5.7 Serving LGBTQ Youth through Equality and Inclusion Speaker: Curtis Shepard It is important that Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ)youth receive culturally-competent services that consider their unique trajectory into, and experience of, homelessness. LGBTQ youth have an opportunity for improved outcomes when programs provide interventions that facilitate healthy family connections, provide equal access and treatment, and foster their positive development by connecting them with affirming LGBTQ health and community services.

1. Permanent Families for LGBTQ Children and Youth
in Foster Care in Los Angeles County
The RISE Initiative is funded by the Children’s Bureau, Administration on
1 Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, under grant number 90-CT-0154.

2. RISE
The Need
LGBTQ youth languish in foster care
- LGBTQ youth lose their placements more frequently
- Multiple placements = lack of educational progress
- 100% of LGBTQ youth in group homes report abuse
- LGBTQ youth more readily give up on family connections
and age out with nowhere to go
The RISE Initiative is funded by the Children’s Bureau, Administration on
2 Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, under grant number 90-CT-0154.

3. RISE
The Focus
Federal Permanency Innovations Initiative (PII)
LAGLC one of 6 projects funded nationwide
-- $13.3 million for a 5-year demonstration project to
improve…
i. Safety
ii. Wellbeing
iii. Permanency
…for LGBTQ children and youth in foster care
The RISE Initiative is funded by the Children’s Bureau, Administration on
3 Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, under grant number 90-CT-0154.

4. RISE
The Theory of Change
The theory of change espoused by the Los Angeles
Gay and Lesbian Center’s (LAGLC) RISE Initiative is
that:
When lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender
and questioning (LGBTQ) foster youth and
their families are competently identified and
appropriately served, then they can achieve
safe and stable permanency.
The RISE Initiative is funded by the Children’s Bureau, Administration on
4 Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, under grant number 90-CT-0154.

5. RISE Interventions
Outreach and Care Coordination Team
Identification Survey Relationship Building (CCT)
(I) (O) RISE will create CCTs using a
wraparound approach
RISE will create an RISE will provide LGBTQ combined with family finding
anonymous survey of foster competency training to and engagement, plus
RISE Training & youth ages 11+ years that public and private agency LGBTQ-competency
Coaching Institute focuses on safety and youth strategies, in order to
staff, and use posters and
(TCI) that develops development domains, which increase durable connections
and supports includes questions designed
other visual symbols in the
and emotional and legal
training and to assess the proportion of environment to permanence by reducing
coaching efforts lesbian, gay, bisexual, communicate barriers to permanency for
needed for the that diversity in sexual
transgender and questioning LGBTQ youth at risk for long
three orientation and
interventions (LGBTQ) youth in foster care. term foster care, including
gender expression as well those arising from
as equal rights are valued. heterosexism and anti-
transgender bias.
A system level intervention An organizational level A child and family level
intervention intervention
Improve permanency for LGBTQ youth in the foster care system by reducing
heterosexism and anti-transgender bias.
5

6. RISE Perspective On Permanency
Legal
Emotional
Durable
The RISE Initiative is funded by the Children’s Bureau, Administration on
6 Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, under grant number 90-CT-0154.

7. RISE
An Emphasis on Research & Evaluation
RISE is a 5-year demonstration and research project aimed at:
Competently and safely identifying LGBTQ children and youth,
Creating a climate/ecology of acceptance for them
Coordinating their care, and
Producing trained, competent professionals to serve them.
Intended long-term outcome:
LGBTQ children & youth gain forever homes.
It is hoped that RISE Interventions will be replicable across the country
The RISE Initiative is funded by the Children’s Bureau, Administration on
7 Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, under grant number 90-CT-0154.

8. RISE
Key Partners
Foster Care Providers
Five Acres
Hathaway-Sycamores Children & Family Services
Penny Lane Centers
Southern California Foster Family and Adoptions Agency
Vista Del Mar
Homeless Youth Providers
Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA)
Hollywood Homeless Youth Partnership (HHYP)
Other Key Partners
L.A. County Courts, DCFS and DMH
Williams Institute (UCLA School of Law)
The RISE Initiative is funded by the Children’s Bureau, Administration on
8 Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, under grant number 90-CT-0154.

9. RISE
Year One
Evaluation Plan submitted
Implementation Plan approved by Children’s Bureau
Leadership structure established and operational
Collected data about LGBTQ children & youth in foster
care, and the experiences of staff :
Baseline Data (GLASS residential placements)
Case Reviews of 20 closed and 20 open cases
Youth Speak Outs
DCFS Staff & Agency Provider Speak Outs
Expert Roundtable on Outreach & Identification
The RISE Initiative is funded by the Children’s Bureau, Administration on
9 Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, under grant number 90-CT-0154.

10. RISE
Case Reviews
Commonalities among the Cases-
Increase in suicidal ideation;
Lack of connecting struggles with sexual orientation or
gender identity with acting out behaviors;
Children who seemed to fare best had stability and stayed
in one placement for an extended period of time;
There is a disconnect between training and practice; and
Youth who were older or entered the system at an older
age had more successful outcomes.
The RISE Initiative is funded by the Children’s Bureau, Administration on
10 Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, under grant number 90-CT-0154.

11. RISE
Youth Speak Outs
Boundaries need to be put into place and staff needs to be held
accountable for their actions when they are disrespectful
towards LGBTQ youth.
Staff need to be trained thoroughly on LGBTQ issues and there
should be a specialized training on transgender issues.
Safety is the biggest issue for youth, workers need to let LGBTQ
youth know that they are safe in their care.
The RISE Initiative is funded by the Children’s Bureau, Administration on
11 Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, under grant number 90-CT-0154.

12. RISE
DCFS Staff & Agency Provider Speak Outs
Case workers would like a “script” to help guide them when they
are discussing LGBTQ issues.
The majority of staff at both DCFS and partner agencies were not
aware of AB 458 which bans discrimination based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.
Top-down insistence on agency-wide adherence to non-
discrimination policies and laws.
The RISE Initiative is funded by the Children’s Bureau, Administration on
12 Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, under grant number 90-CT-0154.

13. RISE 5 Year Schedule
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5
Plan
Develop
And Test
Scale-up and Evaluate
Est.
number of
children --- ~ 20 ~ 80 ~ 80 ~ 100
served
The RISE Initiative is funded by the Children’s Bureau, Administration on
13 Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, under grant number 90-CT-0154.

14. RISE
Contact Information
Curt Shepard, Director, Children, Youth & Family Services
323.860-3615
cshepard@lagaycenter.org
Lisa Parrish, Director, RISE
323.860-3628
lparrish@lagaycenter.org
Corri Frohlich, Administrative Coordinator, RISE
323.860-3624
cfrohlich@lagaycenter.org
The RISE Initiative is funded by the Children’s Bureau, Administration on
14 Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, under grant number 90-CT-0154.