Advocate Awareness
The purpose of this section will be to include info and links to training about the level of awareness of differences we expect our advocates to have that will impact their effectiveness as advocate working with youth, families and resource parents. This would include topics like:
Racism
LGBTQIA+ = Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning, Intersex, Asexual/Aromantic/Agender, plus all of the other identities related to gender and sexual identities facing discrimination
Cultural differences
Religious differences
Impacts of trauma (also under Mental Health Advocacy but important related to these other topics)
Vulnerabilities of Foster Youth and Safety Issues
General
Walking on Eggshells: Navigating the Language of Diversity - 2-page undated language guide for age, disability, neurodiversity, race, indigenous peoples, LGBTQIA+, pregnancy, breastfeeding, ethnicity and general diversity
Racism
A Social-Ecological Model of Racism & Anti-Racism - 2023 2-page pdf slides
Using an Anti-Racist Intersectional Frame at CSSP - Updated May 2020 2-page pdf
How to Talk to Your Children About Protests and Racism - 2020 CNN article and video from the time when the video of George Floyd being arrested and murdered was being shown and being watched by children
National Museum of African-American History and Culture – Talking About Race - the Talking About Race page seems to have been removed and this links to the Teaching and Learning page of the museum
Talking to Kids About Fear and Violence - Mental Health America (MHA) page
Your Kids Aren’t Too Young to Talk About Race: Resource Roundup - blog post (year unknown) by Katrina Michie - pointing to other resources (some of them are dead links) - some good - all dated
Books for Young Children - EmbraceRace article of “20 Picture Books for 2020: Readings to Embrace Race, Provide Solace & Do Good”
Books for Young Adults - on the website of Social Justice Books - a project of Teaching for Change, a non-profit with a mission to provide teachers and parents with tools so students learn to change the world. This list is of multicultural and social justice books.
Racism, Anti-Racism and the Social Ecology (December 2021) 1 hour and 16-minute mp4 file and slides by Center for the Study of Social Policy and the Children’s Trust Fund Alliance
LGBTQ
Hotlines
☎ : 1-866-488-7386 - Trevor Project 24 hour hotline for crisis intervention for youth under 25 years old
Trans Affirming Training & Consulting (TATC) provides training for cisgender people and allies
The Trevor Project - the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention resource for LGBTQ youth under the age of 25
Support
All Children-All Families - Resources on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation website for Child Welfare Administrators
Babs Siperstein PROUD Center - website of the RWJ Barnabas Health Center Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset providing health care to LGBTQ+ adults
Breaking through the Binary: Gender Explained Using Continuums - 10-page pdf dated 3/27/2015 originally posted on itspronouncedmetrosexual.com
Child Welfare Information Gateway - Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth: A Guide for Foster Parents - 15-page pdf from June 2021 Factsheets for Families
Human Rights Campaign - LGBTQ Youth in the Foster Care System 6-page pdf from 2015
LGBT Rain Foundation (Essex County) website for RAIN (Reaching Adolescents in Need) that provides emergency shelter services for LGBT individuals based in East Orange
Montclair State University - LGBTQ Center - website Montclair University campus community Queer Community Program
PFLAG - website providing support and resources for LGBTQ+ people and those who love them
Resources for Advocates - stopbullying.gov - LGBTQ page has been removed from the stopbullying.gov page.
You can still access the article “Bullying of LGBT Youth and Those Perceived to Have Different Sexual Orientations”
Resources for Educators and Parents/Guardians: LGBTQ Topics, Transgender Children, and Bullying - 3-page pdf
Sanar Institute - Newark center providing healing services for survivors of gender-based violence and other complex trauma
Supporting LGBTQ Foster Youth (Webinar Wednesday) - 16 slide PowerPoint from 2022
Supporting the Needs of LGBTQIA+ Youth (Resources) - 4-page pdf by NJ Division on Civil Rights - list of websites with resources and studies
Human Rights Campaign Glossary of Terms - from the www.hrc.org website
Safety
What To Do When a Child Goes Missing (2025) 39-minute video training by Natalie Deo and Leslie Sena of CASA Essex and information on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Remove the Target - Keeping Foster Youth Out of the Child Trafficking Crosshairs (Password: casa2021) (2023) 1-hour video of a content-heavy workshop by Natalie Deo of CASA Essex
New Jersey Child Assault Prevention Program (NJCAP) (2023) 30-minute video by Kathy Kronick of NJCAP that empowers children with prevention strategies to stay safe, strong and free
Drugs Abuse Trends in New Jersey (2023) - 90 minute training by Natalie Deo of CASA Essex addressing biases about drug use and abuse, addiction, substance use disorder, treatment
