Transcending Barriers: A Curriculum for Foster Parents Caring for Transgender Youth

Transgender and gender non-conforming youth often are poorly served in the child welfare system. Many caseworkers and foster parents lack accurate information about gender variance and/or have negative attitudes toward transgender youth. As a result, they may be unable or unwilling to provide the support needed by these youth, including help forming a positive self-identify and negotiating challenges and discriminatory behavior in other domains such as school, work, and health care. Although training and best practice guidelines have been developed for child welfare workers working with transgender youth, there is little training on this issue designed for foster parents. This CDHS-funded project involves the development of a half-day curriculum to train foster parents to recognize and meet the needs of transgender and gender non-conforming youth who are involved with the child welfare system. The training involves learning about scientific research on transgender youth, understanding their psychosocial needs and challenges, identifying risk and protective factors, and developing empathy, skills, and strategies to become caring and effective foster parents for transgender youth.