title: The legal rights of LGBT youth in state custody: what child welfare and juvenile justice professionals need to know.
abstract: Youth in state custody, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, have federal and state constitutional and statutory rights. These rights guarantee a young person safety in their placement as well as freedom from deprivation of their liberty interest. Many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth have these rights violated on a regular basis. Many cases in both the child welfare and juvenile justice contexts have resulted in extensive and time-consuming consent decrees as well as sizable damages awards. Knowledge of a youth's legal rights can help providers avoid legal liability while creating a safer and healthier environment for LGBT youth. This article provides a general overview of the successful federal legal claims that youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems have made, discussion of the rights generated as a result, particle application of these rights to the experiences of LGBT youth with hypothetical scenarios, a focus on specific rights that emanate from certain state laws, and a focus on specific concerns of transgender youth.
authors.affiliation: Lambda Legal, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Rudy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Estrada
authors.forename: Jody
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marksamer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001727:Bisexuality; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003482:Custodial Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005260:Female; D006716:Homosexuality; D006806:Human Rights / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014481:United States