Are We Prepared to Support Lgbtqia+ Populations? a National Survey of Social Workers’ Preparedness to Practice with Lgbtqia+ Populations

Background and Purpose:

In the current hostile sociopolitical climate, the need for culturally responsive and affirming social work practice is increasingly critical, particularly for LGBTQIA+ individuals who often face minority stressors such as discrimination, stigma, and mental health disparities. Social workers play a critical role in supporting these individuals across various settings.

Despite social work’s core values, studies suggest that many may not feel adequately prepared to work with LGBTQIA+ clients. Understanding social workers' sense of preparedness and identifying contributing factors is essential for enhancing education, training, and service delivery. This study addresses two main questions: (1) How prepared are social workers to work with LGBTQIA+ clients? and (2) What factors are associated with social workers’ level of preparedness to work with LGBTQIA+ clients?

Methods:

Social workers with a MSW (n = 10,596) from 50 U.S. states completed an online survey, which were recruited through direct emails obtained via the Freedom of Information Act. Dependent variables were preparedness to work with LGBTQIA adults and LGBTQIA children/adolescents. Independent variables included demographics, years since earning MSW, practice setting, political leanings, and characteristics of their MSW program (i.e., private/public and religious/secular). Descriptive analyses, t-tests, and multilevel linear regression models were used to explore the research questions.

Results:

The t-test indicated that social workers are more prepared to work with LGBTQIA adults (M = 3.13) than LGBTQIA children (M = 2.89, t(5177) = 31.63, p < .001). Exploratory analyses suggested that social workers are more prepared to work with children/adolescents and adults with diverse sexual identities than diverse gender identities.

The multilevel model examining preparedness for working with LGBTQIA adults indicated that social workers are less prepared if they have less than 10 years (b = -0.12, p < .001) or 10-19 years (b = -0.07, p = .001) of post-MSW experience rather than 20 or more years. The model suggested that, when compared to social workers in private practice, social workers are less prepared if they work in outpatient behavioral health (b = -0.10, p < .001), medical facilities (b = -0.10, p < .001), inpatient behavioral health (b = -0.15, p = .007), or “other” settings (b = -0.16, p < .001). Findings also indicated social workers are less prepared if they graduated from a MSW program in a public (b = -0.07, p = .004) or religious (b = -0.07, p = .036) institution, if they identify as conservative (b = -0.37, p < .001) rather than liberal, or if they identify as Black/African-American (b = -0.18, p < .001) or Latino/a/e (b = -0.24, p < .001) rather than White. Results were similar in the model examining preparedness for working with LGBTQIA children/adolescents.

Conclusions and Implications:

This study examines social workers’ preparedness to work alongside LGBTQIA+ clients and identifies key factors to advance change through education, policy, training and affirmative practice. Implications for social work practice, education, and research will be explored to better prepare social workers to work with LGBTQIA+ communities.