LGBTQ youth are overrepresented and have poorer results in the child protection system

Lesbian, gay, bibadual, transgendered and interrogated (LGBTQ) youth are more likely to end up in a foster home or unstable housing and face negative consequences such as substance abuse or mental health issues. while living in the child protection system, research from the University of Texas at Austin.

In a February 11 article in the newspaper pediatrics, the researchers examined 593,241 young people living in California from 6th to 12th grade. Less than 1% of the sample lived in foster families or in unstable housing. But researchers found that more than 30% of youth surveyed living with foster families identified themselves as LGBTQ. More than 25% of respondents who lived in unstable housing, defined as living at a friend's house, motel, shelter or other transitional housing, designated by the LGBTQ appellation.

"People have been worried for some time about the overrepresentation of LGBTQ youth in the child protection system, but there is little evidence so far," said Stephen T. Russell, director of the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at University of Texas at Austin.

The researchers also found that LGBTQ youth living in host families or in unstable housing were more likely to be bullied, have mental health problems, lower grades, or to get into a home. give up school because they did not feel safe and that they were more addicts.

"There was a great deal of concern that the child protection system was overloaded in the first place and that issues such as discrimination of LGBTQ youth and their distinct needs added complexity for already vulnerable youth. , by definition the child protection system, "Russell said. "We are not investing enough in the systems and are not focusing enough on the specific needs of some of the most vulnerable children, including LGBTQ children."

LGBTQ youth likely end up in the foster care system or in unstable housing for a number of reasons, including family rejection or flight because they feel threatened, Russell said, but additional research are needed to understand why they end up in the home system. or unstable housing.

In an accompanying article published earlier this month in the newspaper Violence and neglect of childrenRussell and his colleagues examined a nationally representative sample and found that bad, gay and bibadual youth were nearly two and a half times more likely to end up in the foster care system than their heterobadual counterparts. Gender identity was not examined in this study.

The researchers pointed out that only 13 states protect young people from the child protection system against discrimination based on badual orientation.

Laura Baams of the University of Groningen and Bianca Wilson of the University of California also contributed to the research. The research was funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Children's Health and Human Development, the Communities Fund for Fair Schools and the Priscilla Pond Flawn Endowment Fund of the University of Texas at Austin .

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