American Bar Association Center on Children and

the Law Launches “The Kids Are Listening”

- A National Awareness Campaign -
to Ensure the Legal Rights and Protection of LGBTQ
Youth
in Foster Care

Escalating Concern of Bullying and Discrimination

Leads to
First-of-its-Kind Online Program

“Every day, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning

children and teens are bombarded by images and messages
that tell them who they are is not OK.
For thousands of those in foster care, the situation can be even
worse.”

New York, April 14 2011— The American Bar Association (ABA) Center
on Children and the Law today announced the launch of “The Kids are
Listening,” a nationwide awareness campaign to help ensure that the
thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning
(LGBTQ) children and teens who are in foster care receive the legal rights
and protection they deserve and need.

This campaign on behalf of LGBTQ youth in foster care is the first of its
kind in the nation and offers free online resources and provides support
to legal and social services professionals - from judges to children’s
attorneys and social services personnel - who are involved in the foster
care community.

Via an online video, “The Kids are Listening” campaign encourages

people of all ages and walks of life to stand up to hate speech and
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discrimination of LGBTQ youth. “The Kids are Listening” video and
Follow the campaign on Facebook (facebook.com/KidsAreListening) and
Twitter (twitter.com/kidsrlistening).

A growing coalition of support is coming from major organizations across the

nation including the American Humane Association; the Anti-Defamation League;
Cartoon Network’s Stop Bullying: Speak Up Campaign; Lambda Legal; the Child
Welfare League of America; the National Association of Counsel for Children; the
National Black Justice Coalition; The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court
Judges; the National LGBT Bar Association; Safe Schools Coalition; and the It Gets
Better Project created by syndicated columnist and author Dan Savage.

“The Kids are Listening” campaign is part of the ABA Center on Children
and the Law’s Opening Doors Project, which was created in 2005 to
increase the legal community’s awareness of LGBTQ youth in foster care
and the unique issues they face and to provide the legal community with
advocacy tools to successfully represent these youth.

“Youth in foster care grapple with serious and often devastating risk factors
including substance abuse, health issues, harassment in foster care and
school, and high suicide rates,“ said Mimi Laver, Director of the Opening
Doors Project and Legal Education at the ABA Center on Children and the
Law. “’The Kids are Listening’ campaign is about creating much-needed
awareness in communities across America and teaching them how to
address issues of bullying and discrimination to LGBTQ youth in a way that
can be immediately implemented. We can all make a difference in the
lives of these vulnerable children and teens – judges, lawyers, child welfare
professionals, teachers, guidance counselors, and community members
alike.”

According to Laver, recent statistics on LGBTQ youth – both in and out of

the foster care system – portray a grim reality for these children and teens:

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 • LGBTQ youth are twice as likely to experience sexual abuse before
the age of 12
• LGBTQ youth are twice as likely to attempt suicide as non-LGBTQ
youth
• 80% of LGBTQ youth reported physical violence by their families after
coming out
• Homeless youth suicide rates are more than twice as high (62%) than
non-LGBTQ homeless youth (29%)
• 80% of LGBTQ students reported verbal harassment at school (70%
feel unsafe; 28% dropped out)
• 70% of LGBTQ youth in group homes reported violence based on
their LGBTQ status
• 100% of LGBTQ youth in group homes reported verbal harassment
• 79% of LGBTQ youth were removed or ran away from placement
because of hostility to their LGBTQ status
• More than 4%-10% of LGBTQ youth in state care identify as LGBTQ
• Between 11% and 40% of homeless youth are LGBTQ. One half of
homeless kids have spent time in foster care

Research conducted by the ABA Center on Children and the Law has found
that LGBTQ youth are less safe in foster care than other children and teens;
have less of a chance of being reunified with their families or getting
adopted; and their health, emotional health and educational needs are not
being met.

"It’s essential for child welfare professionals to understand what's going on

in the LGBTQ community because we've been hidden in the dark for so
long,” said Milan, a 19-year-old woman from Louisiana who was involved
with the juvenile justice system. “There's a younger generation that's
coming behind me and they need to be well-prepared for the battles they
are about to face. But they can't do it alone. The Opening Doors Project
made a big difference in my life because I finally got to see people come
together to make a change in my LGBTQ community."

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For more information about “The Kids are Listening” visit
http://thekidsarelistening.org or call the ABA Center on Children and the
Law at 202-662-1720.

Opening Doors Case Study: Prince George’s County, MD LGBTQ

Youth Task Force
In 2007, social services workers and child advocates in Prince George’s
County, MD, just outside of Washington, DC, identified a problem. The
LGBTQ children in their care faced bullying and unique challenges, and the
staff and volunteers were not equipped to adequately help. With assistance
from the Opening Doors Project, the Prince George’s County LGBTQ Youth
Task Force was formed to provide training and support for legal and social
service professionals on the front lines of this issue. The county’s foster kids
are now benefitting from the Task Force’s initiatives: they established a
group home Bill of Rights for LGBTQ youth and have published resource
guides for professionals working with foster kids. The initiatives reinforce
the message that everyone deserves respect for who they are.

About the ABA Center on Children and the Law

The American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law is a full-
service technical assistance, training, and research program addressing a
broad spectrum of law and court-related topics affecting children. The
attorneys working on the Opening Doors project have, combined, 35 years
working in the child welfare legal community. They have represented the
child welfare agency, as well as children and youth in the foster care
system. They focus much of their work on permanency issues for youth in
foster care with an emphasis on LGBTQ youth.

Media Contacts:
Suzanne Bronski / 917-292-9554 / suzanne@bronski.us
Sekita Ekrek / 202-415-6560 / sekita@sekitaekrek.com
Garry I. Bevel: ABA / 202-662-1720 / Garry.Bevel@americanbar.org

Press Materials: http://thekidsarelistening.org

Quote in Headline: Mimi Laver, Director of the Opening Doors Project

and Legal Education at the ABA Center on Children and the Law

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