Local Children's Aid seeking foster families sensitive to needs of trans youth
They need families with anti-racist views, too
The Children's Aid Society of London and Middlesex say that now more than ever there's a need for foster families who are sensitive to the needs of transgender youth ages 11 and over. They say that is the case for racialized youth, too.
"Just anecdotally, we've seen so many trans and non-binary youth come into care this year," said Caitlin MacInnes, a resource worker with Children's Aid.
"Coupled with foster homes slowly decreasing over time, whether due to planned retirement, many closed due to the pandemic, it's just created quite the crisis."
What the kids need most, she said, are foster families who have the desire to care for older youth and are accepting of all racial, gender, and sexual identities.
There are approximately 150 foster homes, but 328 youth in care ages 11 and up, and 122 who are under 11, she said. The exact number of 2SLGBTQ+ youth isn't documented locally.
"A lot of it for us anecdotal. This is what we're seeing, this need for this group of youth," MacInnes said.
According to the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies, London and Middlesex County aren't alone. The exact number of queer youth in care is unknown provincewide, but studies abroad show that 2SLGBTQ+ are disproportionately represented in the foster care system.
According to MacInnes, trans youth "are having a really difficult time in [their] system and coming into care and maybe not always being supported by their adoptive family or their biological family."
The Ontario Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services has outlined a number of issues faced by queer youth in the system, including "hostility, harassment, or violence from their peers in foster and group care settings that may go unchallenged by staff and caregivers," and "challenges developing lasting relationships or accessing appropriate services due to stigma and discrimination."
"We really need to be looking for actively anti-racist, anti-transphobic adults who can step up to help these children and youth," MacInnes said. "They just so deserve a family experience if they can't be with their own family."