"60 Minutes" has updated the piece it first aired in October on children made homeless by the recession. The accompanying article notes that this will be "the largest American generation to be raised in hard times since the Great Depression."
Monday, June 27, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Homeless crisis among gay teens getting Obama administration's attention
Jason Cherkis of the Huffington Post reports that the Obama administration--in the person of Bryan Samuels, commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families at the U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services--has issued a memo encouraging local child welfare agencies to ensure the protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth who find themselves in need of homes.
"This Information Memorandum (IM) confirms and reiterates my fundamental belief that every child and youth who is unable to live with his or her parents is entitled to a safe, loving and affirming foster care placement, irrespective of the young person's sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression," Samuels wrote. "I encourage child welfare agencies, foster and adoptive parents and others who work with young people in foster care to ensure that their physical and emotional well-being are protected."
LGBTQ youth "are often overrepresented in the population of youth served by the child welfare system and the population of youth living on the streets," Samuels noted, pointing to such data as a National Network of Runaway and Youth services finding that while 4 to 10 percent of the general population is estimated to be gay, anywhere between 20 and 40 percent of homeless youth are gay.
"This Information Memorandum (IM) confirms and reiterates my fundamental belief that every child and youth who is unable to live with his or her parents is entitled to a safe, loving and affirming foster care placement, irrespective of the young person's sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression," Samuels wrote. "I encourage child welfare agencies, foster and adoptive parents and others who work with young people in foster care to ensure that their physical and emotional well-being are protected."
LGBTQ youth "are often overrepresented in the population of youth served by the child welfare system and the population of youth living on the streets," Samuels noted, pointing to such data as a National Network of Runaway and Youth services finding that while 4 to 10 percent of the general population is estimated to be gay, anywhere between 20 and 40 percent of homeless youth are gay.
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