PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Galloway, Advocacy Manager of Ali Forney Center, on LGBTQ Youth in Foster Care
2:36:05
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Galloway, the Advocacy Manager of the Ali Forney Center, testified about discrimination and systemic failures faced by LGBTQ youth and foster parents in the New York City child welfare system. They highlighted recent progress in working with ACS but emphasized the need for further policy reforms, improved services, and support for specific legislation.
- Called for urgent attention to discrimination against LGBTQ youth and foster parents in the child welfare system
- Highlighted recent collaborations with ACS, including establishing LGBTQIA point people and facilitating best practice trainings
- Advocated for policy reform, tailored mental health services, affirming family therapy, and comprehensive education programs
- Expressed support for Intros 56, 81, and 52 related to LGBTQ youth in foster care
Galloway
2:36:05
Good afternoon, chair Stevens and the committee on children and youth.
2:36:09
My name is Galloway, and I'm the advocacy manager of the Ally Fournier Center, the nation's largest organization dedicated to serving unhoused LGBTQ youth.
2:36:19
Today, I'm here to talk about an urgent attention to the discrimination and systemic failures that LGBTQ youth and foster parents are facing within the New York City child welfare system.
2:36:30
As you've already heard today, foster parents are experiencing this.
2:36:35
We'd love to connect to you because ACS and OCFS has come to us trying to figure out how we can get more LGBTQ foster care parents, yet we're shutting them out.
2:36:44
So we're definitely gonna talk about that, but we've seen so much discrimination, in the last year from SCR and ACS workers on homophobia and transphobia, and we need to talk about the accountability and the insufficient trainings the workers are compounding that trauma onto those queer and trans youth.
2:37:03
I wanna highlight though, since June, we wrote this paper and we have been meeting with ACS to talk about these needed changes, and these are some ways that we've started to work with them already.
2:37:13
We've included and established a division of child protections for LGBTQIA point people.
2:37:19
We've established it and started to facilitate best practice trainings.
2:37:23
They developed a prevention plan for families and they designated an RHY point person in these division of child protections.
2:37:31
That's great, but we got more work to do.
2:37:32
I want to highlight the things that we need to get done.
2:37:35
First, we got to create a policy reform.
2:37:37
They have not updated the policy reform from ACS since 2012.
2:37:41
So we need to make sure that LGBTQ youth are included in that and we need we want to recommend that we structure this system to using a red, yellow, and green flag to ensure that workers respond appropriately.
2:37:53
So this is really checking those workers.
2:37:55
Secondly, we need to have a tailored mental health services.
2:37:58
So LGBTQ youth in the foster care experience higher forms of depression and anxiety.
2:38:04
We need a partner to fast track those.
2:38:07
Third, affirming family therapy, comprehensive education programs, and lastly just want to highlight the legislation we're supporting which is intro 56, intro 81, and intro 52.
2:38:18
Again I'm here to talk further about these needed changes but want to make sure others have time so thank you all.
2:38:23
Thank you so much.