Resilience among LGBTQIA+ youth in out-of-home care.: A multidimensional exploration of their resilience resources

LGBTQIA+ youth are overrepresented in out-of-home care. They face a double burden; are exposed to stressors related to their LGBTQIA+ identity, but also confront the challenges of being removed from their families and placed in the care of the state. Traditionally, research has focused on exploring the often negative experiences that these youth go through within the out-of-home care system, neglecting the study of their resilience. In his dissertation, Rodrigo Gonzalez sought to fill this knowledge gap by investigating the main factors contributing to the resilience among LGBTQIA+ youth in out-of-home care. Resilience was approached from a multidimensional perspective, including individual, socio-relational, and community-systemic resilience resources. A first study mapped the current international knowledge on resilience among LGBTQIA+ youth in out-of-home care. The results revealed important knowledge gaps, such as the lack of studies on this topic outside the US. In a series of following studies, Rodrigo analyzed the resilience of LGBTQIA+ youth in out-of-home care in the Netherlands using data from in-depth interviews with youth and their care professionals. The studies showed the myriad of resilience resources at different levels: the individual (e.g, self relying strategies such as fighting, resisting and scaping), socio-relational (e.g, relationships of care and love), and community-systemic (e.g, care agencies’ LGBTQIA+ affirming practices and policies). The practice field can make use of these results to promote the resilience of LGBTQIA+ youth in out-of-home care by implementing LGBTQIA+ affirmative interventions s and policies.