A Michigan group received federal funding for a “family therapy” program that teaches parents to affirm their child's gender confusion, and public school districts joined the effort.
Approximately $1.3 million in federal grants Award Provide resources to Arbor Circle in early 2024 center The organization, which provides counseling and support to youth between the ages of 10 and 18 who identify as LGBTQ, has partnered with the Kent and Ottawa County school districts to provide support services for families and LGBTQI+ youth ( SAFLY) program.
Arbor Circle's SAFLY program provides “counseling and support programs aimed at reducing rejection and behavioral health risks” for LGBTQ-identifying youth and their families, according to the grant description. Masu.
“The project will also integrate systems and community organizations that work with youth and families to help improve acceptance and understanding, training on successful interventions, and awareness of available services,” the description states. I am.
The district was committed to supporting the program by helping Arbor Circle identify “target audiences” and providing “referrals” to SAFLY during the three-year grant period, as well as providing support to the advisory workgroup. We were committed to supporting the program by participating and obtaining engagement letters obtained from the Daily Caller. This was revealed by the News Foundation.
“The challenges faced by LGBTQI+ youth and their families in the broader Ottawa County community are limited by their reach and visibility,” Stacey Sills, Ottawa County Intermediate School District (ISD) regional school health and equity consultant, wrote in the letter. continues to expand.” “Families whose young people identify as LGBTQI+ need a more comprehensive set of supports, combined with a stronger community voice for these young people, to ensure services remain flexible and inclusive. I need it.”
Kirsten Myers, assistant director of student services for the Kent Intermediate School District, also signed an identical pledge to cooperate with SAFLY.
Arbor Circle Family Counseling uses Affirm modelArbor Circle President Kristin Gietzen told DCNF. (Related: Exclusive: Biden-Harris administration paves way for bureaucrats to take gender-confused children from 'non-affirming' parents)
One of the interventions included in this model, Affirm Caregiver, is designed to promote “positive parenting practices among caregivers of LGBTQ+ youth.” According to Go to the developer's website.
“We provide information about these services to community-based organizations and organizations everywhere families may seek information and resources, including schools,” Gitzen said. .
The group that developed the Affirm model is called Affirmative Research. partnered The child welfare system in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, was piloting a program to inject gender ideology into the foster care system, using a federal grant awarded toward the end of the Obama administration. DCNF previously reported that social workers in Cuyahoga County helped spread awareness about the Biden administration's foster care program, which requires children who identify as LGBT to be placed with affirming families.
Affirmative Research is center The Excellence in LGBTQ+ Behavioral Health Equity Award, viz. funded Through the NIH Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Recruitment activities
A Kent State ISD spokesperson told DCNF that the district has not “actively engaged in any of the items listed or any other activity related to the grant or program” since signing the letter of support. Ta.
“Our district provided a letter of support for Arbor Circle’s grant application in June 2023,” an Ottawa Area ISD spokesperson similarly told DCNF. “At this time, we have not received any details from the organization regarding next steps, including how students will be identified and what role the district will play.”
Referrals to the SAFLY program will be built through Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs and McKinney Vento, according to communications obtained by DCNF. representativeworks with homeless students.
Sills and other Ottawa Area ISD representatives received an update in October from representatives from Out on the Lakeshore (OOTL), an LGBTQ+ community center that works with Arbor Circle.
OOTL and Arbor Circle will develop and distribute a resource webpage providing information about the SAFLY program and safe havens for “flight risk” youth to GSA Club and McKinney-Vento representatives. wrote OOTL Executive Director Jennifer Evans.
“This is exciting content and we can’t wait to work with you!” Ottawa ISD representatives responded to Evans on Oct. 16, inviting OOTL and Arbor Circle to a January meeting.
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