About US
The National SOGIE Center is a collaborative led by Innovations Institute at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work and is comprised of multiple organizations that work to improve the lives of children and youth with diverse Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Expression (SOGIE) involved in systems of care.
The National SOGIE Center includes organizations across the country leading work focused on advocacy, policy, financing, system design, intervention design, implementation, evaluation, and providing direct care services for youth and their families within the public child, youth and family-serving systems. These systems include child welfare, juvenile justice, mental health (including school mental health), substance use systems, and housing and homelessness.
Historically, accessing resources on improving care for youth identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, population identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, two-spirit, and other diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions (LGBTQ+) has been siloed. This Center serves as a centralized site for accessing resources on providing culturally responsive care to children, youth, young adults with diverse SOGIE, and their families across these systems.
Our Principals
The work of the SOGIE Center is grounded by the following principles:
- LGBTQ+ young people must be supported to thrive with their family in their communities.
- Young people and their families are the experts in their lives, strengths, and needs and must be centered in all of our work.
- *Families are the best supports for raising strong, healthy, and happy children, youth, and youth adults.
- Systems are not replacements for families or communities.
- An intersectional analysis that examines power and identity must be applied to all our work. SOGIE must be understood as interconnected with race, ethnicity, class, ability or immigration status, which together impacts the experiences, opportunities, and health status of LGBTQ+ young people and their families.
- People deserve access to services that are proven to work.
- Communities, families, advocates, and allies should hold systems accountable for better policies and practices to ensure that LGBTQ+ youth and their families are supported.
- In order to create equitable care for LGBTQ+ youth, we work to acknowledge the history of anti-Black racism and the genocide and forced assimilation of Native peoples that has impacted our laws, policies, and practices even to this day and we must recognize and work to dismantle the harm this causes to all youth, specifically LGBTQ+ youth.
*Families include families of origin and families of choice.
Innovations Institute Staff Directory
Darquita Fletcher, LCSW-C
Project Director, National Quality Improvement Center on Family-Centered Reunification
Pronouns: she/her
Partner Directory
Click on a partner below to learn more!
Best Point of Contact: Ashley Austin and Shelley Craig – mail@affirmativeresearch.net
Mission Statement: Using an integrated affirmative research and practice framework, ARC engages in innovative research and provides training and consultation aimed at improving the mental health and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, queer, etc.) youth and young adults.
Website: https://www.affirmativeresearch.net/
Initiatives, Training, Resources:
- Youth Affirm: https://www.affirmativeresearch.net/affirm-youth-training
- Affirm Caregiver: https://www.affirmativeresearch.net/affirm-caregiver-training
Best Point of Contact: Kristen Weber – kristen.weber@cssp.org
Areas of Expertise:
- Collection of SOGIE data
- Addressing racial inequities
- Applying intersectional analysis
Mission Statement: CSSP works to achieve a racially, economically, and socially just society in which all children and families thrive.
Website: https://cssp.org/
Initiatives, Training, Resources:
- getREAL Initiative – https://cssp.org/our-work/project/getreal
- getREAL lessons learned and resources – https://cssp.org/resource/welcoming-affirming-supporting/
- Supporting LGBTQ+ youth through the Family First Prevention Services Act – https://cssp.org/resource/advancing-healthy-outcomes-eight-ways-to-promote-the-health-and-well-being-of-lgbtq-youth-involved-with-child-welfare/
Best Point of Contact: fap@sfsu.edu
Areas of Expertise:
- Family acceptance
- Training professionals across settings on helping diverse families to support their LGBTQ+ children
- Clinical case consultation
Description: The Family Acceptance Project® is a research, intervention, education and policy initiative to prevent health and mental health risks for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer-identified (LGBTQ) children and youth, including suicide, homelessness, drug use and HIV — in the context of their families, cultures and faith communities. We use a research-based, culturally grounded approach to help ethnically, racially and religiously diverse families learn to support their LGBTQ children.
Website: https://familyproject.sfsu.edu/; https://lgbtqfamilyacceptance.org/
Initiatives, Training, Resources:
Family education booklets: https://familyproject.sfsu.edu/publications
Healthy Futures poster series: https://familyproject.sfsu.edu/poster
- Resource bibliography: https://sogiecenter.org/media/ssw/institute/sogie-center/FAP-Bibliography-Resource-List.pdf
Best Point of Contact: Vida Khavar – vkhavar@familybuilders.org
Areas of Expertise:
- LGBT family adoption
- LGBTQ+ youth in foster care
- Family engagement, youth acceptance, permanency
Mission Statement: Family Builders believes that every child has the right to grow up in permanent nurturing loving family. Family Builders educates the community about the needs of children in foster care, advocates on their behalf and creates permanent secure families through adoption and other forms of permanency.
Website: https://familybuilders.org/
Initiatives, Training, Resources:
- Get R.E.A.L. – https://familybuilders.org/programs-services/get-real/
- Youth Acceptance Project – https://familybuilders.org/programs-services/youth-acceptance-project/
Best Point of Contact:
- Laura Brennan – Lbrennan@familyequality.org
Areas of Expertise:
- Prevent discrimination against and improve outcomes for LGBTQ+ youth and families involved in the child welfare system.
- Prevent discrimination, bullying, and harassment of students with LGBTQ+ parents and their families in K-12 schools.
- Remove legal and economic barriers to LGBTQ+ family formation, recognition, and protection.
- Work for legal and lived equality for LGBTQ+ families and those who wish to form them.
Mission Statement: Our mission is to ensure that everyone has the freedom to find, form, and sustain their families by advancing equality for the LGBTQ+ community.
Website: https://www.familyequality.org
Initiatives, Training, Resources:
- Every Child Deserves a Family Campaign – https://everychilddeservesafamily.com/
- Path 2 Family Equality – https://www.path2familyequality.org/
- The Neighborhood – https://www.familyequality.org/neighborhood/
- Open Door – https://www.familyequality.org/lgbtq-training-for-professionals/
Best Point of Contact: Alison Delpercio – alison.delpercio@hrc.org
Areas of Expertise:
- Staff Training (Virtual & In-Person)
- Online Learning (Synchronous & Asynchronous)
- Policy & Practice Technical Assistance
- Capacity Building
Mission Statement: The Human Rights Campaign Foundation improves the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) people by working to increase understanding and encourage the adoption of LGBTQ+ inclusive policies and practices.
Website: https://www.thehrcfoundation.org/
Initiatives, Training, Resources:
- All Children – All Families – www.hrc.org/acaf
- Project THRIVE – https://www.thehrcfoundation.org/professional-resources/project-thrive
- Time to THRIVE National Conference – timetothrive.org
- Welcoming Schools – welcomingschools.org
Best Point of Contact: Sheila Pires – sapires@aol.com, Kathy Lazear – klazear@usf.edu
Areas of Expertise:
- Developing systems of care for children youth and their families
- Cultural and linguistic competence to achieve health equity
- Policy and financing related to children, youth, young adults
- Families involved in multiple systems
- Re-design and re-financing of service systems to support home and community-based alternatives to institutional care
- Medicaid reforms that support children, youth and young adults with behavioral health challenges and families involved with child welfare
- Integration of system of care principles and approaches within publicly financed managed care
- Coordination among child and family service systems, including Medicaid, behavioral health, child welfare, juvenile justice, and education, at federal, state and local levels
Mission Statement: Human Service Collaborative assists national, state, and local governments, communities and neighborhood collaboratives, and federal and foundation funders to develop policies and programs to achieve:
- Effective services and supports for children, youth and families that are individualized, comprehensive, family and youth driven, community-based and culturally and linguistically competent to achieve health equity
- Collaboration and service integration across agencies and jurisdictions
- Cohesive, flexible systems of care for children, youth and families in and at risk of involvement in multiple systems
Best Point of Contact: Christopher Bellonci – cbellonci@bakercenter.org
Areas of Expertise:
- Evaluation design, evaluation implementation, and interpretation of findings.
- Clinical issues and on culturally responsive best practices in supporting LGBTQ+ youth
- Clinical issues impacting youth and families including the known increased risk of suicidality; depression and anxiety disorders; responses to trauma, bullying and rejection by peers and family; substance use and other known mental health risk factors.
Mission Statement: The Baker Center for Children and Families (also known as Judge Baker Children’s Center), promotes the best possible mental health of children and families through the integration of research, intervention, training, and policy.
- Through research we identify best practices
- Through intervention we bring those practices to children and families of diverse communities
- Through training we disseminate skills in research and quality care
- Through advocacy we use scientific knowledge to expand public awareness and inform public policy
Website: https://www.bakercenter.org
Best Point of Contact: Currey Cook – ccook@lambdalegal.org; Maia Zelkind – mzelkind@lambdalegal.org
Areas of Expertise:
- State and federal policy advancing rights of LGBTQ+ youth in child welfare and juvenile justice systems and systems serving youth experiencing homelessness
- Impact litigation on behalf of LGBTQ+ youth and families involved with out-of-home care systems
- Education and trainings for attorneys, child advocates, and court systems on providing LGBTQ+ affirming and supportive services to youth in systems of care
Mission Statement: Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and everyone living with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work.
Website: https://www.lambdalegal.org/
Best Point of Contact: Danny King – DKing@nclrights.org
Areas of Expertise:
- Legal rights of LGBTQ children and youth in government custody, schools, and health care settings
- SOGIE data collection
- Child welfare and youth justice agency policy
- Eradicating conversion therapy
Mission Statement: NCLR is a national legal organization committed to advancing the civil and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families through litigation, legislation, policy, and public education. NCLR’s work on behalf of LGBTQ youth includes promoting the well-being of youth in foster care and youth justice systems, protecting youth from the harms of conversion therapy, promoting safety and equality in schools, and ensuring that transgender youth have the supports they need to thrive.
Website: https://www.nclrights.org
Initiatives, Training, and Resources:
- Youth Work: https://www.nclrights.org/our-work/youth/
Best Point of Contact: kweber@youth.org
Areas of Expertise:
- Increasing the rights of youth through policy and litigation, including addressing bias and discrimination against LGBTQI+ youth in schools, placements, foster systems
- increasing mental health care access for youth, including LGBTQI+ youth
- addressing the needs of LGBTQIA2S+ youth who are commercially sexually exploited or engaged in survival sex
- expanding youth access to comprehensive and inclusive health education
- ensuring youth in foster systems receive gender affirming and inclusive sexual and reproductive health care
- applying a qualitative review process (Institutional Analysis) to identify systemic issues undermining the wellbeing of LGBTQI+ youth
- partnering with youth to ensure their voices and perspectives are centered in policy and advocacy work, in particular on issues of commercial sexual exploitation and reproductive health and education
Mission Statement: Our mission is to center youth voices and experiences through impact litigation, policy advocacy, collaboration and research that fundamentally transforms our nation’s approach to education, health, immigration, foster care, and youth justice.
Website: youthlaw.org
Initiatives, Training, Resources:
Reproductive Health Equity Project (RHEP) for Foster Youth https://fosterreprohealth.org/
Legal Advocacy and Impact litigation (youthlaw.org, NCYL’s website, contains latest litigation efforts)
Understanding the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of LGBTQIA2S+ Youth
Self-Taught podcast, a “podcast from foster youth, for foster youth, with unfiltered conversations about sex, health and life.” Including episodes on gender identity and sexual orientation and growing up in affirming, and less than affirming, spaces, as youth explore SOGIE identity.
Best Point of Contact:
Lydia Proulx – lydia@youthmovenational.org
Areas of Expertise:
Youth engagement in systems change
Youth peer support implementation support
Youth peer and youth peer supervision training
LGBTQ+ youth lived experience in mental health, child welfare, juvenile justice
Mission Statement: We the members of Youth MOVE National will work as a diverse collective to unite the voices and causes of youth while raising awareness around youth issues. We will advocate for youth rights and voice in mental health and the other systems that serve them, for the purpose of empowering youth to be equal partners in the process of change.
Website: https://youthmovenational.org/
Initiatives, Training, Resources:
Youth MOVE Change Initiative: https://youthmovenational.org/youth-move-change-initiative
Youth Peer Support Resources: https://youthmovenational.org/youth-peer-support/
- Youth MOVE Peer Center: https://youthmovepeercenter.org/
Best Point of Contact: training@ruthelliscenter.org
Areas of Expertise:
- Direct service and program provider with BIPOC LGBTQ+ youth and their families in child welfare, RHY, and integrated health (CMH)
- LGBTQ+ young adult specific Non-time Limited Housing in public continuum of care.
Mission Statement: It is our mission, to create opportunities with LGBTQ+ young people to build their vision for a positive future.
Website: https://www.ruthelliscenter.org/
Initiatives, Training, Resources:
- Training and Event Request form – https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=aNyiMf5640SKBbrS8Jo0IdO_kudOFDlLtZsThIXf9HxUQjdaSU0xTkNKWEtHU1A0TEZOWEM1T0RJTC4u
