Crittenton Recognized by Human Rights Campaign Foundation for LGBTQ Inclusion Efforts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 26, 2019

Contact: Martha Jasso

Title: Communications Director

Organization: Crittenton Services

Phone: 714-680-9000 ext. 6008

Email: mjasso@crittentonsocal.org

Crittenton Recognized by Human Rights Campaign Foundation for LGBTQ Inclusion Efforts

Fullerton, CA — Crittenton Services, a nonprofit child welfare agency, proudly announces it is being recognized in the Celebrating Everyday Change-Makers in Child Welfare — a first-of-its-kind report highlighting more than 70 child welfare agencies across the country that partnered with the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s All Children – All Families (ACAF) project to improve services to LGBTQ youth involved in child welfare and the foster care system, and the prospective LGBTQ foster and adoptive parents who engage with child welfare agencies. The organizations highlighted in the report serve more than 350,000 clients annually in 23 states, and employ nearly 11,000.

“Crittenton has taken our mission of helping and empowering youth to reach their full potential – regardless of who they are and where they come from – seriously. Helping youth who are experiencing challenging life circumstances achieve a sense of self-worth and overall wellness is the reason we exist in the first place,” Martha Jasso, Communications Director, said and added, “As an agency that operates within the context of trauma-informed best practices and a space where the tenants of child welfare and children’s mental health are prioritized to support ALL youth we can say without doubt that this distinction means the world to us. We thank the Human Rights Campaign for this opportunity and for recognizing our mission’s sincerity of truly caring for every youth we serve.”

In addition to being highlighted in the report Crittenton was also one of twenty-five child welfare agencies nationwide recognized with a Solid Foundation for Inclusion distinction, and given the “You Are Welcome Here” seal of approval.

Last year alone, within Crittenton’s Short-Term Residential Treatment Center, it was reported that 29 percent of the total youth served identified as LGBTQ. This was just one program in a myriad of child welfare and children’s mental health programming that Crittenton is known for. For this reason, Crittenton continues to strive to use evidenced-based treatment options that are child-focused and are proven to help youth referred to Crittenton cope with various traumas, substance abuse issues, or mental health diagnosis. However, helping LGBTQ youth and community partners also includes being mindful of our agency’s culture, being respectful of all stakeholders, and being culturally competent in customizing treatment approaches dependent on our youth’s needs, background, identity, expression and lived experiences.

“Thousands of committed professionals — from frontline workers to executives — know that LGBTQ youth are perfect just the way they are and that removing barriers for potentially qualified LGBTQ foster and adoptive parents is in the best interest of children,” said Alison Delpercio, Director of the HRC Foundation’s All Children – All Families Project. “While some of these agencies are taking their first steps toward inclusion and others have been leaders in innovating new approaches, more agencies should look to the policies and practices these organizations are implementing to protect against anti-LGBTQ discrimination and meaningfully engage their communities.”

The agencies featured in this report conducted an internal self-assessment, provided professional development to staff and implemented ACAF’s “Benchmarks of LGBTQ Inclusion,” which track policy and practice changes within agencies. Celebrating Everyday Change- Makers features three “Tiers of Recognition,” which celebrate the strides agencies have made toward becoming fully LGBTQ welcoming and affirming.

• Building a Foundation for Inclusion: 14 organizations
• Solid Foundation for Inclusion: 25 organizations
• Innovative Inclusion: 32 organizations

This work could not be more important. LGBTQ youth are overrepresented in foster care and face increased risk of both negative experiences and outcomes:

• Up to 30% of youth in foster care are LGBTQ;
• LGBTQ youth are twice as likely to report being treated poorly as their non-LGBTQ peers while in care;
• LGBTQ youth have a greater average number of placements than their non-LGBTQ peers;
• LGBTQ youth are more likely than their non-LGBTQ peers to be placed in congregate care, including group homes.

Since 2007, hundreds of child welfare agencies across the U.S. have used ACAF’s resources to enhance their efforts to achieve safety, permanency and well-being for LGBTQ youth and families. This new effort marks a major step toward improving the services provided to LGBTQ youth and prospective parents. 

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The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community. 

Crittenton Services for Children and Families of Southern California (CSCF) is a non-profit social services agency whose mission is to heal the wounds of abuse and neglect; strengthen families; and help troubled adolescents reach their full potential. Established and incorporated in 1966 Crittenton has a highly trained workforce operating 24 hours a day / 7 days a week providing comprehensive mental health services, residential care, and other support services to the clients in our care. We provide a full array of short-term residential services, in-home, community-based programming, family preservation, school-linked mental health, outpatient mental health, transitional age youth and foster care programming with a service planning area throughout Southern California that covers Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties.

Visit www.crittentonsocal.org to learn more about our programs and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Flickr