<p> Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth continue to struggle with challenges relating to their sexual identities and the coming out process. LGBT youth are far more likely than heterosexual youth to experience negative outcomes relating to their family and social supports, as well as physical and emotional health. The purpose of this project was to identify the specific needs of LGBT youth and write a grant to fund a psychoeducational support program designed to increase the support networks, improve self-esteem, increase communication skills, decrease physical and emotional health disparities between LGBT and non-LGBT youth, and promote a positive and healthy transition during the coming out process of LGBT youth in Ventura County.</p><p> The host agency for the grant is Rainbow Umbrella. The Arcus Foundation was selected as the funder for this grant. Actual submission and/or funding of the grant were not requirements for successful completion of this project. </p>

<p> The older adult population in the United States is projected to more than double by the year 2050. An important subgroup of this growing population includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older adults. It has been estimated that there are approximately 2.4 million people in the United States identifying as LGBT, with nearly 90,000 residing in Los Angeles County. Throughout their life, many of these LGBT individuals experienced harassment, discrimination, and persecution only because of their sexual identity. As a result, many today experience social isolation, depression, and a poor quality of life in later years. Project Resilience is an in-home case management program for LGBT older adults with the goal of improving the mental health and well-being of this hidden population. The LGBTQ Center Long Beach in Long Beach, California will serve as the host agency for this proposed program. The actual submission and/or funding of this grant was not required for the successful completion of the project.</p>

<p> In the last forty years, U.S. national and statewide LGBT organizations, in pursuit of &ldquo;equality&rdquo; through a limited and focused agenda, have made remarkably swift progress moving that agenda forward. However, their agenda has been frequently criticized as prioritizing the interests of White, middle-class gay men and lesbians and ignoring the needs of other LGBT people. In their shadows have emerged numerous grassroots organizations led by queer people of color, transgender people, and low-income LGBT people. These &ldquo;queer liberation&rdquo; groups have often been viewed as the left wing of the GRM, but have not been extensively studied. My research investigated how these grassroots liberation organizations can be understood in relation to the equality movement, and whether they actually comprise a separate movement operating alongside, but in tension with, the mainstream gay rights movement. </p><p> This research used a qualitative content analysis, grounded in black feminism&rsquo;s framework of intersectionality, queer theory, and social movement theories, to examine eight queer liberation organizations. Data streams included interviews with staff at each organization, organizational videos from each group, and the organizations&rsquo; mission statements. The study used deductive content analysis, informed by a predetermined categorization matrix drawn from social movement theories, and also featured inductive analysis to expand those categories throughout the analysis. </p><p> This study&rsquo;s findings indicate that a new social movement &ndash; distinct from the mainstream equality organizations &ndash; does exist. Using criteria informed by leading social movement theories, findings demonstrate that these organizations cannot be understood as part of the mainstream equality movement but must be considered a separate social movement. This &ldquo;queer liberation movement&rdquo; has constituents, goals, strategies, and structures that differ sharply from the mainstream equality organizations. This new movement prioritizes queer people in multiple subordinated identity categories, is concerned with rebuilding institutions and structures, rather than with achieving access to them, and is grounded more in &ldquo;liberation&rdquo; or &ldquo;justice&rdquo; frameworks than &ldquo;equality.&rdquo; This new movement does not share the equality organizations&rsquo; priorities (e.g., marriage) and, instead, pursues a different agenda, include challenging the criminal justice and immigration systems, and strengthening the social safety net. </p><p> Additionally, the study found that this new movement complicates existing social movement theory. For decades, social movement scholars have documented how the redistributive agenda of the early 20th century class-based social movements has been replaced by the demands for access and recognition put forward by the identity-based movements of the 1960s New Left. While the mainstream equality movement can clearly be characterized as an identity-based social movement, the same is not true of the groups in this study. This queer liberation movement, although centered on identity claims, has goals that are redistributive as well as recognition-based. </p><p> While the emergence of this distinct social movement is significant on its own, of equal significance is the fact that it represents a new post-structuralist model of social movement. This study presents a &ldquo;four-domain&rdquo; framework to explain how this movement exists simultaneously inside and outside of other social movements, as a bridge between them, and as its own movement. Implications for research, practice, and policy in social work and allied fields are presented.</p>

<p> The purpose of this project was to develop a grant application for the True Palette Fund for a permanent supportive housing project for 20 homeless LGBTQQI youth in Sonoma County. This is an over-represented subgroup of the homeless youth population faced with limited support services, leaving them at risk for many negative outcomes. </p><p> Permanent supportive housing that is LGBTQQI culture specific provides the best chance for the target population to embark on a fulfilling life as contributing members of society. The grant writer is collaborating with the local agency, Social Advocates for Youth, to create a dedicated LGBTQQI program as part of the Dream Center subsidized housing. </p><p> The LGBTQQI enhanced services provided by staff and volunteers will include case management/life coaching, mentoring, independent living skills training, employment and mental health counseling, and community building activities </p>