RISE (Recognize, Intervene, Support, Empower)

LGBTQ+ (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer/Questioning plus others in this community) children/youth 5-17, their caregivers (resource parents, biological parents and biological or chosen families, etc.), and professionals and paraprofessionals who serve these children/youth

RISE (Recognize, Intervene, Support, Empower) is a dual-intervention program consisting of direct services for children/youth and their caregivers, and capacity building support for providers. With RISE, staff in organizations and systems of care are taught how to:

• Recognize that they have LGBTQ+ youth in their care
• Intervene during instances of bias, harassment, and discrimination
• Support LGBTQ+ youth in their care
• Empower their organization and staff to create affirming environments and provide appropriate care for LGBTQ+ youth

Each of these actions is designed to increase the likelihood that LGBTQ+ youth will achieve permanency. At the core of RISE is the belief that with skilled, thoughtful, and targeted interventions, LGBTQ+ youth can achieve permanency and positive outcomes in safe and loving homes.

Ariel Bustamante, BA

• Agency/Affiliation: Los Angeles LGBT Center
• Website: https://rise.lalgbtcenter.org/youth-and-family-services/
• Email: abustamante@lalgbtcenter.org
• Phone: (323) 860-3608

The goals of RISE (Recognize, Intervene, Support, Empower) are:

For LGBTQ+ Children and Youth:

• Increase self-esteem and wellness
• Develop permanent relationships with kin, adoptive, and chosen families

For caregivers and family (biological, extended, foster, chosen):

• Increase support and acceptance of LGBTQ+ and gender nonconforming children and youth

For professionals and paraprofessionals:

• Increase permanency options for LGBTQ+ children/youth
• Decrease bias, harassment, and discrimination in care

The essential components of RISE (Recognize, Intervene, Support, Empower) include:

• Care Coordination Team (CCT) Intervention:
• Originally designed as an individual- and family-based intervention with components that have been adapted for groups
• Group-based support groups facilitated by CCT staff (can be co-facilitated by child welfare or clinical staff) for the following groups:
• Caregivers of LGBTQ+ youth or children
• LGBTQ+ youth or children
• Siblings of LGBTQ+ youth or children
• Individual and family therapeutic services on-site or at location convenient for recipient(s) (e.g., at home, in community, etc.)
• Identification and linkage to safe and affirming care in local community
• SOGIE (Sexual orientation gender identity and expression)-based case management support including:
• Legal advocacy
• Placement identification and stabilization
• Aftercare
• Engagement:
• Motivation and empowerment of all the adults in the child’s or youth’s sphere to recognize the child or youth
• Recognition of the adults’ strengths, resources, and needs in a manner that is affirming and sensitive to the child/youth’s SOGIE
• Collaborative Teaming:
• Internal and external complementary process to engagement where collaboration takes place between the child/youth, adults surrounding the child/youth, and professionals to support the child/youth’s SOGIE and meet the shared goal of permanency
• Work cooperatively and share responsibility for developing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating a plan of care
• Strengths & Needs-based Plan of Care:
• The development of an individualized plan that takes into consideration the needs of the child/youth and the adults surrounding them
• Increasing understanding and support for the child/youth’s SOGIE and permanency needs
• Expand Connections:
• The identification of biological and chosen family members who are affirming and safe
• The expansion of community supports so the youth/child can achieve emotional and legal permanency
• Increase SOGIE Education & Support:
• The increase of understanding, knowledge, and support for a child/youth’s SOGIE for biological and chosen family members through one-on-one information sharing, education, coaching, and providing access to specialists and specialized services
• A respectful process that takes into account the adults’ culture and belief system while emphasizing the needs of the LGBTQ+ child/youth
• Outreach and Relationship Building (ORB) Team Intervention:
• In-person and online training for professionals and paraprofessionals engaged in systems of care including but not limited to:
• Child welfare
• Juvenile justice
• Mental health
• Education
• Over 30 discrete modules addressing core, intermediate, and advanced SOGIE competencies including but not limited to:
• Terminology
• Coming-out
• Policy and procedure
• Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC)
• Reproductive health
• Healthy relationships
• Implicit bias
• Management and supervision
• Specialized in-person and online trainings for caregivers to:
• Increase knowledge of LGBTQ+ identities
• Decrease antigay bias
• Decrease antitransgender bias
• Decrease heterosexism
• Technical assistance for:
• Case-carrying staff
• Policy adoption and/or revision
• Organizational change assistance
• Coaching online and in-person to strengthen SOGIE knowledge and skills at the following levels:
• Individual
• Agency
• Functional
• Regional
• Group level
• Agency/community of care implementation

Child/Adolescent Services

RISE (Recognize, Intervene, Support, Empower) directly provides services to children and addresses the following:

• Problems that may arise from being LGBTQ+ which can include being at higher risk of child welfare system, juvenile probation, and/or homeless services involvement due to being abused, bullied, or kicked out of the home, depression, running away from foster or kin care (AWOL-ing), low self-esteem, isolation, poor academic performance, anxiety, and gender dysphoria

Parent/Caregiver Services

RISE (Recognize, Intervene, Support, Empower) directly provides services to parents/caregivers and addresses the following:

• Caring for an LGBTQ+ youth/child and poor understanding of LGBTQ+ characteristics

Recommended Intensity

Though both CCT and ORB should be offered, they have different audiences and therefore different recommended intensities. CCT (direct services): Weekly or bi-weekly 1-2-hour engagements, in addition to other case activities (e.g. CFTs). ORB (system-level): In addition to comprehensive integration of agency practice, monthly coaching and recurring training.

Recommended Duration

Though both CCT and ORB should be offered, they have different audiences and therefore different recommended durations. CCT (direct services): Varies according to duration of child welfare case. ORB (system-level Upon full adoption of training and coaching protocols, comprehensive integration of agency practice and continued use is expected.

Delivery Settings

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

• Birth Family Home
• Community Daily Living Setting
• Community-based Agency / Organization / Provider
• Foster / Kinship Care
• Group or Residential Care

Homework

This program does not include a homework component.

Languages

RISE (Recognize, Intervene, Support, Empower) has materials available in the following languages other than English:

• Spanish

For information on which materials are available in this language, please check on the program's website or contact the program representative (contact information is listed in this page).

Resources Needed to Run Program

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

Though both CCT and ORB should be offered, they have different audiences and therefore different recommended resources.

CCT: Team facilitator, family finder, youth specialist, family advocate, and clinician; physical space appropriate for individual/family therapy; physical space(s) to accommodate support group(s)

ORB: ADA compliant room to accommodate interactive sessions for up to 30 individuals; minimum of two training instructors; computer, projector, and speaker

Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications

No education requirements or qualifications are necessary.

Manual Information

There is a manual that describes how to deliver this program.

Program Manual(s)

Phillips, L., Parrish, L. Khavar, V., Rodriguez, E., & Islas, A. (2016). 2016 RISE project care coordination team program manual.http://files.lalgbtcenter.org/pdf/rise/Los-Angeles-LGBT-Center-RISE-Care-Coordination-Services-Program-Manual.pdf

Weeks, A., Irons, A., Parrish, L., Altman, D., Stevens, A., Vitorino, S., & Hsu, A. (2016). 2016 RISE project outreach and relationship building program manual (Vol. 1).http://files.lalgbtcenter.org/pdf/rise/Los-Angeles-LGBT-Center-RISE-Outreach-Relationship-Building-Program-Manual-Vol1.pdf

Weeks, A., Irons, A., Parrish, L., Altman, D., Stevens, A., Vitorino, S., & Hsu, A. (2016). 2016 RISE project outreach and relationship building program manual (Vol. 2).http://files.lalgbtcenter.org/pdf/rise/Los-Angeles-LGBT-Center-RISE-Outreach-Relationship-Building-Program-Manual-Vol2.pdf

Weeks, A., Irons, A., Parrish, L., Altman, D., Stevens, A., Vitorino, S., & Hsu, A. (2016). 2016 RISE project outreach and Relationship building program manual (Vol. 3).http://files.lalgbtcenter.org/pdf/rise/Los-Angeles-LGBT-Center-RISE-Outreach-Relationship-Building-Program-Manual-Vol3.pdf

Weeks, A., Irons, A., Parrish, L., Altman, D., Stevens, A., Vitorino, S., & Hsu, A. (2016). 2016 RISE project outreach and relationship building program manual (Vol. 4).http://files.lalgbtcenter.org/pdf/rise/Los-Angeles-LGBT-Center-RISE-Outreach-Relationship-Building-Program-Manual-Vol4.pdf

Training Information

There is training available for this program.

Training Contact

Training Type/Location:

Trainings are provided on a rolling basis regionally and can be provided onsite or at the requesting agency

Number of days/hours:

Trainings vary in length: 5 consecutive days (40 hours) standard with additional 40 hours optional, but highly recommended

“What is included in the Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research section?”

• Note: The following study was not included in rating RISE (Recognize, Intervene, Support, Empower) on the Scientific Rating Scale.

  Lorthridge, J., Evans, M., Heaton, L., Stevens, A., & Phillips, L. (2018). Strengthening family connections and support for youth in foster care who identify as LGBTQ: Findings from the PII-RISE evaluation. Child Welfare, 96(1), 53–78. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48628035

  Summary:

  The purpose of the study was to report findings from the Recognize, Intervene, Support, Empower (RISE) intervention. Participants received RISE. Measures utilized include the Connections Map (CM), the Permanent Connections Inventory Youth (PCIY), the Emotional Permanency Survey (EPS), the Supporting/Rejecting Perceptions Survey (SRPS), and the Supporting/Rejecting Attitudes Scale (MHI) (SRAS). Results indicate that at follow-up, most youth had greater connection or reconnections with supports. Results also found that most youth were connected to an adult providing a permanent, parent-like relationship and were living with an adult who was a potential adoptive parent or legal guardian. Limitations include the nonrandomization of subjects, lack of a control group, small sample size, modifications made to the quantitative measures may have affected instrument validity, and reliance on self-reported measures. Note: This article was not used in the rating process due to the lack of a control group.

• Note: The following study was not included in rating RISE (Recognize, Intervene, Support, Empower) on the Scientific Rating Scale.

  Weeks, A., Altman, D., Stevens, A., Lorthridge, J., & Heaton, L. (2018). Strengthening the workforce to support youth in foster care who identify as LGBTQ+ through increasing LGBTQ+ competency: Trainers’ experience with bias. Child Welfare, 96(2), 125–150. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48624547

  Summary:

  The purpose of the study was to discuss the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Recognize, Intervene, Support and Empower (RISE) Initiative’s training evaluation; trainers’ experiences with bias, and the impact that participant bias had on the delivery of the Outreach and Relationship Building (ORB) intervention. Participants received only one component of the intervention. Measures utilized include the Frequently Encountered Bias Questions and Statements tool, surveys that focused on terms and scenarios illustrating knowledge acquisition, and a web-based follow-up survey that assessed the extent to which participating child welfare professionals utilized any knowledge gained, as well as why participants were or were not utilizing this knowledge. Results indicate that after initial training on youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ) staff need coaching and follow-up training to effectively address and reduce the mistreatment of this population in child welfare settings and decrease anti-LGBTQ+ bias. Limitations include nonrandomization of subjects, small sample size, lack of validated measurements, only one component of the RISE intervention was used in this study, and lack of follow-up. Note: This article was not used in the rating process since it does not report on the entire version of Recognize, Intervene, Support and Empower (RISE).

• Hatch, T. (n.d.). New reports highlight human service needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, & transgender populations. https://youth.gov/feature-article/new-reports-highlight-human-service-needs-lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender

• Los Angeles LGBT Center. (2018, November 25). LGBTQ foster youth find help at the center, LGBT News Now. https://lgbtnewsnow.org/lgbtq-foster-youth-find-help-at-the-center/

• Mink, C. (2018, March 26). Doctor's notes: LGBTQ kids are over-represented in foster care, but LA County is working to make sure they're no longer overlooked. https://www.calhealthreport.org/2018/03/26/doctors-notes-lgbtq-kids-represented-foster-care-la-county-working-make-sure-theyre-no-longer-overlooked/