Topical Brief No. #10 – LGBTQ+ Youth in Child Welfare

CHALLENGES FACING LGBTQ+ YOUTH IN CHILD WELFARE

Lack of Protection

LGBTQ+ youth in foster care have more nondiscrimination protections than LGBTQ+ prospective parents. As of 2018, 13 states lacked explicit nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ youth in foster care. At the same time, 37 states provided protections for youth in the child welfare system through laws, regulations, or agency policies: 24 states and Washington, D.C., provided protections based on both sexual orientation and gender identity, and 13 states provided protections based on sexual orientation only.

Prevalence of Sexual Abuse

LGBTQ+ youth are more likely to experience harassment and sexual abuse in foster care, juvenile justice settings, and homeless shelters. Findings show that, when compared with their heterosexual and cisgender peers, LGBTQ+ youth in the juvenile justice system are twice as likely to have experienced child abuse. At times, they are subjected to dangerous efforts to influence their orientation or gender identity. One such example is conversion therapy, a harmful practice designed to attempt to force LGBTQ+ identifying individuals to “change” their sexual orientation and/or identifying gender.

Poor Outcomes in Foster Care

The Los Angeles Foster Youth Study found that LGBTQ+ youth were more than twice as likely to live in a group home and had a higher average number of home placements. They also found that LGBTQ+ youth were twice as likely to report being treated poorly by the foster care system. The percentage of LGBTQ+ youth in foster care who were hospitalized for emotional reasons (13.5%) was nearly triple the percentage of similar hospitalizations for non-LGBTQ+ youth (4.2%).

Homelessness in LGBTQ+ Youth

Without safe, affirming foster care placements, and without the vital support of caseworkers and other child welfare professionals, LGBTQ+ youth often flee abuse in foster care only to face homelessness and sexual exploitation. Research has shown that more than half of LGBTQ youth in care had experienced homelessness due to not feeling safe in their group or foster home.

Studies have found that between 20 and 45 percent of all homeless youth identify as LGBTQ. Being homeless is particularly dangerous for LGBTQ+ youth. During periods of homelessness, LGBTQ+ youth face increased risk of physical harm. For example, the National Coalition for the Homeless reports that LGBTQ+ homeless youth are roughly 7.4 times more likely to suffer acts of sexual violence than heterosexual homeless youth.

Overrepresentation in Juvenile Justice

LGBTQ+ young adults are also overrepresented in the juvenile justice system. While LGBTQ+ youth comprise only about 5 to 7 percent of the overall youth population in the US, they represent 13 to 15 percent of those currently in the juvenile justice system. Many of these youth had previously been in foster care. Read LGBTQ Youth in the Foster System, Children’s Rights Fact Sheet.

Lack of Opportunities in Adolescence and Adulthood for LGBTQ+ Youth Who Were in Care

One study used data from the Multi Site Evaluation of Foster Youth Programs to compare outcomes of LGBTQ+ youth to their heterosexual peers. LGBTQ+ youth faced additional challenges in education, employment, homelessness, and financial stability:

• LGBTQ+ youth were less likely than heterosexual youth to obtain a high school diploma (43% versus
  63%).
• Identifying as lesbian, gay, or bisexual decreased youth’s likelihood of being financially stable and of
  having work experience by more than 50%.
• Youth who have been in care already face challenges in these areas, making the difficulties facing LGBTQ+ youth who have been in care especially troubling.