Today, HuffPost Live will feature a special segment on National Foster Care Month and the experiences of LGBTQ youth in foster care.
HRC Foundation’s Director of the Children, Youth and Families Program Ellen Kahn will join three young LGBTQ leaders on the show -- Julia Schaffer, Emmie Brunelle and Kristopher Sharp. Each of these leaders have had experiences in the foster care system and will discuss the current challenges facing LGBTQ youth in care. Schaffer, Brunelle and Sharp are each members of FosterClub, the national network of foster youth, and HRC's partner in our celebration of National Foster Care Month.
Additionally, Kahn will speak about HRC Foundation’s All Children – All Families (ACAF), a project that promotes LGBT cultural competency among child welfare agencies.
In the United States, nearly 400,000 children and youth are in foster care because they have been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect. We know that LGBTQ youth are over-represented in the foster care system; many having been rejected by their families of origin because of their gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation. LGBTQ youth in care often face bias and discrimination from service providers and their peers.
A recent study in Los Angeles found that nearly 20 percent of youth in foster care in Los Angeles are LGBTQ-identified – that means the percentage of youth in foster care who are LGBTQ is between 1.5 and 2 times that of youth living outside of foster care.
Don’t forget to watch the segment today at 3:30 p.m. EST and learn more about National Foster Care Month here.
Throughout the month of May, the HRC Foundation in collaboration with FosterClub, is celebrating National Foster Care Month.
Hayley Miller
18 May 2015
http://www.hrc.org/blog/entry/huffpost-live-spotlights-lgbtq-youth-in-foster-care
