“Every
young person in foster care deserves, and is entitled to, medically
necessary health care. The harms caused by the denial or delay of
medically necessary care are particularly acute for transgender and
gender non-conforming children and youth, who often encounter barriers
to receiving the care they need to ensure their health, safety, and
well-being,” said Shannan Wilber, Youth Policy Director at the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
“We applaud Governor Brown for taking this historic step to help these
vulnerable young people thrive and reach their full potential.”
AB
2119 ensures that transgender youth in foster care have timely access
to appropriate, needed care that respects their gender identity and
supports their healthy development. Withholding timely, gender-affirming
treatment for adolescents prolongs and worsens gender dysphoria and can
increase risk of abuse and stigmatization. Failure to treat any medical
condition—including gender dysphoria—subjects foster youth to risk of
significant harm and violates the child welfare agency’s obligation to
protect their safety and promote their well-being.
Many
individuals shared their stories with NCLR as part of this process,
including former foster youth and transgender man *Ian. Ian was a month
old when he entered the foster care system, and he was 16 years old when
he tried to access gender-affirming healthcare while living in a
California group home. Ian’s group home was unsupportive and refused to
connect him to the care he needed. Eventually, Ian was able to find
support from a local LGBT center who helped connect him to care. Ian was
depressed when he wasn’t able to access gender-affirming care because
he felt he was being denied who he was. He felt lost and
misunderstood—feelings that were alleviated when he was finally able to
the healthcare he needed.
“California
has a special obligation to ensure that youth in foster care receive
the medical care that they need, since the state stands in loco parentis to these youth,” said Alexander Chen, Equal Justice Works Fellow at the National Center for Lesbian Rights,
who testified regarding AB 2119 before the California Senate Judiciary
Committee on June 26, 2018. “AB 2119 helps to ensure that California
lives up to that obligation for transgender and gender non-conforming
foster youth.”
In
addition, this new law requires the California Department of Social
Services and the Department of Health Care Services to develop
guidelines on how to identify, coordinate, and support transgender youth
who wish to access gender-affirming healthcare, which must be issued by
the Department by January 1, 2020.
AB
2119 was sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union of California,
Equality California, the Los Angeles LGBT Center, and the National
Center for Lesbian Rights.
*Pseudonym used to protect the privacy of this individual.