From January 2022 through March 2023, YELP partnered with the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) to advocate for better conditions for transgender and non-binary youth placed in residential treatment centers (RTCs). Our overall goal was to center the voices and perspectives of a population that has been largely ignored, and to better understand a cross-section of experiences within these facilities. To that end, YELP clinic student teams, spanning three academic quarters (Winter 2022; Spring 2022; and Winter 2023) conducted interviews with young people who generously shared their stories, as well as with service providers and advocates who work with youth in RTC settings.

Through these interviews we learned that trans and nonbinary youth frequently experienced discrimination (e.g., misgendering, lack of appropriate residential and bathroom facilities) and outright harassment. We also learned, however, that some RTCs have developed best practices for serving trans and nonbinary youth. Furthermore, we developed several legal strategies that could be considered in advocating for equal and fair treatment of trans and nonbinary youth in residential treatment centers. That work was captured in a confidential report we provided to NCLR.

The project’s capstone came in February 2023, when the YELP and NCLR team traveled to Washington, DC and met with Assistant Secretary of Education and head of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Catherine Lhamon in the U.S. Department of Education. The purpose of the meeting was to determine how OCR could, under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act or Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, enforce the rights of trans and nonbinary youth served by residential treatment centers. A summary of the team’s findings and proposals, captured in a two-page report, was presented to Secretary Lhamon. We believe the meeting was constructive, thought-provoking, and may one day lead to substantive policy changes.

Student Team: Jessica Wright (Social Work Intern), Allison Aaronson (JD ’23), Luke Churchill (JD ’23), Matt Cullen (JD ’23), Maya Frost-Belansky (JD ’24), Elora Henderson (JD ’23), Julia Irwin (JD ’23), Jesse Lazarus (JD ’22), Alistair Murray (JD ’23), Amy Ren (JD ’22), Emily Vaughan (JD ’24), Justin Williams (JD ’23)