Trump, Azar Nix Data on Vulnerable Gay Youth
Health and Human Services ends Obama rule to document LGBTQ foster kids, parents
BY MATT TRACY
At the same time the
Trump administration
blew off concerns
of trans advocates and
moved ahead with the dismantling
of sex discrimination protections
under Title IX, the president’s
team fi nalized yet another rule —
this time targeting homeless queer
youth.
The Department of Health and
Human Services’ (HHS) Administration
for Children and Families
fi nalized a rule ending the collection
of data regarding sexual orientation,
adding another twist to
the administration’s fi xation on
targeting LGBTQ rights in foster
care and adoption. Early last year,
HHS granted taxpayer-funded foster
care agencies the right to reject
same-sex prospective parents in
South Carolina, while the State
Department has undercut samesex
marriage and immigration
laws by rejecting citizenship for
some children of same-sex parents
born outside the US.
The new regulations terminate
an Obama era provision that required
states to ask children in
the foster care system, as well as
foster and adoptive parents, about
their sexual orientation. The data
collection was primarily intended
to paint a broader picture about
demographic information within
the welfare system and steer the
allocation of federal funding, but
in some states, it was also used to
help better pair a foster child to an
appropriate home.
The information is collected as
part of the Adoption and Foster
Care Analysis and Reporting System
(AFCARS), which is also used
to gather data about other demographics.
The administration on May 8
unveiled a 103-page document detailing
and justifying the new data
collection cuts, bragging that the
reduction in data collection will
save the country $46 million —
though it did not elaborate on how
that price tag was determined. The
document also asserted that the
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar follows President Donald Trump around the White
House while he carries out his agenda to attack LGBTQ youth in foster care.
changes will prevent the “unnecessary
diversion of child welfare
agency resources.”
The changes are just part of a
broader rule proposed last year
that sought to scale down foster
care-related data collection pertaining
to a range of demographics,
including Native American
youth. Foster care data collection
is being reduced by one-third overall
under the new regulations, but
data collection regarding sexual
orientation is ending entirely.
Advocacy groups and elected offi
cials condemned the move and
blasted the administration for refusing
to tabulate vital information
that would improve the placement
and care of vulnerable queer youth
who are disproportionately represented
in the foster care system.
Data collection is driving force in
demonstrating the necessity of
funding for special social services,
in this case programs and policies
to produce better outcomes for
homeless LGBTQ minors
“It is outrageous that during National
Foster Care Month, HHS is
abdicating its statutory responsibilities
REUTERS/ CARLOS BARRIA
to promote the safety and
well-being of LGBTQ foster youth,”
said Julie Kruse, director of federal
policy at Family Equality, which
works to advance equality for LGBTQ
families. “States, tribes, and
agencies cannot improve care and
outcomes for these youth if they do
not have data to measure their efforts.
This is especially painful at
a time when many young people
who aged out of foster care without
a family, including many LGBTQ
youth, are losing student housing
and employment due to the
COVID-19 crisis.”
Representatives of Children’s
Rights, an organization dedicated
to children swept up in the immigration,
juvenile justice, and
child welfare systems, were just
as outraged after the rule was announced.
The legal team at Children’s
Rights was in contact with
the administration and had begged
the White House to reconsider the
rule.
“Stripping sexual orientation
data from the Adoption and Foster
Care Analysis and Reporting
System is a huge mistake that
YOUTH
will harm the children we serve,”
Children’s Rights lead counsel
Christina Wilson Remlin said in a
written statement. “Thorough and
accurate data is critical to ensuring
that safety, permanency, and wellbeing
remain the top priorities for
children in out-of-home care. This
latest onslaught against facts puts
politics over the best interests of
children and makes LGBTQ youth
and their outcomes invisible.”
Out gay Congressmember Sean
Patrick Maloney of New York and
Congresmember Angie Craig of
Minnesota, the fi rst out lesbian
mother elected to Congress, also
tore into the administration’s new
regulations. Maloney believes the
rule will create barriers that run
against the entire purpose of foster
care and adoption.
“Our goal should always be to
fi nd loving and supportive homes
for kids in need,” Maloney, who
has raised three children, said
in a written statement. “This rule
change is completely unacceptable.
It will harm the safety and
wellbeing of innocent children who
are in our foster care system and
open the door to discrimination
against parents who are ready,
willing, and able to provide a supportive
home.”
Craig, meanwhile, got personal
and tied the issue to her own experience
raising children.
“Every child deserves a safe and
loving home, but unfortunately
LGBTQ children and parents face
signifi cant discrimination in the
foster care and adoption system,”
said Craig, who has four sons. “As
a mother, and as someone who
faced adoption discrimination for
being a part of the LGBTQ community
two decades ago, I strongly
denounce Secretary Alex Azar’s
rule change, and ask him to stand
with children across the country
who are seeking safe, supportive
homes free from discrimination.”
The administration is giving
states two years to phase in the
new changes. Neither HHS nor the
Administration for Families and
Children responded to questions
from Gay City News.
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