Thread on info for LGBTQ+ Youth in the care system for Pride Week:

Resource list for LGBTQ+ #cep:
@BeLonG_To - Community and support ( http://www.belongto.org )
@epicireland - Advocates that help with issues/problems ( #cep only) ( http://www.epiconline.ie )
@TENI_Tweets - Improving the rights and advocate for trans people ( http://www.teni.ie )

When I was in care I was given this info sheet from @epicireland in a welcome pack when i went into residential care. I didn't read it, but not i know how super important it is to read and know who to go to and what's expected of staff/social workers
https://www.epiconline.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Coming-Out-in-Care-Transgender.pdf

The LGBTI+ National Youth Strategy in Ireland has no specific mention of the foster care system or residential care system in it's document but it is meant to be a scoping document for all LGBT youth.

Although, In a submission to the LGBTI+ National Youth Strategy, Focus Ireland states that there is little robust info on the profiles of youth homelessness, although histories of state care and state care can be a pathway to homelessness.

I couldn't find any data in Ireland but in the United States, LGBTQ+ Youth are over represented in youth homeless services and the foster care system. ( @HRC , 2015)
https://assets2.hrc.org/files/assets/resources/HRC-YouthFosterCare-IssueBrief-FINAL.pdf

78 percent of LGBT youth in one study were removed or ran away from foster placements because of the caregiver’s hostility toward their sexual orientation or gender identity (USA)
https://youth.gov/youth-topics/lgbtq-youth/child-welfare

A UNESCO report (2015) found that 51% of LGBT youth experience prejudice and inequity in their families, many of whom are placed in foster care, juvenile detention, or find themselves living on the streets because of sexual
orientation or gender identity.
http://youthworktipperary.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/LGBT-Needs-Analysis-2018-1.pdf

A report in Tipperary, Ireland found that there was need for training to meet needs of LGBTQ+ Youth, including a social worker that stated that there is an 'education piece missing' for guardians and parents looking after children in care. (Bowen, 2018)
http://youthworktipperary.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/LGBT-Needs-Analysis-2018-1.pdf

Overall, there is a need for state level education and understanding on how these two margins intersect to create a unique human experience where on one end, we have to navigate our sexuality, while on the other, we have to balance navigating our foster/res/kinship care.

During Pride Week, try to remember the hidden groups within the LGBTQ+ community that do not get the same support, representations and have unique challenges. I'm calling on @DCYAPress to work toward this. Happy #EPICPRIDE