Developing and Implementing Agency Policy for the Safe and Confidential Identification of LGBTQ Youth: Perspectives from Child Welfare Workers and LGBTQ Youth

Background and Purpose:Child welfare agency workers’ express reluctance to ask about, collect, or record information pertaining to a child’s sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. Lack of clear agency policy on why, when, where, and how to collect such information is a barrier to meeting the needs of youth with diverse sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression (SOGIE) in care. Nationally, the issue of safe and confidential identification has been recognized as a challenge which needs to be addressed. In 2013, Wilber and colleagues issued guidelines for best practices in this area. The report addresses three critical questions for agency workers, specifically, the circumstances under which information about sexual orientation or gender identity should be a) asked about if it is not disclosed; b) recorded; and c) disclosed to other parties (Wilber, 2013). However, uptake and implementation of guidelines into agency policy and practice has not been well examined. This paper examines barriers and promotive factors in implementing safe and confidential identification, assessment and recording of information about youth with diverse SOGIE in Cuyahoga County, OH.

Methods: Cuyahoga County Division of Children and Family Services undertook work to critically assess proposed national guidelines for safe identification and recording of youth sexual orientation and gender identity/expression, and to develop culturally appropriate guidelines for the county. Using a positive youth development and youth participation framework, youth who had been involved in child welfare and who identify as LGBTQ were interviewed to identify youth perspective on safe disclosure and recording of this type of data within a child welfare context. In addition, staff at multiple levels within the child welfare agency were invited to share their perception of risks/barriers as well as positive reasons to ask, record, and disclose information about sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression. Content analyses across these interviews was conducted to understand critical issues to address in the writing of the policy, as well as communication of agency policy to staff.

Findings: Agency workers’ express concerns about how data would be used and with whom data will be shared. Lack of standard reporting procedures is a barrier to staff asking for and/or recording data about a young person’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression. Young persons’ perception of lack of supportive resources or fear of placement caregivers discovering their sexual orientation and/or gender identity are barriers to youth disclosure, and present real concerns about how data is managed and shared by agency workers.

Conclusion and Implications: Both workers and youth express concerns about the safe identification. For youth, there are very real implications with information is shared with unaccepting care providers. Foster parents may pressure LGBT youth to “change” or suppress their sexual orientation/gender identity or send them back to the youth’s agencies. 78% reported being removed or running away from placements because of hostility toward their sexual orientation or gender identity. Therefore, thoughtful consideration of youth’s perspectives in guiding policy and practice in this area is needed. Ongoing training in appropriate data collection and sharing is needed to serve LGBTQ youth.