a jurisdiction who are charged...
Keeping Vulnerable Populations Safe under PREA: Alternative Strategies to the Use of Segregation in Prisons and Jails
"The purpose of this guide is to provide prison and jail administrators and staff with strategies for safely housing inmates at risk of sexual abuse without isolating them. Inmates at risk for sexual victimization-whether identified through screening or victimized in confinement-need protection from abusers, equal access to programming and health and mental health services, and congregate opportunities" (p. 3). Sections of this document include: introduction; a brief look at the use of segregated housing and protective custody in the U.S...
LGBTQ Youth and Sexual Abuse: Information for Mental Health Professionals
While this tip-sheet is intended for mental health practitioners, it provides invaluable information for anyone working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) youth. Sections of this brief cover: terms to know when working with LGBTQ youth; continuums of sex, gender, and sexual orientation chart; issues and concerns for LGBTQ youth related to sexual orientation and sexual abuse; issues and concerns for parents of LGBTQ youth related to sexual orientation and sexual abuse; common myths and stereotypes...
Best Practices in Creating and Delivering LGBTQ Cultural Competency Trainings for Health and Social Service Agencies
"The term [cultural competency training] has been used interchangeably with diversity education, cultural sensitivity training and multi-cultural workshops. Cultural competency is commonly understood as a set of congruent behaviors, knowledge, attitudes and policies that enable effective work in cross-cultural situations. Cultural competency training, therefore, aims to increase knowledge and skills to improve one’s ability to effectively interact with different cultural groups" (p. 5). This document explains how to effectively develop and deliver LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning) cultural...
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth in the Juvenile Justice System
The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) and other "changes in law and policy have created new expectations of juvenile justice personnel. Implementation of these new requirements, however, varies widely across the country and has created a demand for clear professional guidance. This practice guide is a response to that demand and: provides an overview of key concepts and terminology related to SOGIE; summarizes the research on the effect of stigma and bias on the health and well-being of LGBT youth...
LGBT Youth in Juvenile Justice: Creating Agency Policies for an Equitable System Webinar
Many juvenile justice systems don't know how many young people in their system identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) and often lack appropriate policies that meet their unique needs ... This webinar discussed the need for agency policies to support LGBT young people in the juvenile justice system. Participants learned how the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services [DYS] and Santa Clara County Probation Department [SCCPD] developed policies for LGBT youth in their system, as well as different strategies...