August 15, 2024
Transgender, nonbinary, and gender-diverse youth face challenges and harm in foster care, the justice system, and homeless services, according to a report released Monday for International Youth Day.
“Safe Havens II: We Must Affirm and Support Transgender, Nonbinary, and Gender Diverse Youth in Out-of-Home Systems” urges a robust response from policymakers to implement comprehensive strategies to support young people in their communities; prevent their involvement in the homeless, juvenile legal, and child welfare systems; and protect those youth in the systems from harm.
It emphasizes the importance of integrating the advice of youth with lived experience, and specifically transgender, nonbinary, and gender-diverse youth — who are consistently invisible in policymaking — in policy and system improvement efforts, ensuring that future policies are anchored in rigorous research rather than stigma and bias.
The report also includes information on law and policy protections and attacks on transgender, non binary, and gender-diverse youth.