The Social Center For Lgbt Youth

Abstract: SMY (sexual minority youth, which refers within this paper to youth who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer) are at risk for trauma in particularly high numbers. When SMY become homeless, their risk for exposure to trauma becomes even higher, presenting the helping professions with a population that faces unique problems in clinical settings that may seek to treat homelessness without considering minority stress and repeated exposure to trauma. We reviewed literature concerned with trauma, homelessness and SMY issues to determine which EBPs (evidence-based practices) have been deemed most helpful for this population and found very few. Our investigation into local resources available to homeless SMY was similarly discouraging. Since previous trauma and marginalized sexual orientation are the primary factors for continued risk, we can suggest that Trauma Informed Care and Gay Affirmative Cognitive Behavioral Therapy are currently our best choices. This paper will seek to explore why.

Austin is a large, yet still expanding metropolis from the great state of Texas; as many statistics show, with big cities come a considerable following of the homeless population. One of the first things that many people from tourists to new residents notice when entering Austin from I-35 is the homeless camp under the bridge. It’s certainly an eye catching scene, yet almost everyone forgets about it once it’s out of their peripheral vision. I, for one, felt dejected seeing such a somber scenery, yet when upon driving to a new vicinity, I’d forgotten all about it. Maybe it was my own way of coping with the fact that there were people who were and still are in need of help and I couldn’t offer anything substantial to them. Either way, as I’ve learned we can’t help those who doesn’t want to be helped. In this research I’m delving into the causes of homelessness, the reason why it’s so pervasive in large cities such as Austin, and how the gentrification happening in the city isn’t helping.

Homelessness is a major problem in the United States. An incredibly vulnerable group is the homeless youth due to their young age and lack of education. According to Edidin, Ganim, Hunter, & Karnik (2012) on any particular night in the United States there are ~2 million homeless youth living on the streets, in shelters, or in other temporary accommodation. Youth become homeless for multiple reasons whether it be because they have aged out of foster care, ran from home, were kicked out of their home, or because they have become homeless along with their family members. Within the umbrella categorization of homeless youth there are high at risk subgroups, common misconceptions, and a serious concern of lack of support and medical services.

I write today to request your permission to research solutions that will enable LGBTQ youth who have become homeless to find safe and appropriate services tailored to their special needs. In order to properly investigate the available options and make recommendations to my community, I will have to research the circumstances that leads to LGBTQ youth homelessness, the challenges they face and what’s already available to them.

Clarify this section: Vulnerable Populations Project: I assisted Vulnerable Populations (Mental Health & Wellness, LGBT Youth, Youth with Special Needs, Underrepresented Youth, Homeless Youth, Youth in Foster Care, Disconnected Youth, Immigrant Youth, and Incarcerated Youth): Champions postings for the NIFA website and completed introductory documents for each designated population.

The Los Angeles LGBT Youth Center serves the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. Their mission is to build a world where LGBT people thrive as healthy, equal and complete members of society. They value respect, excellence, inclusiveness, innovation, and integrity. The services that are offered by the Los Angeles LGBT Youth Center is housing, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, clothing and laundry services, education program, HIV testing and counseling, employment program, computer lab, housing referrals, recreational activities, art and music groups, and counseling and support groups. This center is open from Monday to Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. except for Saturday it is open from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. It helps the youth and individuals find peace and get their life back on track.

Homelessness is an epidemic that plagues many people across the United States for many different reasons. However, for young people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, living homeless can become especially difficult. Young people of the LGBT community are being put out of their homes, rejected by their families, and shunned by their communities in which they live because of their sexual orientation, something that they themselves have no choice over. This is because of prejudices that are put out by the community as a whole.

Case Study 14.1: David’s coming Out Process 1. What are the developmental challenges for sexual minority youth, as articulated in David’s story? David’s story points out the complicated lives that LGBTQ youth experience, youth who identify as transgender, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer are more than twice as likely to attempt suicide, and studies show that that higher risk stems from their experiences of discrimination and victimization. David’s journey as a gay teen reveals the challenges some young people face just for being who they are.

There is a dire, hard pressing, unrelenting fact that San Diego, CA is home to more than 8,500 homeless individuals. On any given night there are more than 800 homeless people living unsheltered on the streets of downtown San Diego, a 26 percent increase since 2014 (Wrath, 2015). In order to begin to effectively assess the homeless crisis in downtown San Diego, a needs assessment should be completed to examine and determine the full extent of the social problem. Key informants are identified as well as the engagement and assessment skills a social worker would utilize in completing a needs assessment of the homeless crisis in downtown San Diego, California.

The first three sets of theory incorporated the levels, shifting levels of identities shaped by outside agencies for LGBT youth. Another social factor that impending on young sexual minorities are the threats of poverty. These threats cause LGBT youth to experience vulnerability and detriment to their identities. Corliss et al. research validates that statement. In their article, “High Burden of Homelessness Among Sexual-Minority Adolescents: Findings From a Representative, Massachusetts High School, Sample,” they review the prevalence of homelessness in LGBT and heterosexual adolescents (Corliss et al. 1683). Their findings include: 40% LGBT student in the Massachusetts

Every day in the United States, a young person, under the age of eighteen faces homelessness, and most often it’s because of others. In a report by The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, it was noted that 26% of LGBTQ youth were kicked out of their homes when they came out (Ray, 2006). The Urban Justice League reports numbers as high as 78% of LGBTQ youth that “were removed from or left their foster care placements because they were un-welcoming or hostile towards their sexual orientation and/or gender identity ” (Feinstein, Greenblatt, Hass, Kohn, & Rana, 2001). The United States is an independent, individualistic country; we prize the freedom of expression, but do we really? One of the most significant, if not the most important, social structures is the family. Gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals who are aware of their sexuality, must create an alternative self to present to family and friends, especially if there is an understanding, verbalized or implicit, that homosexuality is not tolerated, or simply wrong. Many gay, lesbian and bisexual men and women would rather go with the flow, assimilate, not make waves, rather than to express their own gay identity, and risk ostracism.

Volunteers were all assigned to different areas collecting information based on a survey questionnaire and interviewing some individuals. Each team was then given a map of the census track. Categories indicated the location on the map of where homeless individuals are seen, either on the street, in a car, or tent/ hand-built framework. The volunteers are required to view an online training component the week of the PIT that goes over the charts, safety, and other protocols. Volunteers interviewed 24% of all homeless individuals counted to collect information on demographics, age, and locations.

Occasionally referred to as “the unaccompanied youth” or “the runaway youth”, the homeless youth are teens under the age of eighteen who are in a dire need of parental or foster care. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in the US Department of Justice reports in their most recent study, published in 2002, that there are around 1,682,900 teens that fall into the category of “being homeless” and “the runaway youth” (Homeless and Runaway Youth). This number is uniformly distributed among males and females, with the majority of the homeless being between the ages of 15 and 17 (Molino, 2007). The National Network of Runaway and Youth Services states that six percent of the homeless youth are either gay, lesbian, bisexual,

For all the hundreds of thousands of LGBT homeless youths suffering around the world and the hundreds of millions non-LGBT, there needs to be a helping hand that can be a providing tool to help Dorsen, C. (2010). Affirmative action has to be taken immediately to provide equality and the well-being of the LGBT homeless youth around the world. I have helped in support for the LGBT homeless youth from donating money to an organization that deals with the homeless youth. It may not seem like a big help, but in reality anything helps. LGBT homeless is a big issue and people need to take the time to consider ways to reach out. As any other organization that support a cause

The focus of the study of homelessness was on two cities in particular, El Monte and Baldwin Park, but an overview of the Service Planning Area 3 gives a better starting point in viewing the area. The physical location of the San Gabriel Valley (right) is east of the city of Los Angeles, bordered to the north by mountains, contained by hills to the east and west, and completed by the Puente Hills to the south. It is one of the most ethnically diverse regions in the country, including 31 different cities, which in turn contain large communities of racially diverse peoples (Cheng 21).