Strategies for Child Welfare Professionals Working with Transgender and Gender Expansive Youth

by Gerald Mallon

Overview

Expert guidance for child welfare and youth care professionals looking to increase their knowledge about, and skills in, working with transgender and gender expansive youth and their families. Many professionals working in child welfare and youth service (including line workers, supervisors, managers, and administrators), lack adequate knowledge about trans or gender expansive identities, which means they are not sufficiently prepared to address or respond to the needs of trans or gender expansive youth. This guide will provide readers with the information they need to do their jobs effectively with youth of all genders, including guidance on relationships, discrimination, mental health, foster care and homelessness. It provides examples of successful practice in a variety of case narratives from youth and their families.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781787753891
Publisher:	Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Publication date:	06/21/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
File size:	721 KB

About the Author

Gerald P. Mallon, DSW, is the Julia Lathrop Professor of Child Welfare/Associate Dean of Scholarship and Research at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, New York City. For more than 44 years, Dr. Mallon has been a child welfare practitioner, advocate, educator, and researcher. He is currently the Senior Editor of the professional journal, Child Welfare, and the author or editor of over 28 books. In addition to working for his entire careeras a child welfare professional, he has been a foster parent and is the adoptive parent of now grown children.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 9

Introduction: Preparing to Work with T/GE Youth 11

1 The Basics 13

2 The Developmental Process of Forming a T/GE Identity 21

3 Social and Medical Transition Issues 41

4 Educational Issues 63

5 Discrimination and Anti-T/GE Harassment and Violence 85

6 Creating Healthy and Affirming Social Environments 99

7 Relationships and Dating 119

8 Child Welfare Programs 133

9 Runaway and Homeless Youth Programs 147

10 A Call for Organizational Transformation 159

Appendix A Explanation of Terms: A Glossary for Child Welfare Practitioners 167

Appendix B Transgender and Gender-Expansive Youth Resources 177

References 189

About the Author 199

Subject Index 201

Author Index 205

Editorial Reviews

This book, like its author, is innovative, clear, and honest. Gary Mallon has written a comprehensive practical guide for child welfare professionals who want to improve their skills working with transgender and gender-expansive youth and their families. In this book, Gary Mallon combines state-of-the-art knowledge with case examples gathered over his 45 years of experience in the field of child welfare. Written with an accessible style and a positive tone, this book offers lots of strategies and concrete actions that youth workers can take to improve their support to transgender and gender-expansive youth and their families.

Mónica López López

Gary Mallon has devoted his career to ensure that social work professionals and child welfare services have the knowledge and skills they need to work effectively with LGBT+ young people. This publication specifically addresses the needs of transgender and gender expansive young people and their families. Professor Mallon's expertise on this topic is without question; the strength of this publication is that it is written with young people firmly at the centre, with quotes from young people included throughout the text. It addresses all areas of practice, including: language usage; transition issues; discrimination; education;, relationships; and child welfare programmes, including homelessness. It is an absolute 'must have' for any organisation that works with young people.

Professor Christine Cocker

Mallon's book unpacks the complexities of working with transgender and gender-expansive youth and their families. Using the voices of T/GE youth themselves, the reader is grounded in an understanding of the difficulties of discrimination and social transitions, yet the book reminds us of the normal everyday lives of T/GE and all youth - their development, loves, relationships.

Stephen T. Russell

Not only a practical guide for youth, community and social workers, this book also offers a dive into the complexities of trans and gender-expansive young people's experiences. Packed with stories from T/GE youth, this volume offers advice and resources for the fields of psychology, social welfare, health and education.

Dr Stephen Hicks

This book is not just for child welfare professionals serving the transgender/gender expansive youth population, but for anyone providing caring to children and youth. Giving us the gift of an invaluable gender GPS, Gerald Mallon guides us through the imperatives for ensuring the gender health of young people of all genders in all communities and all living situations. A must on everyone's book shelf.

Diane Ehrensaft

Long overdue, Mallon's book is powerfully honest, informative and practical-offering readers that chance to take a deep and enlightening journey into the lives and experiences of trans and gender expansive youth. A must read for people who work with youth in any capacity!

June Paul

This book, like its author, is innovative, clear, and honest. Gary Mallon has written a comprehensive practical guide for child welfare professionals who want to improve their skills working with transgender and gender-expansive youth and their families. In this book, Gary Mallon combines state-of-the-art knowledge with case examples gathered over his 45 years of experience in the field of child welfare. Written with an accessible style and a positive tone, this book offers lots of strategies and concrete actions that youth workers can take to improve their support to transgender and gender-expansive youth and their families.

Mónica López López