Human Services for Low-Income and At-Risk LGBT Populations: An Assessment of the Knowledge Base and Research Needs
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Associated Project
Human Services for Low-Income and At-Risk LGBT Populations: Identifying the Knowledge Base and Developing a Research Agenda
Prepared for:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation
Key Findings
The assessment identified a wide range of research needs. Broadly, they include:
- Developing sources of population-based and administrative data that include measures of sexual orientation and gender identity. Additional data are needed to clarify the number of LGBT people who experience economic hardships and other risks and to determine the extent to which LGBT populations participate in ACF services.
- Continuing to explore the nature of risk and protective factors among LGBT people, especially LGBT subpopulations. More investigation is needed to discern who among LGBT populations is at greatest risk of poor social and economic outcomes and explore the reasons for disparities that might exist—both between LGBT people and non-LGBT people and in LGBT subpopulations, such as transgender people and people of color.
- Understanding potential barriers to service access. Existing research points toward factors that might impede LGBT people from receiving the services they need. These factors include providers’ lack of knowledge regarding the specific circumstances of LGBT people and services that are not relevant to the needs of LGBT clients. It remains unclear how pervasive such barriers are and whom they affect.
- Identifying and documenting efforts to improve human service delivery to LGBT populations. Researchers, professional associations, and advocacy groups have recommended steps to increase the safety, accessibility, and relevance of human services to LGBT populations. The extent to which service providers nationwide have adopted these recommendations is not known.
- Evaluating the effectiveness of human service interventions targeting LGBT populations. Our assessment identified several examples of services tailored for LGBT clients, specifically in the areas of employment assistance, child welfare services, and emergency shelter and transitional housing for runaway and homeless youth. Studies are needed to establish whether these and other interventions improve outcomes for LGBT adults and youth.
Although the social and legal environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the United States is changing rapidly, existing research suggests that LGBT people, like some other minority groups, might face disproportionate risks to their economic and social well-being. Research and data sources identifying LGBT populations are relatively limited, and substantial knowledge gaps exist regarding at-risk and low-income LGBT people and their experiences with human services. This report presents the results of an assessment of research needs related to human services for LGBT people. The assessment aimed to determine what is known about LGBT people and their interactions with human services, especially services funded by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and identify important topics for further research in this area. Mathematica Policy Research and its subcontractor, the Williams Institute, conducted the assessment for ACF.
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