LGBTQIA2S+ Youth in Foster Care

This article was written by Savio’s very own Rebecca Carpenter, Child Placement Agency Coordinator. We are so appreciative of her insights!

Several years ago, I received a placement referral for a 17-year-old youth, Sam*. Sam, who identified as non-binary, had been bouncing from placement to placement for the last three years following their mother kicking them out of their family home after they came out as Queer. Since then, Sam had been placed in one home after another that promised they were open to Sam being who they were but ended up trying to push their ideas of how Sam should present and exist. By the time I met Sam, they were very understandably over the system, angry, and feeling like being who they were had cost them not only their family of origin but also robbed them of being able to fully explore who they were because they were constantly moving and in a state of survival.

Out of the nearly 400,000 youth currently in the American foster care system, approximately 30% identify as a member of the LGBTQIA2S+^ community (Human Rights Campaign, n.d.). These numbers are an extreme over-representation of this population, who comprise an estimated 7.1% of the general US population. (Gallup, 2022). While there are many reasons that youth are placed in foster care, including abuse, neglect, parental substance use, parental incarceration, and delinquency, LGBTQIA2S+ youth face the added risk of finding themselves a part of the system because of familial rejection because of who they are. Perhaps even more than their cis/straight peers, LGBTQIA2S+ youth in the foster system need supportive, affirming, and present adults to validate their identity.

Being placed in foster care has its challenges regardless of the reason. LGBTQIA2S+ youth are at higher risk for experiencing discrimination from the foster care system because of their identities. At a structural level, placements, especially at higher levels of care, are required to identify what gender(s) their programming will serve. Laws are written in the binary, using gender assigned at birth as the determination, leaving youth outside of the binary without an identified place to go. While many states are starting to realize that this is an outdated way of looking at licensing, the actual placements are not guaranteed to be in line with their gender identity, nor are they ready to welcome and support LGBTQIA2S+ youth through exploring their identity and becoming adults who are confident in who they are. LGBTQIA2S+ youth are almost two times more likely to experience further negative experiences in their placements, including overt hostility toward their sexual orientation or gender identity from their foster parents, verbal harassment, and physical violence than non-LGBTQIA2S+ youth in foster care. (Human Rights Campaign and FosterClub, 2022) This leads to higher rates of placement disruptions, usually because the youth run away, refuse to live in the home any longer, or the foster parents demand their removal. (National Institute for Health Care Management, 2021) Youth who run or otherwise don't have stable housing are more likely to make difficult and often dangerous choices to survive.

Foster Care in the United States is administered on a state or local level, depending on the state. As with many things, this means that the expectations regarding the support of LGBTQIA2S+ youth in foster care vary depending on where the youth live. Just over 80% of the states offer some form of protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity for foster youth, but the level and extent are not consistent. (United States Government Accountability Office, 2022). This also means that who gets removed from their family of origin and placed in foster care varies from state to state. In 2022, the Attorney General of Texas declared gender-affirming care to minors as child abuse and that any parent who obtained their child gender-affirming care could be in jeopardy of having their child placed in foster care. (Attorney General Ken Paxton, 2022) Florida followed suit in 2023. (Trotta, 2023) Many other states are exploring enacting similar policies, though many aren't doing it by making providing gender-affirming care to minors illegal. Nineteen states have passed laws banning this care up to 18 years old, and another eight are currently considering it. (Human Rights Campaign, 2023) In these states, it may soon become a reality that LGBTQIA2S+ youth who are loved and supported by their families of origin are being removed by the state and placed in foster care, and their treatment stopped. This will lead to this already very vulnerable population being removed from the supportive homes and placed in situations where their identity is treated as illegal. This will undoubtedly increase the already high rates of mental health crises and suicidal ideation and/or attempts. Even without these laws, LGBTQIA2S+ youth in foster care are three times more likely than foster youth who don't identify as LGBTQIA2S+ in the foster care system. (National Institute for Health Care Management, 2021).

As luck would have it, the day I received Sam's placement referral, I happened to have an opening in one of my foster homes that identifies as part of the LGBTQIA2s+ community. In the best-case scenario for Sam, they were able to stay in this home through their high school graduation. The home supported them in figuring out the twists and turns of being LGBTQIA2S+. Sam is currently finishing their bachelor's degree and is a mentor at our local LGBTQIA2S+ location. Sam was a lucky exception, and we must work until all LGBTQIA2S+ youth are in safe, affirming, supportive foster homes.

*Not their real name

^LGBTQIA2S+ will be used to refer to those who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Questioning/Queer, Ace/Aro, Two Spirit and other individuals who are part of this community.

Works Cited

Attorney General Ken Paxton. (2022, February 21). AG Paxton Declares So-Called Sex-Change Procedures on Children and Prescription of Puberty Blockers to be "Child Abuse" Under Texas Law. Retrieved from https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/ag-paxton-declares-so-called-sex-change-procedures-children-and-prescription-puberty-blockers-be

Court Appointed Special Advocates Guardian ad Litem for Children. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://nationalcasagal.org/

Gallup. (2022, February 17). Gallup. Retrieved from https://news.gallup.com/poll/389792/lgbt-identification-ticks-up.aspx

Human Rights Campaign. (2023, May 15). Map: Attacks on Gender Affirming Care by State. Retrieved from https://www.hrc.org/resources/attacks-on-gender-affirming-care-by-state-map

Human Rights Campaign and FosterClub. (2022). LGBTQ Youth in the Foster Care System. Retrieved from https://assets2.hrc.org/files/assets/resources/HRC-YouthFosterCare-IssueBrief-FINAL.pdf

Human Rights Campaign. (n.d.). LGBTQ+ Youth in the Foster Care System. Retrieved from https://www.thehrcfoundation.org/professional-resources/lgbtq-youth-in-the-foster-care-system

National Institute for Health Care Management. (2021, May 26). Foster Care, LGBTQ Youth & Increased Suicide. Retrieved from https://nihcm.org/publications/foster-care-lgbtq-youth-increased-suicide

Trotta, D. (2023, May 18). DeSantis Signs Florida ban on transgender treatment for minors. Tampa, Florida, USA: Reuters. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/world/us/desantis-signs-florida-ban-gender-affirming-treatment-transgender-minors-2023-05-17/

United States Government Accountability Office. (2022). Report to the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Worker and Family Support, Committee on Ways and Means, House of Representatives: Foster Care-Further Assistance from HHS Would be Helpful in Supporting Youth's LGBTQ+ Identities and Religious Beliefs. Washington DC: United States Government Accountability Office.