Administration finalizes protections for LGBTQ+ youth
LGBTQ+ youth are overrepresented in foster care and face higher levels of bullying and harassment, HHS says.
Photo: Walter Bibikow/Getty Images
The Department of Health and Human Services has finalized a rule shoring up protections for youth in foster care by clarifying how states should meet their statutory requirements to appropriately serve LGBTQI+ children.
The reason HHS honed in on LGBTQI+ youth in particular is that such children, according to the agency, are overrepresented in foster care and face significantly higher levels of bullying and harassment in care than other children.
In addition, LGBTQI+ children who enter foster care experience significantly worse outcomes, including higher levels of mental health-related hospitalizations and homelessness, according to HHS.
The administration said the rule supports the broader goal of supporting all foster children with the appropriate resources and services.
WHAT'S THE IMPACT?
To be considered a designated placement for LGBTQI+ children, the placement must satisfy three conditions.
For one, the provider must commit to establishing an environment that supports the child's LGBTQI+ status or identity. Also, the provider must be trained with the appropriate knowledge and skills to provide for the needs of the child related to the child's self-identified sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.
Lastly, the provider must facilitate the child's access to age- or developmentally appropriate resources, services and activities that support their health and wellbeing, said HHS.
The rule also acknowledges the role of kinship placements and states that services and training can be offered to current providers, including kin, to help them become a designated placement if they wish to do so. The rule will help promote placement stability and retain sibling, kinship, family and community ties, consistent with the child's best interest and provider's wishes, according to HHS.
THE LARGER TREND
The rule finalizes the election-year policy from the Biden administration.
The final rule applies to state child welfare agencies and does not require any provider to become a designated placement. Rather, the rule requires state and tribal child welfare agencies to ensure the totality of their child welfare system includes sufficient placements for LGBTQI+ children that meet each of the standards for designated placements.
It adds that nothing in the rule should be construed as requiring or authorizing a state to penalize a provider that does not seek to be or is determined not to qualify as a designated placement provider. It also says that nothing in the rule shall limit any state, tribe or local government from imposing or enforcing, as a matter of law or policy, requirements that provide greater protection to LGBTQI+ children than the rule provides.
Jeff Lagasse is editor of Healthcare Finance News.
Email: jlagasse@himss.org
Healthcare Finance News is a HIMSS Media publication.
