Changing Agency Policy and Practice To Support the Inclusion of Gays and Lesbians as Therapeutic Foster Parents [microform] / Danica Frazer

This practicum targeted a multi-service child and youth care agency in which lesbian women and gay men were implicitly excluded from serving as therapeutic foster parents. The setting in which the practicum project was developed, implemented, and evaluated is a not-for-profit, provincially chartered, and publicly-funded organization, headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta (Canada). The practicum was designed and implemented to advance the acceptance of gays and lesbians as therapeutic foster parents within the agency. The strategy included developing and obtaining formal approval of amendments to existing agency policies on status/conditions of employment and human rights, and organizing and obtaining consensus on both a proposed operational statement regarding the approval of gays and lesbians as therapeutic foster parents, and on changes to the existing materials used in the recruitment and selection of therapeutic foster parents. The results of this strategy were mixed. While consensus was obtained on adopting the proposed changes to existing recruitment and selection materials, no consensus was reached on employing the proposed operational statement on the approval of gays and lesbians as therapeutic foster parents. Implications to these outcomes are discussed and recommendations are offered. Appendices include interview and questionnaire formats, existing and revised policies, operational statements, recruitment and selection materials, presentation materials, and meeting minutes. (RJM)