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LGB foster parents needed but mistreated 
At any given moment, over 500,000 children in the child welfare system are in need of stable and loving homes. Our nation faces a drastic shortage of families. As of 2002, there were only 170,000 licensed foster homes in the United States.
Despite the desperate need for willing and skilled foster parents, lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people have frequently been discouraged, frustrated, and discriminated against by state and county public child welfare agencies in the application process and during their tenure as foster parents.
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The system’s reluctance to take advantage of a pool of eager and willing foster parents seemed to call for some examination of the situation. A team consisting of Dr. Chris Downs, Ph.D., director of practice assessments and web-based tools at Casey Family Programs, and Dr. Steven E. James, Ph.D., clinical psychologist, researched and wrote the first study ever of LGB foster parents. It specifically targeted 60 LGB foster parent experiences in the public child welfare system. The study is found in the March/April 2006 Child Welfare League of America Journal of Policy, Practice and Programs and is entitled “Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Foster Parents: Strengths and Challenges for the Child Welfare System.”
Downs and James reached some disconcerting conclusions. It was common for GLB foster parents to experience the following:
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Homophobia |
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Denial of their application to foster |
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Delays in placing a child in their home for fostering |
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Isolation |
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Stereotyping |
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Overscreening |
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Overscrutinization |
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Failure to recognize their partnerships |
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Agency discrimination |
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Awkward coming out to agency staff |
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Being forced to hide their sexual orientation |
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Stigmatization |
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Heightened care expectations |
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Legal challenges |
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Difficult social workers |
Research data suggest that children adopted by gay, lesbian or bisexual parents “fare no better or no worse” than those parented by heterosexual adults. A growing body of research includes recent findings by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, released in a report in March 2006, which concluded that "based on the available research and growing experience, adoption by gays and lesbians holds promise as an avenue for achieving permanency for many of the waiting children in foster care." Given the accumulating evidence, there should be no variation in screening and training GLB foster parents or a delay in placing foster children in their homes.
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