- February 2015
- Vol. 16, No. 1
Providing Quality Residential Interventions for LGBTQI2-S Youth
The American Association of Children's Residential Centers (AACRC) publishes a series of papers that provide residential treatment professionals with guidelines, strategies, and resources to support quality services. AACRC recently published the 12th paper in the series, which addresses the provision of quality residential interventions for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, and two-spirit (LGBTQI2-S) youth. The paper focuses on challenges youth face when exploring issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity in residential programs.
The guidelines and strategies presented draw from the efforts and experiences of programs that have successfully developed and implemented organizational cultures that are positive and inclusive toward sexual and gender minorities. The paper defines key terms related to sexuality and gender, highlights several concerns regarding LGBTQI2-S youth within residential settings, and makes recommendations for implementing an organization's philosophical framework for working with LGBTQI2-S youth. Ten specific strategies are discussed for how organizations can align their practice to this framework, and links are included to several resources for additional information and guidance.
Access Redefining Residential: Ensuring Competent Residential Interventions for Youth With Diverse Gender and Sexual Identities and Expressions on the AACRC website at http://www.aacrc-dc.org/sites/default/files/paper_12.pdf (126 KB).