Humans are innately social and are more likely to thrive when they feel a sense of belonging. Unfortunately, LGBTQ and gender nonconforming youth and emerging adults have an elevated risk of isolation, victimization, marginalization, stigmatization and discrimination from their families, communities, and society. The rejection experienced by these youth often lead to negative impacts on their overall wellbeing. To substantiate these claims, The Trevor Project’s 2022 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health reports that LGBTQ youth are four times more likely to be separated from their families than their heterosexual and cisgendered counterparts. Although progress has been made to expand inclusivity to vulnerable LGBTQ and gender nonconforming youth and emerging adults, it is the ethical responsibility of helping professionals to ensure these spaces are safe and “welcoming” environments to enhance participation and the quality service provision. In this interactive training, participants will identify barriers to inclusive service delivery. Additionally, they will learn strategies to create culturally competent, trauma-informed spaces that are welcoming to LGBTQ and gender nonconforming youth and emerging adults.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand terms and concepts related to varying sexual identifications, gender identities, and gender expressions and its impact on the overall wellbeing of adolescents and emerging adults.
- Identify challenges faced by LGBTQ youth and emerging adults and the barriers they experience when seeking supportive services in heteronormative spaces.
- Differentiate between safe spaces and welcoming spaces.
- Apply culturally competent trauma-informed practices to develop welcoming and inclusive spaces for LGBTQ youth and emerging adults in human service settings.
About the Presenter:
Kameko Johnson-Styles LICSW, LCSW-C is the Director of Youth, Birth Family, & Community Engagement at the National Center for Children and Families (NCCF). As a licensed social worker for 6 years, she gained proficiency in ethics, mental health, foster care policy, human sexuality, and socioemotional development. In addition to her full-time role at NCCF, Kameko is an Adjunct Professor at Bowie State University (BSU) teaching courses such as: Child Abuse and Family Violence, Legal and Ethical Standards in Counseling, Child Policy and Program Development, and Introductory Psychology. Kameko has a passion for mentoring and coaching current and future social workers. She attained her Master of Social Work from Howard University and Bachelor of Science in Psychology from BSU. When Kameko is not working, she enjoys spending time with family, cooking, traveling, sneaker shopping and dabbling with her DJ equipment.
Continuing Education:
This program is Approved by the National Association of Social Workers (Approval # 886842050-6516) for 3 continuing education contact hours.
