Queer Youth in the Child Welfare System - Consequences of Misconceptions

Abstract

Background and purpose

LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning or queer) youth in the child welfare system have received little attention in research and practice (McCormick et al. 2016), also in Norway (Paulsen et al. 2020). The lack of attention has led to that many child welfare workers lack the necessary competencies and knowledge to provide LGBTQ youth help and services that meets their needs (Mallon, 2017; Kaasbøl og Paulsen, 2019). Knowledge and awareness is also of critical importance to be able to understand and assess these young people and their needs, which is the focus of this presentation.

Methods

This presentation is based on data from the project on ‘LGBTQ-perspectives in Child Welfare Services’ that NTNU Social Research and SINTEF Digital has carried out with funding from the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Paulsen et al. 2020). The aim of the project was to study how the child welfare system encounters children and young people with LGBTQ identity and whether child welfare services are succeeding in meeting the needs of these young people. This presentation is mainly based on interviews with child welfare workers and young people.

Results

A big part of the job for child welfare workers consists of assessing the needs of children, young people and their families in different situations. How child welfare workers understand and approach a problem/situation also includes a certain assessment of how they think the problem should be solved. This requires knowledge, consciousness and understanding of the unique situations and challenges one can meet, and I will look at how limited consciousness can lead to misconceptions in assessments of the young people’s needs. Thus, I will look at child welfare workers assessments when working with LGBTQ young people, and shed light on how the different understandings can lead to different actions/measures – and discuss what implications this can have for the young people themselves. This will be by showing three examples of “typical” situations, e.g situations where youth`s uncertainty about own gender or sexual identity are assessed as psychological challenges, which will be shed light on from interviews with child welfare workers and young people. I will also look at the challenges of young people’s possibilities of participation in child welfare assessment. This is a general challenge but could be even more challenging for queer youth, especially if they are not asked or if there is no opening for telling about their identity.

Conclusion and implications

The findings in this study show that increased awareness, knowledge and skills of child welfare workers is of critical importance to be able to assess and meet the needs of LGBTQ youth. Raising the competence and the consciousness could also be an important contribution to in changing the focus in child welfare practice from problems and risk towards more focus on young people’s identity, openness and participatory practices.