LGBQT youth have long been invisible within the foster care system, evident by the lack of data presented on the underserved and overrepresented group.

However, a groundbreaking study, "Sexual and Gender Minority Youth in Los Angeles County Foster Care: Assessing Disproportionality and Disparities," has finally emerged, and it tracks the sexual orientation and gender identity youth in Los Angeles' foster care system and exposes their needs.

LGBTQ youth are not only overrepresented in this country's foster care system, but the proportion of LGBTQ youth in the foster care system is twice that of LGBTQ youth who are not in foster care. Nineteen percent of Los Angeles County foster youth identify as LGBTQ.

Not only that, but a majority of the youth are Latino, and many of those young people happen to be immigrants or the children of immigrants. The foster system's racial and ethnic composition reflects that of Los Angeles County, with 54.6 percent of LGBTQ foster youth being Latino; 10 percent born outside of the U.S.; and one-third with at least one parent born outside of the U.S.

Co-authored by scholars at the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School and Holarchy Consulting, the research was partially funded by a federal Permanency Innovations Initiative grant awarded to the Los Angeles LGBT Center. It is the first population-based survey that looks to measure the sexual orientation and gender identity of youth in the foster care system, and it's the first to shed light on the barriers that LGBQT youth face and the need to improve their mental health and their socioeconomic outcomes.

Nineteen percent of foster youth identify as LGBTQ (13.4 percent LGBQ; 5.6 percent transgender), which is twice the estimated percentage of youth not in foster care who are LGBTQ. Nearly 20 percent reported they faced discrimination because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. In fact, LGBTQ foster youth have tripled the rate in which they hospitalize youth for emotional reasons (13. 5 percent compared to 4.2 percent for non-LGBTQ youth). Also, LGBTQ youth are more likely to be homeless than non-LGBTQ youth.

"We found LGBTQ youth in foster care share many similarities in experiences with non-LGBTQ youth, including racial disparities, yet also face unique systemic barriers to placement in permanent homes, such as being placed in group homes and experiencing homelessness at higher rates," said the survey study's Principal Investigator, Bianca D.M. Wilson, Senior Scholar of Public Policy at UCLA's Williams Institute.

This isn't just an LGBTQ issue; it's intertwined with the lives of Latinos and underserved groups living throughout the Los Angeles. To better serve this community, caregivers and the child welfare system need to be provided with cultural competency training. Questions regarding sexual orientation, gender identity, gender conformity and related topics need to be collected respectfully and confidentially. Looking into existing data collection, proper intake methods, service planning, case review processes and training staff to collect information is essential, and it goes a long way toward improving the effectiveness of foster care systems. Also, it can better the lives of vulnerable youth who are caught in the throngs of the foster system.

"Historically, many of the LGBTQ youth who turn to us for a safe place to live have aged out of the foster system, don't have the skills or resources to make it on their own, and would otherwise be homeless" said Lorri L. Jean, CEO of the Center. "So this study supports our long-held belief that LGBTQ youth are not only overrepresented in the foster system but extremely disadvantaged within that system."

Part of setting LGBTQ foster youth toward the right path is understanding that they are twice as likely to report maltreatment, likelier to live in group homes and they're more likely to experience more foster care placements. One-in-five, or 1,400, foster youth in Los Angeles County (home to the nation's largest population of foster youth) identify as LGBTQ. And that number is twice the estimated percentage of LGBTQ youth.

In response to the study's findings, Jean said, "The study validates the importance of our ongoing work to develop a new model of care for LGBTQ foster youth; they remain some of the most vulnerable, and forgotten, in our community. When finished, we hope this model will be replicated in cities around the country, because there's no reason to believe the problems for LGBTQ foster youth are unique to Los Angeles."

Next steps: publish a manual that shares new methodology with child welfare departments and researchers across the country; exploring data that suggests gender nonconforming youth and girls are especially vulnerable; and, finding children happy homes.

The Center's RISE (Recognize Intervene Support Empower) Project, with funding from the Children's Bureau, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has been working in partnership with more than 20 other organizations, including the LA County Department of Children, Youth and Families to model a service that will help LGBTQ youth find stable, affectionate homes.

Read the report here.

Related