DYCD Only – Build Your Competencies in Serving LGBTQIA+ Youth

Join WPTI for two full days of training to build cultural competency in serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and other gender and sexual minority (LGBTQ+) youth and supporting their success in the workforce.

Day One on April 1: Improving Our Cultural Competence in Serving LGBTQ+ Youth

The LGBTQ+ community has gained more visibility and public acceptance over the last several years. However, members of the LGBTQ+ community still face serious barriers to employment, as well as other economic necessities. A key way of making LGBTQ+ youth feel most supported in a workforce programming is simply knowing the varieties of identities in the community, knowing language and cultural norms within the community, legal protections for the community, and general best practices for making any space maximally supportive of LGBTQ+ youth. This is the first part of two full day trainings about LGBTQ+ youth, a second of which covers workforce-specific issues.

In this course, participants will:

• Discuss their personal knowledge about the LGBTQ+ community, and work collaboratively among each other and the trainer to expand our knowledge base;


• Learn what practices will help LGBTQ+ job seekers feel safe and supported by your program;


• Learn about issues facing LGBTQ+ youth (e.g., homelessness), and how you can address those issues;


• Learn about legal protections for the LGBTQ+ community; and


• Discuss ways of making your organizational practices supportive of LGBTQ+ youth.

Day Two on April 8: Supporting the Success of LGBTQ+ Youth in the Workforce

The second day of this series will focus on making your workforce programming most supportive of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and other gender and sexual minority (LGBTQ+) youth. Workforce programs are vital for supporting the LGBTQ+ community, many of whose members are un- and under-employed. However, workforce best practices are not widespread.

In this training, participants will:

• Do a quick review about the variety of LGBTQ+ identities, and respectful ways of working with the community;


• Discuss barriers faced by LGBTQ+ youth in workforce programs;


• Review best practices about working with LGBTQ+ youth in the workplace, as found in the experiences of programs across the country, and in academic literature;


• Learn methods of screening employers for their own LGBTQ+ competency, so that you send LGBTQ+ clients to supportive work environments; and


• How to advocate for LGBTQ+ clients once they are in jobs, and prepare them to self-advocate in a workplace-appropriate manner.

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Advanced registration for this workshop is required. An insufficient number of registrants will result in cancellation or rescheduling of this workshop. Registration is for the approved candidate only. Substitutions are not allowed without the approval of the TA Provider.

This training is only for staff from programs that DYCD contracts for any of its contracts/programs.

If you register for and are subsequently unable to attend this session you are responsible for canceling your registration or risk being waitlisted for future events.

Registrations will be reviewed and you will be sent a confirmation email within 24 to 72 hours of registration, plus a final reminder email the day before the training. Any registrations from individuals from programs that do not hold a DYCD program contract will be unable to participate in this training. If you are interested in this training but are not a DYCD provider, please contact Saki Mori at WPTI at smori@wpti.org.