Fighting to foster

Even with their findings, the research by Downs and James found that more than one-third of LGB foster parents endured legal challenges with their application and the resulting investigation even though LGB parents are legally eligible to foster in any state in the United States. Denials of the right to be foster caregivers were challenged by LGB applicants, who in most cases were successful in reversing those decisions.

Downs and James found that “gay and lesbian adults show much higher than average interest and willingness to foster and adopt.” Clearly, many LGB people have a strong desire to become foster parents—so much so that they are willing to hide their sexual orientation and go to great lengths to keep children in their care. One lesbian couple, for example, was forced to do this very thing. The foster parent of record would be in the home when the caseworker would visit, while the other partner would retreat to a trailer in the back part of their property. One participant in the study put it this way: “Straight families don’t have to work as hard. They’re handed a kid. But with a gay couple, whoa, here comes the inquisition!”

In the Downs and James study, LGB foster parents were asked what qualities were unique to them. They indicated they felt they could relate more to the “unique qualities of foster youth.” Perhaps this comes from their own experiences growing up with a sense of isolation because of their sexual orientation, feeling different, and being stigmatized like many youth in foster care. Other LGB parents mentioned that they “were more honest and open with their foster youth than they believed traditional parents are.” Additionally, in their self-assessment, they identified themselves as having the characteristics of successful foster parents documented in previous studies. These characteristics include:

In an interview, Downs pointed out that LGB parents are a vast untapped pool with higher than average resources. OpusComm's annual Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Census reported that gay or lesbian people “tend to be highly educated (37 percent are college graduates and one-fifth have graduate degrees) and in high income brackets (27 percent have an annual household income of $100,000 or more).” These economic statistics indicate a source of additional resources potentially available to foster children supported by an underfunded system.

The strengths of LGB parents

While LGB people who want to foster face many frustrations and challenges, they do have allies. Colage is an organization whose sole mission is to “engage, connect and empower” families with LGBT parents. And unlike many public child welfare agencies, Casey Family Programs (a private foundation) seeks out lesbian, gay, and bisexual foster parents, because of their eagerness and value. The national organization LAMBDA Legal devotes itself to defending the rights of LGBT people, including foster parents wrapped up in the frequently frustrating world of public child welfare agencies. LAMBDA Legal does this through litigation, education, and public policy work.

Downs and James’ research spotlights an urgent need for improvement in the public child welfare system. In their article, they vigorously recommend sensitivity training for child welfare workers at all levels in the system, further dialogue on the subject, and future research including “third party perspectives from youth in GLB foster parent homes, their social workers, and perhaps from agency representatives.”

Meanwhile, LGB foster parents will continue to provide stable, loving homes for children in need and, as Downs and James so eloquently put it, will “succeed in the face of discrimination, and prejudice, even official oppression, with love, dignity, and resilience.”

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