LGBTQ+ Populations

Through implementing programs and services to address behavioral health needs of youth; listening to families about their experiences with public systems; and through observing practitioners in the field we saw the unmet needs of system-involved LGBTQ+ young people. From working directly with systems-involved youth we learned about the pathways that led to young people with LGBTQ+ identities to becoming involved in public systems. They were not predisposed to behavioral health challenges, rather they were surviving in a world filled with systemic and individual biases that are further exacerbated for youth with intersecting identities of being queer and black and brown. Our first-hand experience of witnessing the overrepresentation of queer and black and brown youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems led us to seek out opportunities to create change for and with LGBTQ+ youth. We lead trainings on understanding the needs of this population, write about best practices, develop research projects focused on LGBTQ+ youth, and work to transform systems and policies to better support LGBTQ+ youth.

Read our pivotal study showing overrepresentation of LGBTQ+ youth in foster care; our findings highlight the need to identify youth to support them.

In 2016 we received a $10 million award, with Marlene Matarese as Principal Investigator, to establish the National Quality Improvement Center on Tailored Services, Placement Stability, and Permanency for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Two-Spirit Children and Youth in Foster Care (QICLGBTQ2S). With four child welfare agencies and partners across the country, we built the evidence for, and number of available programs for LGBTQ2S young people in foster care and their families as well as the workforce that serves them. This project culminated in 2023 with 15 evidence-based programs and approaches that are now being implemented across the country for LGBTQ+ youth involved in public systems. Read the final report.

Our success on the QICLGBTQ2S led to a new award addressing the needs of LGBTQ+ populations: the SAMHSA funded Center of Excellence on LGBTQ+ Behavioral Health Equity (CoE LGBTQ+ BHE) with Angela Weeks as Project Director and Marlene Matarese as Principal Investigator. The CoE LGBTQ+ BHE provides behavioral health practitioners with resources, training, and technical assistance to enhance culturally responsive care and decrease disparities for  people identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, two-spirit, and other diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions. Research shows that LGBTQ+ populations of all ages, due to systemic and individual biases, disproportionately experience more instances of mental health and substance use disorders, suicidality, and poorer wellbeing outcomes compared to their heterosexual and cisgender peers. The CoE LGBTQ+ BHE provides training and technical assistance to effectively implement change strategies within mental health and substance use disorder treatment systems to address LGBTQ+ disparities. Find the CoE LGBTQ+ BHE’s wealth of information, resources, and trainings.

The work on these national projects culminated in the creation of the National Center for Youth with Diverse Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity & Expression (National SOGIE Center) a collaborative, led by Innovations Institute with Angela Weeks as Project Director and Marlene Matarese as Principal Investigator, of national leading social justice organizations that work to promote the well-being of LGBTQ+ youth and their families. SOGIE Center partners lead advocacy, policy, financing, system design, intervention design, implementation, and evaluation efforts across the country for youth and families within public child-serving systems. These systems include child welfare, juvenile justice, mental health including school mental health, substance use, and housing and homelessness. The SOGIE Center consolidates evidence-based tools, trainings, and resources and provides implementation support to systems and organizations who want to improve their service delivery for LGBTQ+ youth and their families. Together the partners of the National SOGIE Center provide a coordinated national approach for implementing best practices and policies to address the needs of LGBTQ+ youth involved in public serving systems, and a centralized library of well-researched methods for addressing their needs. Learn about the training, coaching, system and organizational consultation, policy development, and research and evaluation efforts of the National SOGIE Center.