Kentucky Youth Law Project, Inc.

An itinerant legal clinic providing no-cost legal assistance, advice, and support services for transgender and gender non-conforming youth who desire to change their name and/or gender status on official records and credentials to comport with their gender identity.

Training and advocacy for foster and adoptive parents of LGBTQ+ children and youth. LGBTQ+ children and youth need the support of a nurturing family to help them negotiate adolescence and grow into healthy and happy adults. But LGBTQ+ youth face additional challenges, including the losses that brought them into the child welfare system as well as traumas they may have suffered while in foster care. LGBTQ+ youth face more disruptions in their placement than their non-LGBTQ peers, and each disruption adds another layer of trauma.

In this training, participants will learn about LGBTQ+ youth in the child welfare system, the unique risks they face, and the important role that foster and adoptive parents play in reducing those risks. Participants will also discover specific actions that they can take to create a welcoming home for all youth in their care and to promote their youths' health and well-being in the home, in the school, and in the community.

Volunteer attorneys are appointed by Family Court judges to provide advocacy and legal representation to children and youth who have been identified as dependent, abused or neglected. As special guardians ad litem, these volunteer attorneys assist families to provide the best care for their LGBTQ+ youth, direct our clients and their families toward LGBTQ-affirming medical, mental health, education, and community resources, and advocate for our clients' best interests before the Court.