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This teaching note examines the use of intentional, identity-centered spaces in the social work classroom. We discuss the use of identity-based caucusing as a means of centering the embodied and lived experiences of students in the social work classroom, drawing from previous classroom experiences in an MSW foundation course on social justice at a large public university. Specifically, we consider borderland perspectives and postcolonial constructions of third spaces and their usefulness in social work pedagogy. In particular, we pose questions regarding the use of third space caucusing as a means of embracing and affirming both/and, neither/nor identity positionalities. We also consider possibilities of student-centered, critical pedagogical approaches while paying attention to the unique challenges and contexts of social work education.

There is a profound scarcity of research addressing the specific experiences of youth in care who are transgender and gender expansive. These youth face some of the most egregious mistreatment within the child welfare system. The limited scholarship addressing the experiences of youth in care who are transgender tends to be situated within legal journals and focuses on legal analyses as opposed to in-depth understanding of the experiences of these youth. This article illuminates the experiences of youth in the foster care system who are transgender and gender expansive by drawing upon a subset of data from a qualitative, community-based participatory research (CBPR) study with former foster youth in Los Angeles County who are LGBTQ. Findings identify the formidable structural and systemic barriers experienced by participants in addition to sources of resilience.

Youth who identify as LGBTQ are overrepresented in the child welfare system, making up approximately 20% of youth in care. At the same time, youth in foster care who are LGBTQ often are rendered invisible as a result of various interpersonal and structural forces that make the child welfare system reluctant to acknowledge and take accountability for them. Despite improvements in some areas, many child welfare agencies and foster care placements remain unsupportive, and are sometimes explicitly hostile. Consequently, youth in foster care who are LGBTQ experience poorer treatment and worse outcomes than their peers who are heterosexual and cisgender. Within this Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) study, 25 youth formerly in foster care who are LGBTQ and between the ages of 18–26 years old had the opportunity to share stories about their lives before, during, and after care. This article will present one cluster of findings from our Consensual Qualitative Research coding process of participant interviews, highlighting the various relational and structural changes to the child welfare system that are recommended by youth formerly in foster care who are LGBTQ. Specific recommendations included the need for more and extended services beyond the age of 21, comprehensive training of foster parents and social workers around working with youth who identify as LGBTQ, enhanced recruitment of foster parents who identify as LGBTQ, and the need for LGBTQ-affirming and trauma-informed counseling.

This paper highlights findings from the first phase of an ongoing qualitative Youth Participatory Acton Research (YPAR) study with a group of students with foster care experience at a large public university in the Northeastern United States. The first phase of data collection consisted of a focus group designed and carried out by co-researchers, amongst themselves. Data was analyzed in two ways, by a faculty member and doctoral student, using thematic content analysis, and through a collaborative analytic process with student co-researchers using an adapted version of Carol Gilligan’s, “Listening Guide” in which co-researchers created, analyzed and performed “I Poems” from the focus group transcript. Findings from each data analytic process were compared and contrasted; discrepancies amongst themes from each analytic process led to the merging and creation of new modified themes. Findings illuminate the barriers and facilitators to completion of high school, and applying to college for this cohort of students, as well as barriers and facilitators to retention once in college. Additionally, recommendations are made for university professionals to become more affirming of scholars connected to foster care systems. This study is unique in that it is the first known study to engage with college students with foster care experience in a participatory research process that centers their voices, concerns and priorities in both research design and data. Student organizing and action emanating from the PAR approach are also discussed.

Educational barriers for youth in foster care are formidable and complex, with only 50% of youth in foster care receiving a high school or equivalency diploma by the time they age out of care, and 1% to 11% of current and former youth in foster care completing a college degree. Despite robust research about the educational outcomes of youth in foster care, little is known about the educational experiences of youth in foster care who are LGBTQ—who represent nearly 20% of youth in care. Within this Community Based Participatory (CBPR) study, in depth qualitative interviews explored the experiences of 25 youth formerly in foster care, all of whom are LGBTQ, between the ages of 18 and 26 in Los Angeles County. Findings revealed that these youth shared educational barriers and challenges common to all youth in foster care, in addition to experiencing chronic bullying and harassment within K-12 settings. For those youth who were able to attend college, California’s network of campus-based support programs for current and former youth in foster care were hugely supportive.

Youth who identify as LGBTQ are overrepresented in the child welfare system, making up approximately 20% of youth in care. At the same time, youth in foster care who are LGBTQ often are rendered invisible as a result of various interpersonal and structural forces that make the child welfare system reluctant to acknowledge and take accountability for them. Despite improvements in some areas, many child welfare agencies and foster care placements remain unsupportive, and are sometimes explicitly hostile. Consequently, youth in foster care who are LGBTQ experience poorer treatment and worse outcomes than their peers who are heterosexual and cisgender. Within this Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) study, 25 youth formerly in foster care who are LGBTQand between the ages of 18-26 years old had the opportunity to share stories about their lives before, during, and after care. This article will present one cluster of findings from our Consensual Qualitative Research coding process of participant interviews, highlighting the various relational and structural changes to the child welfare system that are recommended by youth formerly in foster care who are LGBTQ. Specific recommendations included the need for more and extended services beyond the age of 21, comprehensive training of foster parents and social workers around working with youth who identify as LGBTQ, enhanced recruitment of foster parents who identify as LGBTQ, and the need for LGBTQ-affirming and trauma-informed counseling.

Objective: Few studies have investigated discrimination in social-service or social work settings among transgender and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) individuals. This study aims to (a) examine the prevalence and magnitude of discrimination against TGNC individuals and (b) explore the factors associated with discrimination in social-service settings. Method: We examined sociodemographic factors and psychosocial and health-related indicators (suicide attempt ever, substance misuse to cope, HIV positive serostatus, transactional sex, and marginally housed) associated with reports of social-service discrimination in a national sample of transgender adults (age 18–98, M = 36.69, SD = 13.11) from the U.S. and its territories. Data were from the National Transgender Discrimination Survey (N = 6,456). Results: Approximately 16% (n = 952) of the total sample experienced some form of discrimination related to their gender identity/expression in a social-service setting. Participants reporting social-service discrimination were more likely to be non-White, under 45 years of age, lower income, and to report negative psychosocial and/or health-related outcomes. Conclusions: Findings highlight the need for future research to examine individual-, interpersonal-, and structural-level factors associated with access to and use of social services among the transgender and gender-nonconforming community.

Social workers face complex challenges that demand practice-engaged research and research-engaged practice. Participatory action research and community-based participatory research span the boundaries that often exist between the research and practice communities. Some social workers argue the values underpinning participatory action research and community-based participatory research align with the values of the profession; however, such methodologies are not widely represented in social work research in the US. This article presents the findings of a study examining the lived experiences of 15 early-career scholars, mostly based in the US, who were pursuing participatory action research and community-based participatory research. The neoliberalisation of the academy pervaded their experiences, presenting significant barriers to their ability to pursue action-oriented methodologies. Review of the international participatory action research literature also suggests the US may contrast with other regions in the world like Asia and Latin America, where participatory action research is more robust. Recommendations to better develop participatory action research social work literature are offered.