The National SOGIE Center
The National Center for Youth with Diverse Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, & Expression (The National SOGIE Center), provides a centralized site for accessing resources on providing culturally responsive care to children, youth, young adults with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression (SOGIE) and their families across systems, including child welfare, juvenile justice, mental health (including school mental health), substance use systems, and housing and homelessness
The Center also provides training, technical assistance, and implementation support on creating culturally responsive systems for children, youth, and families with diverse SOGIE. Soon, you will be able to search through our database containing all of the latest research, best practice guidelines, fact sheets and other resources in one place.
Our Work
Click through the slideshow below to learn about the work being done by the National SOGIE Center.
Clearing House of Resources
The National SOGIE Center provides a "one-stop-shop" experience to find resources and requests for consultation, training, or implementation and evaluation support focused on improving wellbeing for and with LGBTQ+ youth and their families. So much work has been done across the country that has contributed to the advancement of LGBTQ+ support and equity within systems and communities. This has resulted in an increased number of guides, trainings, publications, and other resources developed to improve wellbeing for LGBTQ+ youth and their families. We understand the difficulty in finding the right resources and best practices to best meet the needs of this population. The National SOGIE Center was developed to be a clearinghouse of resources and a centralized place to access training and consultation on implementing best practices and improving outcomes for LGBTQ+ youth and their families. We work directly with organizations, public agencies, communities, counties, states, tribes, and territories.
Highlighted Resources
Cuyahoga Youth Count Data
The Cuyahoga Youth Count was an anonymous telephone survey conducted in fall of 2019 with youth (ages 12-21) in Cuyahoga County’s foster care system. Cuyahoga County is a large county in Ohio.
The survey was conducted by the Institute for Innovation and Implementation as part of the National Quality Improvement Center on Tailored Services, Placement Stability, and Permanency for LGBTQ2S Children and Youth in Foster Care. Learn more about the survey.
Supporting LGBTQ Youth & Parents in Child Welfare Systems
LGBTQ youth are over-represented in foster care and many enter care after having experienced family rejection because of their gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation. LGBTQ adults are interested in foster parenting and adoption, yet they remain an untapped resource in many communities. Find out more about how organizations can better welcome and affirm LGBTQ youth and parents from Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s All Children - All Families project.
Support for LGBTQ Youth Starts at Home: An #AsYouAre Project
The Institute for Innovation and Implementation (The Institute) at the University of Maryland, Baltimore School of Social Work has partnered with the Biden Foundation to create an animated short focused on family acceptance of youth with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression (SOGIE). This animated short focuses on the impact of rejection children, youth and young adults can experience in their homes and communities and provides examples and strategies to promote support, acceptance and affirmation of youth with diverse SOGIE. The Institute was honored to support the important work of the Biden Foundation’s As You Are: A Family and Community Acceptance Campaign and shares the commitment to ensuring equal dignity and opportunity for all LGBTQ Americans.
About the Biden Foundation
The Biden Foundation, which ceased operations in 2019, was a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation established to carry on Joe and Jill Biden’s lifelong commitment to public service. By leveraging existing networks and institutions to support, serve, and advocate for LGBTQ communities, the foundation was dedicated to working toward a future where all people are equal in dignity and opportunity.
SOGIE Center News
BALTIMORE, MD. – The Institute for Innovation and Implementation at the University of Maryland School of Social Work (SSW) has been awarded a 5-year, $3.5 million grant to support the implementation of change strategies within mental health and substance use disorder treatment systems to address disparities impacting the LGBTQ+ community. Read more…
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