Expanding Cultural Competencies: Supporting Young LGBTQ+

The course is a response to the work of the CSCP Mental Health Priority Group, which considered some suicides and serious harm incidents where an additional feature of the case was that the young person’s gender or identity was different from the one assigned at birth. The professionals felt that enhancing their confidence to encounter questions and challenges as well as balance the risk when a young person is self-harming or has suicidal tendencies would support the quality of the trusted relationship and be more likely to have positive outcomes for this cohort of young people.

Learning objectives

Part 1 covers ‘Cultural competencies’ and invites staff to explore practical and ethical challenges involved when a young person shares that they might be LGBTQ+. The trainers invite safeguarding staff to reflect on the challenges a young person might face when they come out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, non-binary, or questioning their gender or sexual identity, particularly in contexts such as foster care, or when a young person has been identified as neuro-divergent, such as being autistic.

Part 2 develops the young-person-centred approach with more focus on the variety of narratives and contexts that make the approach ‘descriptive, not prescriptive’. ‘One of the key lessons, and it can seem obvious, is we need to listen to what the young person is sharing with us and make it safe for them to have confidence in us.’ Guided by input from Croydon staff, issues such as confidentiality and use of pronouns in record keeping are being reviewed, with attendees taking their learning back to their agencies.

Who this course is for

• Practitioners who work intensively with children, young people and/or parents/ carers.
• Those who have particular specialist child protection responsibilities.
• Professional advisers and designated leads for child protection

View the booking page for the next available date

Contact us

If you need any help or more information about this course, please email: cscptraining@croydon.gov.uk