NYC Administration for Children’s Services Releases Best Practices Guide for Working with Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Children

August 18, 2014

Transgender and gender non-conforming children and youth are disproportionately represented in the foster care population and are particularly vulnerable to mistreatment due to widespread anti-transgender bias, prejudice, and transphobia.

Young transgender individuals may face unnecessary barriers while under the care of Children’s Services, such as in foster care or juvenile detention. Unfortunately, these barriers are often the result of a lack of knowledge on the part of Children’s Services workers about how to work with transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) individuals.

Federation members across the country are working in their states to help better the lives of these young people. Now there’s a new resource to support that work — a guide to help educate individuals who work with TGNC young people.

The New York City Administration for Children’s Services has released Safe & Respected, the nation’s first ever Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming (TGNC) Best Practices Guide developed by a child welfare and juvenile justice government agency. This guide offers child welfare and juvenile justice practitioners concrete guidance and support to meet the specific needs of TGNC children and youth involved with Children’s Services.

Click here to download Safe & Respected.

This first-of-its-kind guide includes:

  • An overview of the barriers that transgender and non-conforming children and youth face in foster care and juvenile detention;
  • A glossary of commonly used terms;
  • An overview of Children’s Services’ commitment to providing culturally competent care for TGNC children and youth;
  • An issue-by-issue guide to providing inclusive care.

Content within the guide provides:

  • excerpts of Children’s Services’ policies related to serving TGNC children and youth;
  • best practices for service provision that are consistent with these policies;
  • strategies for implementing these policies; and,
  • common missteps to avoid when working with TGNC young people.

In order to reduce the barriers TGNC young people face, we need to educate those who are providing them with care. Safe & Respected can be used as a resource for state leaders working with Children’s Services agencies in their communities to help better the lives of transgender and gender non-conforming children and youth.

Click here to download Safe & Respected.

More You might like

Maryland Joins Growing Group of States Modernizing HIV Laws

Maryland Governor Wes Moore today signed into law comprehensive legislation to modernize the state's approach to HIV and end the criminalization of people living with HIV. The reform, HB 39/SB 356, will align state policy with modern medical science and remove barriers to life-saving care.

June 12, 2025
Meet Our Newest State Partners!

We’re so excited to introduce you to the newest members of our state partner network: IYG and Fairness Pennsylvania!

June 12, 2025
Black & LGBTQ+ Organizations Mobilize in High-Stakes Supreme Court Battle

We joined The Center for HIV Law and Policy (CHLP), PrEP in Black America (PIBA), Afiya Center (Dallas), Women with a Vision (New Orleans), SisterLove (Atlanta), and BlaqOut (Kansas City, Missouri) in filing an amicus, or “friend of the court,” brief in the Braidwood v Kennedy case on appeal in the Supreme Court in order to take a stand defending access to preventative health care nationally and to protect the Black and brown lives that will be lost should this access be overturned.

June 12, 2025
A young man looking up, smilingA young man smiling straight at the camera
Confident young woman standing with crossed arms.

Want To Make A Difference? Support Our Work

With your support, we'll be able to continue our work to build the leaders of today and tomorrow, strengthen state-based LGBTQ+ organizations, and make critical progress on the issues that matter most—like protecting transgender people, ending HIV criminalization and ensuring access to care, and banning conversion therapy across the country.