An Assessment of Child Protective Services (CPS) Workers LGBT Attitudes, Knowledge, and Skills for Affirming the Safety of LGBT Youth and Families

Background and Purpose

Research indicates that abuse in the family home is a major contributing factor to homelessness among LGBT youth. In highly rejecting families LGBT youth are 80% more likely to attempt suicide, 6.0 times more likely to be depressed, and 3.5 times more likely use illicit substances.  In 2014, 3.2 million investigations were initiated for child maltreatment and approximately 570,000 were substantiated.  The child welfare system (CPS) has a critical role to play in preventing LGBT youth homelessness. Little attention has been given to CPS workers’ attitude, knowledge and skills with regard to LGBT youth.  We assessed the nature of CPS workers’ attitude, knowledge, and skills to create safety and affirm LGBT youth.

Methods

Using prospective cross-sectional design, in 2015-16 we surveyed 220 CPS workers in a large urban Midwest county. Participants completed an anonymous self-administered questionnaire prior to a six-hour training, Building Safety with Youth and Families: Recognizing and Affirming Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression.  The questionnaire included demographic information, child welfare related employment information, a 9-item LGBT Affirming Attitude scale (alpha=.79), a 7-item LGBT Youth Knowledge scale (alpha=.82) and a 6-item LGBT Youth Skills scale (alpha=.84). Each scale used 1-5 Likert-response categories; higher scores indicating greater affirmation/knowledge/skills.  We conducted descriptive statistics and multivariable linear regression to identify covariates of each outcome, controlling for age, race/ethnicity, highest educational degree, contact with LGBT friends/family, length of child welfare employment, and number of LGBT youth encountered per month.

 Results

 Participants were majority African American/Black (72.8%), female (89.5%), and between the ages of 31 and 50 (58.6%). Slightly more than half (54.8) held a Bachelor degree and 44.7% had a Master degree. Slightly more than one-third (36.8%) were graduates of social work programs. Overall, LGBT attitudes were somewhat affirming (M=3.50, SD=0.60). LGBT Youth Knowledge and perceptions of their LGBT Youth Skills were both moderate (M=3.90, SD=0.55 and M=4.05, SD=0.60, respectively). Regression results indicate that LGBT attitudes were significantly less affirming for those who were older, and Black, compared to younger, and White or other race/ethnicity. Having LGBT family or friends was significantly positively associated with affirming LGBT attitudes. Statistically significant predictors of both LGBT Youth Knowledge and LGBT Youth Skills were race/ethnicity, and degree type. CPS workers who were Black and had a degree other than social work (BA/BS/MA/MS) had lower scores compared to White and Other racial/ethnic groups and social work graduates. Explained variance was 26% for the LGBT Affirming Attitudes scale model and 15% for both the Knowledge and Skills scale models.

Conclusions and Implications 

CPS workers need to assist families to support and affirm their LGBT youth in the home. Negative attitudes and minimal skills may act as a barrier to this goal. Educational/supervisory interventions that support CPS workers in examining their attitudes and enhancing competencies in working with LGBT youth are needed, and the results suggest particular target groups. These efforts will lead to better outcomes for LGBT youth involved with CPS. Implications for research and administrative practice will be considered.