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The National SOGIE Center is proud to announce that the AFFIRM Youth program has recently been added to the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC) as a Promising Practice. AFFIRM Youth, developed by National SOGIE Center partner, Affirmative Research, is the first program developed for LGBTQ+ populations to be added to the clearinghouse as a promising practice.
The study outlined here is one of the first of its kind to be conducted in a Midwestern state, where available data on LGBTQ+ youth is extremely limited. It follows similar studies in New York City and Los Angeles showing equally high representation of youth with diverse SOGIE in foster care. Together these studies provide evidence that in the middle of the country, as well as in large urban areas, a greater proportion of LGBTQ+ youth are represented in foster care than in the general population.
The launch of the National SOGIE Center is an important milestone in the movement to promote the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ children and youth who interact with public systems of care.