5055.0: Wednesday, October 24, 2001 - 9:00 AM

Abstract #25377

Training Youth Providers at the Casey Family Program: A Preliminary Report on the Evaluation of the Gay and Lesbian Youth Support Project (GLYS)

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) adolescents have the highest rates of suicide, homelessness, substance use and teen pregnancy of any other sub-population of adolescents. States, school systems and child welfare organizations nationwide are attempting to address this issue by increasing support for sexual minority youth and those questioning their sexual orientation. The Casey Family Program's Western Region recognized the challenges faced by these youth and decided to approach this issue within their own agency by providing comprehensive training for staff. The Gay and Lesbian Youth Support Project (GLYS) of Massachusetts was hired to provide on-site training at all six divisions in the western region and the regional office in Pasadena. An independent evaluation of these trainings was conducted by John Snow, Inc. The findings are summarized below.

• 111 Casey staff members at all levels completed the twelve-hour training. A survey measuring knowledge, behavior and attitudes held by staff toward providing services for GLBT youth was completed prior to and immediately after the training.
• Questions ranging from knowledge of suicide rates to comfort level at interrupting homophobic comments were among the areas measured.
• The results indicate significant statistical change in many areas,showing positive change toward providing less discriminatory and more culturally appropriate services for GLBT youth.
• Preliminary results indicate that conducting in depth training for the Casey Family Program staff can have a positive impact on staff knowledge, behavior and attitudes toward providing services for GLBT youth.
• Results collected from the six-month follow-up process will provide information on sustained change

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to:

• Articulate the goals of the GLYS training
• Discuss the relevance of training health and social service providers on issues pertaining to LGBT youth
• Describe the site specific methods employed to administer traiing to the Casey Family Program
• Describe the findings from the evaluation of the GLYS trainings

Keywords: Youth, Gay

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Health Care of Southeastern Mass, Inc., John Snow, Inc., The Casey Family Program
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

The 129th Annual Meeting of APHA