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Spaces that Affirm Identity: Service Provision for Children and Youth with Diverse Genders and/or Sexualities

Young people with gender and sexual diversities are disproportionately affected by stigma, discrimination, rejection, violence, trauma and prejudice.  The pandemic accentuated isolation and impact for 2SLGBTQI youth.  Practitioners need to focus on health-building interventions with youth and their intersecting identities.  This training will provide specific strategies for interacting one-to-one in-service environments with 2SLGBTQI children and youth.   For safer, more affirming, more health-promoting services, we’ll also talk about how to advocate at the organizational, administrative, and policy levels to create gender affirming spaces. 

Description

It is essential that adults working with people with diverse genders and sexual diversities have the skills and knowledge to open the conversation, use language that promotes dignity, offer effective allyship in internalized, interpersonal, institutional, and cultural interactions and offer strength-based supports that are informed by evidence. Practitioners have a role in ensuring supportive relationships for 2SLGBTQI youth, facilitating family affirmation, advocating when youth need to transition, using pronouns and names to build health, responding appropriately to discrimination trauma, and advocating for systemic change.  It’s a big job, but the positive mental and physical health impacts are documented.   

This online, interactive 6-hour training will be an opportunity to practice skills and plan practical steps to address trauma experienced by 2SLGBTQI young people and to share strategies for supporting youth who are “inviting in” (new language for “coming out”), in transition, or trying to navigate erasure, rejection, or unsafe home environments. 

This online training has significant opportunities for interaction, so registrants do not need any prior knowledge or experience, but should come prepared to interact, communicate and share ideas. 

 Learning Outcomes 

  1. Use language that promotes dignity, including affirming gender pronouns, appropriate use of gender inclusive language, and reviewing intake forms, questions and interactions for relevance, representation and promoting youth agency. 
  2. Employ strength-based supports that are informed by evidence to affirm people with gender and sexual diversities. 
  3. Implement effective communication with allyship to 2SLGBTQI people in internalized, interpersonal, institutional, and cultural interactions. 
  4. Outline helpful and evidence-based resources to build awareness within organizations and communities. 

Who Should Attend  

This training is most suitable for staff who work with youth, as well as foster parents or those working in foster care. Individuals who support a child and youth organization administratively, or who provide 2SLGBTQI leadership or support within an organization, including HR, supervisory staff or internal committees related to creating space that is safer for gender and sexual diversity. 

Course Dates & Format  

There are no scheduled dates for this course at this time, however in-service is available.

This is a 6-hour training. This course consists of two 3-hour interactive virtual sessions using Zoom. 

Instructor:  Rogue Witterick 

Rogue Witterick (they/them) is a parent, youth and family advocate, writer and violence prevention activist, with decades of experience in a variety of sectors with learning systems and certification program design, curriculum development, self directed learning initiatives and direct facilitation. 

They’ve done local, provincial and national work, fostering learning, growing and thriving in individuals and communities, in particular within and for equity denied but deserving populations. Rogue wrote training and designed certifications for HIGH FIVE at Parks and Recreation Ontario, Cerebral Palsy Sport and YMCA Canada to name a few. Their past work has been for non-profit organizations including The 519, the YMCA of Greater Toronto and the International Red Cross. 

Rogue is a former Knowledge Exchange Manager at SafeGuards Training for Children and Adult Services. Recently they’ve offered training to organizations such as Toronto Metropolitan University, Gerstein Centre, PTP, Taibu and 2Spirited People of the 1st Nations, to name a few.  To view published work, check out GUTS and Chasing Rainbows: Exploring Gender Fluid Parenting Practices. 

Training Fee 

Group Registration: Save 20% off individual fee with group registration of 4 or more participants. Download the group registration form HERE. 

Continuing Education Information  

Licensing boards and professional organizations will grant Continuing Education credits for attendance at their discretion when participants submit the course outline and certificate.  

In-Service  

This is available as an in-person or virtual in-service training and customized to suit your needs. 

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