Justin Bucchio PhD
Assistant Professor of Social Work
Middle Tennessee State University
Justin.bucchio@mtsu.edu


Basics & Historical Context: LGBT Youth in Foster Care

Negative Experiences and Risks

Current Research

Policy

Training

Discussion

•
•
•
•
•
I. Nearly Half a Million Children in Foster Care
12.09% Self-Identify as Being LGB, 5% as T
Guesstimates in the past
•
Reasons for placement
•
II. Research on Sexual Minority Foster Youth
Scarce
Mostly prescriptive in nature vs. empirical
Advocacy materials, training, competencies
First article identified in the literature in 1979
First published study in 1998
Findings, experiences
Increased awareness of negative experiences/risks while in care
(U.S. Department of Justice, 2010; Steinhorn, 1979; Mallon, 1998)

(Sullivan, 1994; Mallon, 1998; Wilber, Ryan, & Marksamer, 2006; Gallegos, White, Ryan, O’Brein, Pecora, & Thomas, 2011 )

Homelessness
Substance Abuse
School Drop-Out
Prostitution
STDs/STIs
Identity Issues
Incarceration
Mental Health
Social Skills
Suicide
(Savin-Williams, 2001; McDaniel, Purcell, & D’Augelli, 2001; D’Augelli, & Grossman, 2006,; Hatzenbuehler, 2011; Elze, & McHaelen, 2009 ; Wilber, Ryan, &
Marksamer, 2006; Mallon & Woronoff, 2006)

L.A. LGBT Center & The Williams Institute at UCLA (2014)
• 19% of Foster Youth Self-Identify as LGBT ( 13% LGB; 5% T)
• 86% from minority groups: Latino, African-American, or API identified (same as non-foster youth peers)
• More than 18% experienced discrimination related to their perceived sexual orientation / gender identity
• Twice as likely to live in a group home & be treated unfairly by the system
• Higher number of disruptive placements
• 13.5% hospitalized for emotional trauma (triple the percentage of similar hospitalizations for non-LGBTQ youth)
• 56% feel safer on the streets than their group or foster home
• 33.2% of transgender youth have attempted suicide


Protective Factors

Training

Increase Successful
Outcomes

Stability

Research

Practice Expectancies and Guidelines


Anti-Discrimination
Policies

Coercion or Imposing
One’s Beliefs

Staff
Conduct/Interaction
Guidelines

Documentation

Resources

Language and
Terminology

Confidentiality

Disclosure

WHO?

Workers

Foster Parents

Group Homes

Students
HOW?

Independent Curriculum

Inclusion of LGBT in Diversity
Sessions

7.
8.
5.
6.
3.
4.
1.
2.
Right to Safety in Foster Care
Right to Services to Prevent Harm
Right to Monitoring and Supervision
The Right to Safety in Juvenile Detention and Correctional Facilities
Right to Safe Conditions of Confinement
Right to be Free from Unreasonably Unusually Restrictive Conditions of Confinement
Right to Mental and Physical Health Care
Right Not to Be Placed in Conditions Amounting to Punishment
(Woronoff, Estrada & Sommer, 2006)








Brown, J. (2008). Foster parents’ perceptions of factors needed for successful foster placements. Journal of Child and
Family Studies, 17 , 538-554.
Buehler, C., Cox, M. E., & Cuddeback, G. (2003). Foster parents' perceptions of factors that promote or inhibit successful fostering. Qualitative Social Work: Research and Practice, 2(1) , 61−84.
Buehler, C., Rhodes, K. W., Orme, J. G., & Cuddeback, G. (2006). The potential for successful family foster care:
Conceptualizing competency domains for foster parents. Child Welfare League of America, 85 (3), 523-558.
Clements, J. A., & Rosenwald, M. (2007). Foster parents’ perspectives on LGB youth in the child welfare system.
Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services, 19 , 57-69.
Coakley, T. M., Cuddeback, G., Buehler, C., & Cox, M. E. (2007). Kinship foster parents’ perceptions of factors that promote or inhibit successful fostering. Child and Youth Services Review, 29 , 92-109.
Cooper, K., Kastanis, A., Nezhad, S., & Wilson B. (2014). Sexual minority and gender minority youth in foster care:
Assessing disproportionality and disparities in Los Angeles. Los Angeles: The Williams Institute.
D’Augelli, A. R., & Grossman, A. H. (2006). Researching lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth: Conceptual, practical, and ethical considerations. Journal of Lesbian and Gay Issues in Education, 3 (2/3), 35-56.


Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children's Bureau (2010). The AFCARS Report.
Retrieved July 12,
2011, from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/afcars/tar/report18.htm

Elze, D., & McHaelen, R. (2009). Moving the margins: Curriculum for child welfare services with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth in out-of-home care.
New York: The
National Association of Social Workers and Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Hatzenbuehler, M. L. (2011). The social environment and suicide attempts in lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth. Pediatrics, 127 , 896-903.

Mallon, G. P. (1998). We don’t exactly get the welcome wagon . New York: Columbia University Press.


Morrison Dore, M. & Mullin, D. (2006). Treatment family foster care: Its history and current role in the foster care continuum.
Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Sciences , 87(4), 475-482

Ragg, D. M., Patrick, D., & Ziefert, M. (2006). Slamming the closet door: Working with gay and lesbian youth in care. Child
Welfare, 85 (2), 243-265.

Savin-Williams, R. C. (2001). Suicide attempts among sexual minority youth: Population and measurement issues. Journal of
Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 69 , 983-991.

Steinhorn, A. I. (1979). Lesbian adolescents in residential treatment. Social Casework: The Journal of Contemporary Social
Work, 60 , 494-498.

Sullivan, T. R. (1994). Obstacles for effective child welfare service with gay and lesbian youths. Child Welfare League of
America, 50(4 ), 291-303.


Gallegos, A., White, C. R., Ryan, C., O’Brein, K., Pecora, P. J., & Thomas, P. (2011). Exploring the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning adolescents in foster care. Journal of Family Social Work, 14, 226-236.

U.S. Department of Justice (2010). Bureau of Justice Statistics special report: Sexual victimization in juvenile facilities reported by youth, 2008-09 (NCJ Report No. 228416). Retrieved from http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/svjfry09.pdf

Wilber, S., Ryan, C., & Marksamer, J. (2006). CWLA best practice guidelines: Serving LGBT youth in out-of-home care.
Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America.

Woronoff, R., Estrada, R., & Sommer, S. (2006). Out of the margins: A report on regional listening forums highlighting the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth in care. New York: Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and Child Welfare League of America.