Maine Know Your Rights - Page 8 of 16 - GLAD Law
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Logos of ACLU ME, Out Maine, Equality Maine, GLAD, and Maine Women's Lobby
All youth in Maine should be safe at school, including LGBTQ+ youth. This ought to be obvious. So we are all deeply disappointed to see that playbooks used in other states that fearmonger about transgender young people in our communities have made their way to Maine. It is deeply hurtful to see young people’s lives become the subject of attack ads and controversy that disrupt their and their families’ lives.

Whether you’re a parent, teacher or community member, we all know that young people do best when they are seen, loved and supported. We all want kids to feel that support and care, and to succeed at school and in life. LGBTQ+ youth, including transgender youth, need and deserve that same support and care.

We understand that not everyone knows a transgender person and may have questions. We are all here to engage with you about those questions. Some of us are transgender and grew up here. All of us know that LGBTQ+ youth, including transgender youth, are part of our communities and with support, are succeeding in ways that would make anyone proud.

The Department of Education should be applauded for its stance on supporting all LGBTQ+ students, families and staff, and its recognition that every student deserves a safe and equitable school environment. We also recognize and appreciate that teachers do the hard work of helping young people learn in ways that are age- and educationally- appropriate. The Department can do more to build out its commitment and to support schools and teachers in this work. Organizations like ours are advocating for parents and families who seek safe, supportive, and successful schools across Maine.

There is a need for more conversations and action to ensure every child gets the support and education they need to succeed. But let’s not pretend that the wake of an attack ad is the time or place for it.

簽名,

美國公民自由聯盟緬因州
緬因州平等組織
GLBTQ 法律倡議者和捍衛者 (GLAD)
Maine Women’s Lobby
Out Maine

訊息

LD 1539 將首次要求緬因州的私人保險公司承保生育護理

緬因州州長珍妮特·米爾斯於2022年5月2日簽署了LD 1539號法案,即《提供生育護理服務的法案》,並於今日在奧古斯塔舉行了該法案的簽署儀式。該法案要求緬因州的私人醫療保險必須涵蓋醫療幹預措施,包括生育診斷護理、生育治療以及醫學上必要的生育保護。 解決新英格蘭問題 (RNE)是一家為生育患者提供支持、教育和倡導的非營利組織,它領導了支持 LD 1539 的聯盟,其中包括 LGBTQ 法律倡導組織 GLBTQ 法律倡議者與捍衛者 (格拉德)。 RNE 和 GLAD 發表了以下聲明,讚揚米爾斯州長簽署該法案:“我們每天都聽到新英格蘭各地民眾的聲音,他們正在為生育和家庭組建而苦苦掙扎。由於缺乏保險,緬因州的許多個人和夫婦為了實現為人父母的夢想而負債累累,即便他們有能力嘗試,也無濟於事。” Resolve New England 執行董事 Kate Weldon LeBlanc 說。 「我們很高興看到米爾斯州長簽署這項重要的、有利於家庭的立法。這項新法律將顯著改善所有希望擴大家庭的緬因州居民獲得生育護理的機會,包括不孕不育夫婦、LGBTQ+ 人群、癌症倖存者等等。」 “生育護理對許多人來說都至關重要,包括 LGBTQ+ 人群。然而,由於沒有保險,許多人因費用高昂而無法獲得生育護理費用。」 同性戀者反歧視聯盟 (GLAD) 資深律師 Polly Crozier 說道,EqualityMaine 也參與了他們的證詞。 “我們感謝立法機構和米爾斯州長採取的行動,確保生育保險具有包容性和最佳實踐。” GLAD 律師 Mary Bonauto 補充道, 生育能力是許多人面臨的問題,這項醫療服務將使那些原本無法生育的孩子能夠融入生活。這項法律將更公平地支持緬因州居民建立家庭,並為更多家庭提供優質、及時的醫療服務。該法案將於2024年1月1日生效,這將使保險局有時間解決承保範圍的「合理限制」。隨著LD 1539的頒布,緬因州加入了全國各州的行列,這些州認識到幫助人們建立家庭並讓他們能夠愛護和養育下一代緬因州人是一項合理的公共政策。新罕布夏州於2019年通過了一項核保法案,康乃狄克州、麻薩諸塞州和羅德島州的生育保健法也已實施數十年,並已成為各州醫療保健體系的一部分。隨著LD 1539的頒布,全國已有20個州制定了生育保險法,包括除佛蒙特州以外的所有新英格蘭州。

訊息

The Maine Human Rights Commission by a 3-2 vote today issued a finding of reasonable grounds that an assisted living facility violated state nondiscrimination law by turning away a transgender woman. The Commission’s action followed an investigation in the discrimination complaint filed by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) on behalf of Marie King, a 79-year-old woman who was denied a room by Sunrise Assisted Living because she is transgender. It is the first known discrimination complaint filed in the U.S. by a transgender older adult against a long-term care facility.

Marie King
             瑪麗金

“Being turned away because I’m transgender was wrong and it hurt,” 金女士說. “It’s a relief to have the Commission recognize that. I know I’m not the only person this has happened to and I hope my case leads to better understanding.”

“This is a significant finding for Ms. King and for other transgender older adults who face similar barriers when seeking the care many of us need as we age,” said GLAD Staff Attorney Chris Erchull. “The Commission’s action sends a clear message both to transgender people and to long-term care facilities that turning someone away because they are transgender violates the legal protections meant to ensure equal treatment for everyone.”

In the spring of 2021, a social worker at Pen Bay Medical Center contacted Sunrise on behalf of Ms. King, who was a patient at the hospital. The facility initially said there was a room available, but upon learning that Ms. King is transgender Sunrise informed the hospital they would not admit her because they were concerned she wanted to reside in a room with a female roommate.

The Commission made a finding of reasonable grounds that Sunrise discriminated against her on the basis of her gender identity, transgender status, and her sex, all protected under the Maine Human Rights Act. The Commission will now bring the parties together to attempt to resolve the matter and, failing that, Ms. King’s case may proceed to court.

“We have nondiscrimination protections in our laws to ensure we are all treated equally and to address the profound harm people experience when they are not,” said GLAD Senior Attorney Ben Klein. “When Marie was denied a room at Sunrise because she is a transgender woman it was dehumanizing and it impacted her health, forcing her to stay in the hospital longer than was recommended by her medical team. The outcome we are all working toward is long-term care facilities where everyone who needs them is welcomed with courtesy and respect.”

Research indicates that transgender older adults are as likely as or even more likely than other older adults to require long-term care, including assisted living, due to the adverse health consequences of long histories of anti-transgender stigma and bias. Yet, as Ms. King’s case shows, transgender adults face systemic and widespread barriers when seeking care and support as they age.

“Today’s finding presents an opportunity to reinforce a core value shared by those who provide long-term care: that all of us are entitled to dignity and respect as we age,” GLAD 民權項目主任兼緬因州律師 Mary Bonauto 補充道. “That is all Marie and other transgender older adults are asking for and it is what the Commission has confirmed the law requires.”

詳細了解此案, 金訴日出輔助生活案.

An Act to Make Certain Traffic Infractions Secondary Offenses

On March 3, 2022, Mary L. Bonauto submitted testimony on behalf of GLAD, MaineTrans.Net, and Equality Maine in support of LD 1479, An Act to Make Certain Traffic Infractions Secondary Offenses.

LD 1479 lists certain offenses as not a justification for a traffic stop: littering, failing to register or display a registration, failing to display an inspection sticker, and some equipment issues. This bill would provide one way to proactively address harms and build equity into a law enforcement area that often involves racial profiling and can lead to escalation. Traffic stops are the most common form of law enforcement interaction with the American public, and officers disproportionately stop and cite Black, Brown, and Indigenous drivers.

Limiting traffic infraction stops that too often serve as pretext for searches and arrests is one of many necessary steps to disrupt patterns of oppression and violence in policing to historically marginalized people.

旨在使家庭伴侶相關法律保持一致的法案 OTP

On January 14, GLAD submitted testimony in support of Maine LD 1804, An Act to Provide Consistency in the Laws Regarding Domestic Partners, along with MaineTrans.Net, Equality Maine, ACLU of Maine, and Maine Women’s Lobby.

Civil Rights Project Director Mary L Bonauto explains in this testimony:

This bill would streamline the definitions of “domestic partner” in Maine law to focus on the Probate Code definition of “domestic partner.” This would update and declutter the law by removing multiple definitional sections or clauses, and use the definition that the term “domestic partner… means one of 2 unmarried adults who are domiciled together under long-term agreements that evidence a commitment to remain responsible indefinitely for each other’s welfare.”

Read the full testimony here.

Inclusive Paid Family Leave in Maine

No one should have to choose between a paycheck and caring for a loved one. Paid family and medical leave policies should be inclusive of all kinds of families.

GLAD, together with EqualityMaine, MaineTransNet, ACLU of Maine, and Maine Women’s Lobby, is urging the Commission to Develop a Paid Family and Medical Leave Benefits Program to adopt an inclusive definition of family to ensure families of all kinds have the ability to take care of each other when the need arises.

Read our joint testimony to the Commission.

倡議者回應 CCLP 關於在長溪使用武力的報告

Logos for Maine Youth Justice, ACLU ME, Disability Rights ME, and GLAD

An investigation by the Center for Children’s Law and Policy (CCLP) into reports of use of force at Long Creek this summer has confirmed that youth were subjected to chokeholds and prone restraints, in violation of the youth prison’s policy.

The report outlines significant shortcomings including

  • chronic staff shortages,
  • unclear policies about de-escalation and the use of force, and
  • a deeply flawed response to disturbances at the youth prison — which permits the use of chemical agents like pepper spray and intervention by an outside tactical team. “These responses may or may not be appropriate in state prisons, but they are inappropriate, counterproductive, and dangerous in youth facilities,” the report authors write.

This is the third time CCLP has evaluated conditions at Long Creek, and its findings are consistent with the conclusions from its first report in 2017.

Four years ago, CCLP found Long Creek is not designed to meet or manage the serious mental health needs of young people confined there.

Long Creek continues to be dangerously understaffed, and policies about de-escalation and the use of force remain unclear. In its most recent investigation, CCLP found that Long Creek still permits the use of so-called “therapeutic” prone restraints – even though the child welfare organization said the use of prone restraints needs to stop in its 2017 report.

“Staff should not use the prone restraint, period, and MDOC policy should say so,” the CCLP investigators write in their most recent report.

Finally, Long Creek continues to be unable to meet youths’ mental health needs: there are not enough mental health clinicians, and staff cannot adequately create or implement Intensive Behavioral Management Plans.

Long Creek is incarcerating 25 young people at a cost of almost $20 million annually.

Earlier this year, formerly incarcerated young people, led by Maine Youth Justice, and their allies advocated for a bill to close Long Creek. The bill, LD 1668, passed in the House and the Senate, but was vetoed by Governor Mills.

“The latest report from the Center for Children’s Law and Policy regarding the ongoing issues at Long Creek only proves what we already know: Long Creek remains a hotbed of negligence, failures, and broken promises to youth,” said Leyla Hashi, Communications Coordinator, Maine Youth Justice. “Implementing only minor changes to an inherently broken prison system won’t change the fact that young people are reportedly ‘treated like animals’ by the staff charged with their care.

“Ultimately, Maine’s children and teenagers belong in their homes and neighborhoods, with the mental health and social support they need to be healthy and happy individuals. Being locked in a cell and away from one’s family is deeply traumatic for youth. They deserve care and understanding as developing young people with futures beyond their mistakes.

“Maine Youth Justice will continue to fight for a future where Long Creek is shut down and all of Maine’s children are free from the devastating impact of incarceration,” Hashi concluded.

“The findings released by CCLP aren’t surprising or new, but they are shameful. They add to the years of evidence about Long Creek’s failures and how it has harmed young people. Incarcerating young people is irredeemably violent, both for the young people who are confined and the adults who have to confine them. No amount of reform can fix something irredeemable. Long Creek needs to be closed,” said Michael Kebede, Policy Counsel, ACLU of Maine. “We urge the Governor and the Legislature to listen to youth advocates – many of them survivors of Long Creek – and to face the mountains of evidence about Long Creek’s failures. It is long past time for the Governor and the Legislature to shut down Maine’s last youth prison and invest in the community-based services that young people need to be healthy and thriving.”

“CCLP’s most recent report documents, once again, that Maine continues to warehouse many youth with mental health needs at Long Creek due to a lack of appropriate mental health services in the community. Maine continues to ask Long Creek to do what it is not capable of doing. This has to end. Incarceration is not treatment,” said Atlee Reilly, Legal Director, Disability Rights Maine.

“More institutions are not an appropriate response to a failed institution. Maine youth deserve individualized and robust community-based services to support them in their homes and communities,” said Mary L. Bonauto, Civil Rights Project Director, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD). “We’ve had years of news and consultant reports about Long Creek along with repeated, but unsuccessful efforts to reform it. It’s time to turn the page on Long Creek. The prison model simply doesn’t work for youth or our communities, and that’s why so many states have turned away from it. We can respond to inappropriate behavior in ways that both help young people become healthy and keep communities safe, as in other states and as outlined in past reports. Given the young people coming into the system with behaviors tied to genuine trauma and unmet mental health needs, our state should divert resources into needed care.”

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Making Change Outside of the Courts: Advancing LGBTQ+, Racial, and Economic Justice

Rep. Jeff Currey, Lisa Rosenthall, Professor Doug NeJaime, advocates Stephanie and Denise, and GLAD Senior Staff Attorney Patience Crozier
Rep. Jeff Currey, Lisa Rosenthall, Professor Doug NeJaime, advocates Stephanie and Denise, and GLAD Senior Staff Attorney Patience Crozier

GLAD has long relied on the whole mix of legal, policy, and advocacy tools to build a just society free from discrimination. To advance racial, economic, and LGBTQ+ justice and ensure the greatest possible impact for our communities, GLAD engage in the courts and at policy tables, statehouses with legislators and advocates, and in community coalitions across New England and beyond.

In 2021 we worked in partnership with others to advance bills that will make a difference in the lives of LGBTQ+ families, adults, and youth. Some of these policies target harms individuals face because of poverty, racial inequities, anti-LGBTQ+ bias, or discriminatory laws, while others lay the groundwork for broader change.

Nondiscrimination Laws: Fair Access to Housing and Public Spaces

高興的 advocated this year with partners to pass The Rhode Island Fair Housing Practices Act, signed into law in June. Access to housing is a basic necessity and critical to a person or family’s health, stability and wellbeing. Still, too often, discrimination gets in the way of attaining a safe place to live. The Act repeals LGBTQ-only exemptions in Rhode Island law that allowed discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression for smaller housing units, which make up a large percentage of housing stock in the state.

高興的 also worked in coalition to pass An Act Relating to Health and Safety – State Building Code, which requires single-use bathrooms in places of public accommodation to be labeled restroom rather than restricted by gender. Not only does this protect transgender and nonbinary people from harm when using public restrooms, but it also improves accessibility for disabled Rhode Islanders and young children with differently gendered caretakers and helps everyone by reducing wait times.

Protecting Our Families: Expansion of Parentage and Adoption Laws

Stephanie, Denise, and their kids in rainbow outfits at Pride
We Care Coalition members Stephanie and Denise, and their kids

As a complement to litigation, GLAD also seeks to pass updated, comprehensive laws to secure parent-child relationships regardless of whether the parents are married or how that child came into the world. These protections critical to children’s well-being and address the vulnerability families face from outdated laws and financial barriers in our existing system. GLAD’s work to update parentage and other family-related laws is both an LGBTQ+ equality and a priority for access to justice.

The passage this spring of the 康乃狄克州親子關係法 (CPA) 曾是 一個 victory years in the making. GLAD co-led 我們關懷聯盟 with Yale Law School Professor Douglas NeJaime, working closely with bill sponsors Representative Jeff Currey and Senator Alex Kasser and other stakeholders on the bill’s text. Our coalition advocated by sharing the stories of impacted children and families in the Constitution state and organizing the effort to secure passage. Families and advocates celebrated what Professor NeJaime called the most comprehensive parentage bill to pass to date, at a signing ceremony in Hartford on the first day of Pride Month. The CPA, which goes into effect January 1, 2022, fills gaps in Connecticut law that left children of LGBTQ, unmarried, or de facto parents vulnerable.

GLAD and our partners also successfully advocated for a critical update to the 緬因州親子關係法 of 2015 to expand access to the Voluntary Acknowledgement of Parentage for LGBTQ parents and others. This acknowledgment form provides a clear, fair, and simple way for parents to establish their legal connection to the child as soon as they are born and protects the family’s integrity and security. Governor Mills signed LD 222, 緬因州親子法更新法案, in June.

J Shia and her kid, wearing button downs shirts and smiling
Massachusetts parent and MPA Coalition member J. and her child

With these two successful bills and updates in Vermont, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire over the past few years, nearly every state in New England has updated laws recognizing the diversity of how the LGBTQ community forms our families. We are working hard right now to pass the 麻薩諸塞州 Parentage Act this year. In partnership with Resolve New England, we are leading a coalition of over 50 partner organizations and families to pass An Act Relative to Parentage to Promote Children’s 安全 (S 1133/H 1714). Learn more, share your family’s story, and get involved at www.massparentage.com.

Other important pending legislation to support families includes An Act To Promote Efficiency in Co-Parent Adoption (S 1124/H 1712) which would ensure a more streamlined process for

Massachusetts co-parent adoptions by LGBTQ couples who petition to adopt their own children, and An Act to Provide Access to Fertility Care (LD 1539), which would make forming families in Maine more attainable for LGBTQ+ couples, and all couples experiencing infertility, by increasing comprehensive medical insurance coverage for fertility diagnostic issuestreatment.

Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth: Schools, Child Welfare, and Juvenile Justice Systems

In June, justice-involved youth in 緬因州 gained the right to counsel and petition for alternatives to incarceration when Governor Mills signed into law LD 320An Act to Provide the Right to Counsel for Juveniles and Improve Due Process for Juveniles into law. GLAD worked with bill sponsor Rep. Victoria Morales, whose district includes the Long Creek juvenile facility, and advocacy partners on this 3-year effortmake necessary reforms to the juvenile justice system. The bill:

  • Sets a minimum age of twelve for commitment to a juvenile correctional facility and provides that younger children may be detained no more than seven days unless the parties agree
  • Ends the mandatory one-year minimum commitment to juvenile correctional facilities
  • Requires judges to consider both the age of a young person and whether the offense committed would be regarded as a misdemeanor if committed by an adult when deciding whether incarceration is appropriate
  • Creates opportunities for judicial reviews of commitments; and appoints lawyers for both committed and detained young people

Keeping young people with supportive families, connected to resources, and out of correctional facilities is crucial to their opportunities for accountability and development for healthy adulthood. GLAD also supported a Maine Youth Justiceled bill to begin a process to close Long Creek, Maine’s one remaining juvenile prison. While th bill did not become law this session, 我們 applaud MYJ’s leadership on the issue. GLAD will continue to work in partnership with them and others on structural changes to our juvenile justice systems, including efforts to close Long Creek.

Also becoming law this June was An Act Regarding School Discipline for Maine’s Youngest Children, which essentially prohibits suspensions and expulsions for children in grade 5 or lower and bars the withholding of recess except for restorative justice interventions. Under the leadership of Rep. Victoria Morales and with collaboration of Disability Rights Maine, the Maine Children’s Alliance, GLAD, and others, this revision of punitive disciplinary measures can keep children engaged in school and prevent issues of the school-to-prison pipeline, outcomes which disproportionately impact students of color and students with disabilities, including those who are LGBTQ+.

GLAD and partner organization OUT Maine collaborated with the Maine Department of Education on its first-ever LGBTQI+ website for the Department, launched in August. The site includes resources on student action groups, student rights, medical and mental health information, and much more, supporting and sustaining inclusive learning environments and contributing to student success at school and over a lifetime.

GLAD is co-leading a Racial and Equity Committee of the Maine Law Court’s Justice for Children Task Force to develop accurate information and support sound policy and interventions. With funding and leadership from the Maine Judicial Branch, the Task Force has commenced a multi-agency demographic data study about what data is collected in the Judicial Branch child welfare, education, public safety, and corrections systems, with a final report completed by November 2022.

In Massachusetts, 高興的 支援 Citizens for Juvenile Justice in their efforts to pass An Act Improving Juvenile Justice Data Collection (S 1558/H 1795). This bill require collecting critical demographic data at all stages of the juvenile justice system, including age, race, ethnicity, primary language, gender identity, and sexual orientationS 1558/H 1795 requires an annual report overseen by the Child Advocate to ensure that the state uses resources efficiently to protect public safety and improve outcomes for youth.

Together with other LGBTQ+ and youth advocacy organizations, 高興的 is advancing structural reforms in our child welfare systemsseeking to improve conditions for youth affected by these systems.

Respect for Our Humanity: Criminal Justice Reform and Reducing Prison Brutality

Transgender people face particular levels of brutality and harassment when incarcerated. GLAD has worked to address these harms through litigation and policy in prison systems across New England and the country. This year, GLAD worked with Maine Trans Net, legislative leaders, and corrections and law enforcement to craft a bill to improve health and safety conditions for transgender people when incarcerated in jails and prisons. LD 1044, which became law this summer, explicitly requires Maine DOC to respect and acknowledge an incarcerated person’s consistently held gender identity for placement irrespective of anatomy or physique, except for significant management, security, or safety reasons. The new law also requires Maine DOC to provide the programming and commissary items consistent with a person’s gender identity.

GLAD also supported and commends our partners in successfully passing bills to decriminalize homelessness and ban face recognition surveillance in Maine (similar legislation, S 47/H 135, is pending in Massachusetts). We are supporting partners in Massachusetts seeking to ensure cost-free phone calls for incarcerated people (Mass.  S 1559), stop police profiling of transgender and low-income women by removing “common nightwalkers” and “common streetwalkers” from MA law (S 992/H 1800), move toward full decriminalization of sex work (H 1867) and pass comprehensive health and safety reforms for incarcerated LGBTQI people (S 1566/H 2484). GLAD also supported a bill in Maine, now law, to provide a defense to prostitution for reasons of economic hardship, preventing injury, or threats.

Living Life: Ensuring Access to Accurate Identification

All of us need accurate ID, and for transgender and non-binary people, it is essential for their safety and security. GLAD continues to work across New England to ensure everyone can access ID that reflects who they are, without barriers.

State ID illustrationIn August, we supported Rho, a non-binary Granite Stater, in successfully advocating for the New Hampshire DMV to remove barriers in choosing an “X” gender marker on their state-issued driver’s license or ID. Now people do not have to get a medical provider to attest to their non-binary gender identity, which can be a significant barrier to updating their ID. This policy change also applies to anyone changing their gender marker to X, M, or F and means that New Hampshire joins the rest of New England, as well as other states and municipalities, in having a straightforward process for people to have accurate state ID that affirms who they are.

In Maine this session, GLAD consulted on the substance of and supported LD 209 – An Act Concerning Name Changes for Minors, which clarifies and streamlines the process by which a parent or guardian can request a name change for a minor child by filing a petition in Probate court. The law drops the requirement to publish notice of the name change, allowing for confidentiality. It sets forth factors for judicial consideration, including the minor’s expressed preference and child’s best interest. We also worked with community partners to pass LD 855 – An Act Regarding the Issuance of a Birth Certificate Following a Gender Marker Change, ensure that new birth certificates issued following a name or gender marker change are not marked as amended, a crucial consideration to protect privacy and safety 為了 transgender individuals.

In Massachusetts, we are working with coalition partners to advocate for An Act Relative to Gender Identity on Massachusetts Identification (S 2282/H 3521) An Act Providing for a Gender-Neutral Designation on State Documents and Identifications (H 3126), bills that would codify a gender-neutral (“X”) designation for all Massachusetts forms and identification documents, including birth certificates.

Racial Impact Statements

A landmark achievement in the Maine 2021 legislative session with the potential to impact the lawmaking process and across systems is the enactment of LD 2, An Act to Require the Inclusion of Racial Impact Statements in the Legislative Process. Conceived and sponsored by Assistant House Majority Leader Rachel Talbot Ross, the law provides that any legislation considered in Maine may be evaluated for its racial impact at the request of any legislator or committee. GLAD provided LGBTQ-community testimony in support of LD 2. With the guidance of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and other leaderscommunities of color, looks forward supporting use of this important and innovative tool.

閱讀我們半年刊時事通訊《GLAD Briefs》的 2021 年秋季刊。

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Young people of various ages outside the MA capitol building holding signs saying: "Trans kids are beautiful" "black kids matter" and "support not separate" some have mobility aids, one holds a stuffed animal

LGBTQ+ youth and particularly Black, Brown, and Indigenous (BIPOC) youth are over-representedchild welfare systems, and young people impacted by these systems face increased risks of joblessness, homelessness, and interaction with the criminal legal system.

Poverty, structural racism, and anti-LGBTQ bias all play roles in determining which children and families are impacted and separated by the State. GLAD is working both to ensure our child welfare systems can meet the needs of BIPOC LGBTQ+ youth in their care and to move State approaches away from family separation and toward family supports.

In Maine this session, GLAD supported 一個 bill to require the Department of Health and Human Services to provide families in need with assistance to meet basic necessities prevent children from being removed from home. This proposal recognizes that what is frequently labeled as neglect and therefore cause for family separation is simply poverty and requires the State to address that underlying cause before removing a child. While LD 396, unfortunately, did not pass this session, we’re continuing to push for such changes so that resources are focused on supporting children and families rather than separating them.

In Massachusetts, child welfare advocates, including GLAD, have been calling for change at the MA Department of Children and Families (DCF) for years in response high-profile catastrophic incidents daily failings of the youth in DCF custody.

In August, with the contributions and engagement of GLAD, the Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ+ Youth released a report on the treatment and outcomes of DCF-involved children that draws a plain conclusion: LGBTQ+ youth in DCF custody are in crisis. Along with alarming findings, the report offers clear insight into improving the lives of youth already in the system, providing more support for families of origin and foster families, and training staff and other professionals on the specific and timely needs of LGBTQ+ youth.

Life in residential care got even harder after I started identifying as a transgender woman while placed in an all-boys program. The staff misgendered me most of the time. DCF denied me [gender-affirming care]… Their rationale was that they couldn’t risk it. In reality, they were risking my life by not giving me the healthcare I needed. Youth with 一個 history of DCF involvement

As the Commission Chair says introduction to the report, the status quo for LGBTQ youth in DCF is an emergency. LGBTQ+ youth experience the repercussions of lack of a clear, comprehensive agency policy affirming their identities,一個n insufficient supply supportive placements, inadequate training for staff and foster families, and long delays and even denials of access necessary healthcare. These shortcomings far too often lead to poor health and educational outcomes, violence, harassment, bullying, self-harm, and other devastating impacts. And these impacts often fall most harshly on Black and Brown LGBTQ youth and transgender youth, who face multiple biases and structural barriers.

As a foster parent to transgender young people, I have not seen that DCF is able to engage in family support work around LGBTQ issues. They are always emphasizing what the parents have not done, rather than how to help them. I don’t know how DCF thinks they are ever going to reunify families if they don’t have empathy or compassion and if they aren’t willing to educate and support the parent. Without that, their job becomes to break families apart.–Foster Parent

GLAD and our LGBTQ+ Child Welfare Alliance partners are calling on policymakers and legislators act immediately to improve the child welfare system the following measures:

  • Collection and reporting of comprehensive, intersectional data that allows DCF and other responsible entities to track outcomes for LGBTQ+ youth and to understand and meet their needs betterThe legislature should pass An Act Relative to Accountability for Vulnerable Children and Families (H.239/S.32) with a requirement that DCF consistently collectsreport intersectional sexual orientation and gender identity data.
  • Development and implementation of a comprehensive LGBTQ+ policy and training for all adults 世界衛生組織 come into contact with LGBTQ+ youth, including staff, foster families, and providers. Neighboring states such as Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, and sister state agencies like DYS have such policies.
  • The legislature should pass H.211/S.88 to create an independent Foster Care Review Office to improve accountability, transparency, and oversight for the foster care review process, to strengthen protections for youth in DCF care and custody.
  • Increase and tracking of affirming placements for LGBTQ+ youth in both foster homes and group settings.
  • Improved, more timely access to gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth.
  • Creation of a statutory foster child bill of rights with explicit protections for LGBTQ+ youth, including access to gender-affirming medical care.

Ultimately, it took nearly two years to get my child the care she needed. Bias and transphobia from multiple professionals involved in the child welfare system hindered the process. Foster parents do not receive training on this. Can you imagine what happens to a child who ends up in a home where the foster parent does not already know all of this? – Foster Parent

The findings of the Commission’s report are dire, but our advocacy is working。 這 momentum is building, 和 一個 new gender-affirming care policy goes into effect on September 30. Later in the fall, GLAD Senior Staff Attorney Patience Crozier is moderating a series of trainings in collaboration with Child Protection and Child Services on better serving transgender youth and other LGBTQ+ people. There is much to do, but we are working harder than ever to directly impact young people’s treatment and lives in state custody. To get involved, visit GLAD.org/mass-alliance.

 

閱讀我們半年刊時事通訊《GLAD Briefs》的 2021 年秋季刊。

金訴日出輔助生活案

Photo of Marie King, wearing a garnet red velvet dress and beaded necklace, her long scarlet hair framing her face. She sits in a wheelchair at 3/4 angle looking at the camera
瑪麗金

更新: Marie King 和 Sunrise Assisted Living 有 達成了具有里程碑意義的和解 在緬因州人權委員會審理的一起案件中。 「我很高興看到這個積極的結果,」金女士說。 了解更多.

 

隨著年齡增長,我們都應該得到尊嚴和尊重。但像我們的客戶瑪麗金這樣的跨性別老年人,在長期照護機構中遭受嚴重的歧視和脆弱。

2021年10月21日, GLAD 提起歧視訴訟 代表78歲的瑪麗金(Marie King)與緬因州人權委員會進行溝通。她因跨性別身分被緬因州瓊斯波特的Sunrise Assisted Living拒絕入住。這是美國已知的首例跨性別老年人針對長期照護機構提起的歧視投訴。 閱讀文件.

2021年春,投訴人瑪麗金因急性醫療緊急情況入住彭灣醫療中心。金女士的病情穩定後,醫護人員確定她無需住院治療,只需轉入輔助生活機構即可。醫院的一位社工代表金女士聯繫了日出輔助生活機構 (Sunrise Assisted Living),並被告知他們有空房。然而,在得知金女士是跨性別者後,日出輔助生活機構的管理人員告知醫院,他們不會接收金女士,因為他們擔心她想與女性室友同住一個房間,儘管日出輔助生活機構經常安排女性與其他女性共用半私人房間。

格拉德斯蒙德金代表瑪麗金提出的訴訟聲稱,Sunrise 公司基於金女士的性別認同、跨性別認同和性別特徵對其進行了歧視,而所有這些都受到緬因州人權法案的明確保護。

更新:2022 年 3 月 14 日,緬因州人權委員會以 3 比 2 的投票結果發現有證據證明 Sunrise Assisted Living 因瑪麗是跨性別女性而拒絕為她提供房間,違反了州反歧視保護法。 瑪麗案的里程碑式發現 是確保任何需要進入長期照護機構的人都能受到禮貌和尊重的一大步。

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