Resources for CASA Foster Youth Volunteer Training

• PDF of PowerPoint Presentation

• Shortlist of Bills Affecting California Foster Youth

• Update with New Bills Affecting California Foster Youth, October 2023

• Human Rights Campaign: Definitions

• PFLAG Fresno’s list of local and national resources (Also we have a monthly support group and educational presentation for families, friends, allies, parents, and the LGBTQ+ community every second Sunday from 2-4!)

• PFLAG publications in PDF form which can be read online (English & Spanish language available)

Specific to LGBTQ+ Foster Youth/Foster Care

• CA Dept of Social Services: SOGIE info for foster care

• CA Dept of Social Services: All County Letters regarding state policy implementation

• Human Rights Campaign- LGBTQ+ Youth in Foster Care

• 2020 Columbia University Study: Experiences and Well-Being of Sexual and Gender Diverse Youth in Foster Care in New York City

• University of Maryland Study: The Cuyahoga Youth Count: A Report on LGBTQ+ Youth Experience in Foster Care

• UCLA School of Law Williams Institute 2014 Report on Sexual and Gender-Minority Youth in Foster Care

• National Center for Lesbian Rights 2013 Publication on LGBTQ+ Youth in Foster Care System: A Question and Answer Guide

• The Children’s Partnership LGBTQ+ Children, Teens, & Young Adults Health & Well-Being Fact Sheet

• CA Foster Youth Bill of Rights

• Lambda Legal SafeHavens II Report: 2024 Report on LGBTQ+ Foster Youth experiences and recommendations for systemic improvement

• CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survelliance 2024 Report highlighting Disparities in School Connectedness, Unstable Housing, Experiences of Violence, Mental Health, and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Among Transgender and Cisgender High School Student

• 2024 peer-reviewed study in Nature Human Behavior highlighting increase in incidence of suicide by trans and non binary youth after anti-transgender state laws were passed in their state

LGBTQ+ Youth in General

• The Family Acceptance Project- Educational Resources to Help Improve the Lives of LGBTQ+ Youth

• One Supportive Adult

• California Laws & Policies Affecting LGBTQ Youth From Discrimination

• California Alliance of Caregivers: Resources for Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth

• California Alliance of Caregivers: LGBT Resources

• My Kid Is Gay: Helping Families Understand Their LGBTQ+ Kids

Trans Youth in Specific

• Statements in support of gender affirming care by national medical organizations

• Gender Spectrum (our favorite national resource for learning about gender & trans/gender expansive youth needs)

• The Trevor Project Film, ‘Learn With Love,’ uplifting trans youths’ stories

Trevor Project National Surveys on LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health

• 2022

• 2021

• 2020

• 2019

Helplines and Hotlines

• The Trevor Project- free, 24/7/365 crisis counseling for LGBTQ+ people

  • 1-866-488-7386

  • Text START to 678678

• TransLifeLine – run by trans people, for trans people

  • 1-877-565-8860

• THRIVE Lifeline

  • Crisis Lifeline staffed by mental health counselors with at least one marginalized identity

    Text 1-313-662-8209

• National Runaway Safeline 

  • 1-800-786-2929

• LGBT National Coming Out Support Hotline

  • 1-888-688-5428

• LGBT National Support Hotline (peer support, info, resources)

  • 1-888-843-4564

• PFLAG Fresno “Warmline” (volunteer staffed for local resources/information only, not a crisis line)

  • (559) 434-6540

• 988 – the National Suicide Prevention & Crisis Hotline

  • Simply dial 988 instead of 911

Reporting Foster Youth Rights Violations
If your complaint is related to the care, placement, services, or rights of foster youth please contact:

Office of the Foster Care Ombudsperson
744 P Street, M.S. 8-13-25
Sacramento, CA 95814
1 (877) 846-1602
fosteryouthhelp@dss.ca.gov

PFLAG Fresno’s list of Local Resources