Strategies for engaging foster care youth in permanency planning family team conferences

The present study examines strategies conference facilitators used to engage foster care youth in decision-making in the context of permanency planning family team conferences. Data collection included observations of permanency planning family team conferences, followed by interviews with foster care youth and conference facilitators. Data analysis focused on gaining a deeper understanding of how facilitators incorporate youth into decision-making, with a specific focus on the strategies they employed. Four strategies were identified in the analysis: creating a safe space, encouraging the youth voice, re-balancing power, and establishing a personal connection. The study's policy and practice implications, limitations and areas of further research are presented.     

Feminist and queer criminology: A vital place for theorizing LGBTQ youth

Creating safe environments for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer and/or questioning (LGBTQ) youth has become a significant public health concern. Despite the disparities in the risk factors associated with identifying as a member of the LGBTQ community, the theoretical frameworks for understanding these issues, particularly within criminology, have been limited. The purpose of this work is to review the historical treatment of gender and sexual orientation within criminology. More specifically, this work reviews how gender was introduced into criminology through the work of feminist criminology, followed by the need for theorization that further analyzed sexual orientation. This then became the focus of queer criminology. After tracing the historical development of gender and sexual orientation, the author uses the theoretical foundations of both to show how it applies to recognizing the issues faced by LGBTQ youth. Finally, the author discusses why consideration of these frameworks is paramount in understanding the issues faced by LGBTQ youth, as well as how such consideration and understanding can help mend the existing gap in providing safer environments for LGBTQ youth.     

Beyond resilience: Resistance in the lives of LGBTQ youth

Resilience has come to define a wide breadth of impactful research on marginalized groups, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth. This resilience framework shifted the deficit “at-risk” model of research on marginalized populations to a more nuanced strengths-based perspective. In this critical review article, we examine this research trend to understand how the shift to resilience has shaped patterns of LGBTQ youth research. In doing so, this piece calls for a more sophisticated engagement with operationalizing resilience–which is vaguely defined and often upholds dominant relations in society, such as capitalistic, heteronormative values of success and happiness. We show how a shift to understanding resistance, joy, and pleasure in LGBTQ youth's lives promotes a more dynamic and complicated look at how marginalized groups navigate their social worlds and exert power in shaping these worlds. Acknowledging and uplifting LGBTQ youth's resistance and power are necessary in pushing scholarly dialogue and the possible interventions informed by research towards a more fully transformative framework in changing and dismantling oppressive societal structures.     

24-month update on the impact of roundtables on permanency for youth in foster care

Although the number of children in foster care has decreased in recent years (U.S. DHHS, 2012), additional strategies are needed to help youth achieve legal permanency before they age out of foster care. One such strategy is the permanency roundtable, which convenes a team of professionals to facilitate the permanency planning process by identifying realistic solutions to permanency obstacles for youth. Nearly 500 youth went through the initial permanency roundtable process in Georgia in 2009. Just over half were male (57%) and over nine in ten (92%) were African American. At the start of the roundtables, the median age was 13, and the median length of stay in foster care was 52 months. Two years after their roundtable, 50% of the nearly 500 children had achieved legal permanency. Analyses, presented separately for three age groups (0–6, 7–12, and 13–18), examine outcomes and predictors of legal permanency. Recommendations, limitations, and areas for future research are discussed.     

Outcomes for a transitional living program serving LGBTQ youth in New York City

Providing stable housing for runaway and homeless youth is a major function of a transitional living program. This article introduces the focus of one program working with LGBTQ youth in New York City and discusses some issues to consider when working with this population. The article also presents data associated with young people's lives after discharge. In any discussion of outcomes, both reason for discharge and length of stay play important roles in whether or not an exit is safe. Regardless of these two elements, the places youth move to when leaving programs are crucial to their safety and well-being. The exit can be safe even when a young person is discharged early from a program. This article presents types of exits, as well as status of employment and school enrollment at exit. Some youth and staff-identified lessons gained in the program also are discussed in detail. Types of aftercare services sought by discharged youth are specified. This article also describes any differences in outcomes for youth with and without foster care experience.     

The potential contribution of mentor programs to relational permanency for youth aging out of foster care

This article summarizes published research regarding the effectiveness of mentor programs in general, and for youth in foster care specifically, as a basis for evidence-based practice in child welfare. It examines the pros and cons of mentor programs and characteristics of programs that are more or less effective for achieving specific social goals. The author explores the opportunity cost of investments in transitional mentor programs versus efforts to find permanent parents for youth aging out of care, and concludes with practice and policy implications of these findings.     

The need for safe spaces: Exploring the experiences of homeless LGBTQ youth in shelters

Studies indicate LGBTQ youth are at higher risk of homelessness (2–13 times) than their heterosexual cisgender counterparts and that they represent a substantial portion of youth utilizing housing and shelter services. Some authors have provided anecdotal (rather than empirical) examples of LGBTQ youth experiencing abuse or mistreatment in shelters; most studies focusing on LGBTQ homeless youth have been conducted in large cities and have rarely collected data from both youth and providers. Using an exploratory, grounded theory approach, this study utilized data from interviews with LGBTQ youth with a history of homelessness as well as service providers working with this population in a mid-sized Northeastern city. Findings suggest youth experience multiple challenges, barriers, and mistreatment in the shelters; further, data suggests several ideas about how to transform shelters to better meet the needs of LGBTQ youth.     

Planning for permanency planning in foster care

The perceived severity of the problem of “drift” in the foster care system has encouraged agencies nationwide to accept permanency planning, but perhaps with limited attention to the planning process. This article examines the phenomenon of permanency planning from a planning perspective by focusing on: (a) definition of the permanency planning problem, (b) understanding of issues relevant to permanency planning (caseworker, program and systemic), (c) appreciation of the operational context (political, economic and social factors), and (d) evaluation of available options and possible consequences in developing or improving a permanency planning program. Permanency planning is not a simple, ready-made program applicable to any situation; it involves coordinated efforts by workers, service systems, and society in general, and requires time, commitment and resources. Successful planning for permanency planning can permit more children to grow up in homes providing continuity and stability.     

The LGBTQ Supportive Environments Inventory: Methods for quantifying supportive environments for LGBTQ youths

The social environment in which lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youths live influences health and well-being. We describe the development of the LGBTQ Supportive Environments Inventory (LGBTQ SEI), designed to quantify the LGBTQ-inclusiveness of social environments in the United States and Canada. We quantify aspects of the social environment including: (1) presence/quality of LGBTQ youth-serving organizations; (2) LGBTQ-inclusive community resources; and (3) socioeconomic and political environment. Using geographic information systems (GIS) tools, we aggregated data to buffers around 397 schools in three regions. The LGBTQ SEI can be used to assess the role of the social environment in reducing health disparities for LGBTQ youths.     

Issues of shared parenting of LGBTQ children and youth in foster care: preparing foster parents for new roles

Foster parents have increasingly assumed new and challenging roles during the past decade. Meeting the developmental, attachment, and grieving needs of children and youth in out of home care is challenging by itself, but can become even more difficult with the issues that arise when the child is lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ). Preservice and in-service foster parent training programs can strengthen shared parenting skills by focusing on the universal critical issues of safety, well being, and permanence for children and youth in foster care. This article will focus on these skill areas: (1) sharing parenting to promote healthy growth and development of LGBTQ youth in foster care, (2) threats to safety of LGBTQ youth in foster care, and (3) general challenges and strategies for preparing foster parents of LGBTQ youth to build support systems.     

Ambivalences: a challenge to permanency for children

A key to determining a permanent plan for children in placement lies in determining and working with the history and relative intensity of parental ambivalence in the parent-child relationship as it is acted out in the placement experience. A study of cases in a public department disclosed not only indicators of parental ambivalence but also the reinforcement of that ambivalence by agency policy, working conditions, and lack of resources.     

Foster family acceptance: Understanding the role of foster family acceptance in the lives of LGBTQ youth

LGBTQ youth in the child welfare system have historically received very little attention. The limited research available suggests that they encounter a number of disparities and double standards when compared to straight youth. The current study examines the role that foster family acceptance plays in the lives of LGBTQ youth as they navigate the child welfare system. The experiences of LGBTQ foster care alumni who had accepting foster family experiences are compared to those who had rejecting experiences. Findings suggest that foster family acceptance plays a pivotal role in creating an affirming and inclusive environment for LGBTQ youth. Similarly, findings provide further evidence for the need to educate, train, and recruit affirming and accepting foster families.     

Advocacy Evaluation for Counselors Serving LGBTQ Populations

ABSTRACT

Advocacy and social justice initiatives for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) clients in counseling emphasize counselor and client collaboration in challenging discrimination and oppression and promoting LGBTQ inclusive sociopolitical changes. Although researchers have highlighted the counseling and advocacy needs of LGBTQ populations, few have yet examined processes for assessing the outcomes of advocacy efforts. Advocacy evaluation may provide counselors and counseling organizations with a framework for monitoring and assessing the outcomes of LGBTQ advocacy initiatives. The authors discuss the goals and elements of advocacy evaluation and review the LGBTQ Counseling Advocacy Evaluation Self Assessment.     

Overcoming barriers to permanency planning

The authors describe their success with a permanency planning project that emphasized interagency cooperation and worked from the thesis that every child is adoptable if return to the biological family is not possible.     

Birthfamilies as permanency resources for children in long-term foster care

Provisions of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 mandated shorter time frames for making permanency decisions and facilitating adoption. Yet for many children, foster care continued to be a significant portion of their life experiences. This project explored the potential permanency option of birthfamilies and extended kin for children who languished in foster care while being free for adoption. Eighteen children achieved permanent placement with their birthfamilies. In addition, staff found that although many families could not provide permanent placements, they could offer appropriate relationships with the children. This project team recommends viewing family relationships as an integral component where placement is one option on a continuum that includes letters, phone calls, and visits.     

Kinship care and issues in permanency planning

Kinship caregivers are a child-care resource for families experiencing stress or temporary parenting due to illness, incarceration, or death of a parent. This article examines whether and how felt caregiver burden influences the reported propensity of caregivers to want to adopt the children in their care. Kinship caregivers who were enrolled in KinNET completed the survey (N = 102) and the data were entered anonymously into SPSS for analysis. Their mean age was 57.51 years (SD = 10.13), 95% were female (SD = .19), and two-thirds were non-white (SD = .73). Using “likelihood of adopting the child in my care,” as the outcome variable in the linear regression analysis, caregiver’s age, monthly income, and total hours employed were significant predictors. Total pressures, family service needs, and physical problems scales were not statistically significant predictors. The adjusted R square was .439 and significant (.006). Understanding the factors that are predictive of adopting children in kinship care will help programs target services more effectively. Helping kinship caregivers and the children in their care is also important in promoting their health and social well-being.