The Foster System VS LGBTQIA+ Youth Mental Health

“All young people, regardless of what they look like, which religion they follow, who they love, or the gender they identify with, deserve the chance to dream and grow in a loving, permanent home.” - Barack Obama. 

Former President Barack Obama's take is (somehow) a hot one.

Foster care as a system has long been debated, shunned, or forgotten. The main focus of the criticism is the trauma it brings upon youths. Calls for reform and demands for the government to focus on keeping families together rather than apart are great. Sadly, the concern for young people's well-being is cast aside when the topic of LGBTQ+ foster kids and teens gets brought up.

Being taken away forcefully from your parents is awful in itself. But when your parents force you out of your own home, that is a whole other kind of awful. Many LGBTQIA+ foster youths are placed in foster care because their parents were abusive, neglectful, or rejected them due to their sexuality or gender identity.

Those who hold anti-LGBTQIA+ views do not condemn these actions as much as they do when it comes to heteronormative/cis-gender youths. This allows LGBTQ+ foster kids and teens to slip through the cracks and face added trauma from within the system. No sane person would argue that youth do not deserve a home, familial love, and acceptance.

However, discriminatory people may hold the sentiment that LGBTQIA+ youth do not deserve these things or do not deserve support after they have lost these things. I would argue that this is insanity.

Teens are teens, kids are kids, people are people, and we all deserve a home regardless of our gender identity or sexuality.

But we live in a society where my take, and Obama's take, is "debatable" and "political".

As a result, LGBTQIA+ foster youth face challenges that severely impact their mental wellness. Today, we will explore how the mental health of LGBTQ+ foster youth is affected by the system. We will also uncover why that impact is disproportionate compared to non-LGBTQ+ foster youth and how we can take action. 

Out of One, Into Another 

Many LGBTQIA+ foster youths ended up in the system due to discrimination. A whopping 78% of LGBTQIA+ foster youth "were removed or ran away from their foster placements as a result of hostility toward their sexual orientation or gender identity" according to NIHCM.

Ironically, many children and teens were displaced from one oppressive home and placed into another. A survey of out-of-home LGBTQ+ youth in New York found that 100% of these youths were verbally attacked while 70% were physically assaulted in their group homes.

The staff, social workers, and other foster youth in group homes are responsible for the discrimination that this population faces. The other guilty parties are government policy and lack of resources.

This double rejection can cause young LGBTQ+ people to feel unworthy, angry, lost, or helpless. While sexual and gender minority youths are already at a greater risk of developing mental health issues, being in foster care increases the odds further.

For instance, foster LGBTQIA+ youth are three times more likely than non-foster LGBTQIA+ youth to attempt suicide. This prevalence is worse among Black, Indigenous, and multiracial LGBTQIA+ foster youth. This is likely due to how institutional racism, doubled with anti-LGBT+ sentiment, creates extreme stress and sadness in many youths.

But, when comparing LGBTQ+ non-foster youth to those in foster care, the transgender and GNC community faces the biggest disparity. Only 14% of transgender non-foster youth attempt suicide compared to 40% of transgender foster youth. That is a 185.714% increase.

It is mind-boggling, yet not surprising, considering little is being done for this population.

Despite the abuse and mental health issues they face, the foster care system consistently ignores them. Whether the system believes (and causes kids to believe by proxy) that possible adoptive parents are less likely to take in an LGBTQ+ youth or they do not dare to act, social workers and group home leaders are ignoring this issue.

Both state governments and the national government encourage this behavior. Only 13 US states have policies that explicitly protect sexual minority and gender minority foster youth. That leaves the majority of LGBTQIA+ foster youth to fend for themselves.

Some foster care agencies have implemented protections, such as LGBTQIA+ topics in foster parent training and assessing these parents for their ability to accept and affirm LGBTQIA+ youth.

However, these protections are not foolproof or extensive. Focusing on the parents is a good start, but we cannot forget about the kids who are being affected in real-time. Despite the deadly obvious need for it, there are little to no LGBTQIA+ focused mental health care initiatives in foster care. It is our job as advocates to bring more attention to this gap and begin demanding a shift. 

Fostering Change

While we have been focusing on the foster care system itself, the issue is influenced by many institutions. This problem must be confronted in foster care as well as healthcare, schools, and government. In healthcare, we must advocate for the creation, implementation, and execution of LGBTQIA+ treatment best practices.

This will help foster agencies offer such services to their LGBTQIA+ youth. As of now, these types of mental health programs are scarce. The system is stretched too far as it is. We need not just for these initiatives to be in place but for them to also be accessible and affordable.

We can do this as a community by creating awareness through campaigns, raising money for research, and calling out discrimination in mental health care.

Bullying of foster and LGBTQ+ children in schools is a contributing factor to poor LGBTQIA+ mental health. We must encourage allied students to "see something, say something" and not tolerate such behavior.

Additionally, we must advocate for LGBTQIA+ related protections and services in schools so that foster youth in the community feel safe and affirmed. It has been shown that attending an affirming school lowers the risk of suicide for LGBTQIA+ foster youth.

If you go to school, create a GSA or similar student group that embraces foster kids and teens. In government, we need to demand and vote for inclusive protective policies for LGBTQIA+ foster youth across the United States.

We cannot leave any child or teen behind.

Voting for legislation that supports mental health care equality and LGBTQIA+ rights is another vital factor. These calls for action can seem overwhelming, but it is easy to get started on them. 

Tips for getting started:

• Continue reading our blogs to learn more and grow as a community advocate for LGBTQIA+ mental health!

• Get on the Human Rights Campaign mailing list. This organization provides links to petitions and ways to write to representatives about LGBTQIA+ legislation.

• Speak up in your community and on social media. You can quote a fact from this blog and encourage others to read. You could also ask your social circle to vocalize the need for change. 

What are your tips for advocating for mental health equality and awareness for LGBTQIA+ foster youth (or youth in general)? Comment below! I will share it on the CALM social media with credit! 

Sources: 

Foster Care, LGBTQ Youth & Increased Suicide (nihcm.org) 

LGBTQ Youth with a History of Foster Care – The Trevor Project

HRC-YouthFosterCare-IssueBrief-FINAL.pdf (hrc-prod-requests.s3-us-west2.amazonaws.com)