Happy Pride Month!

As an agency that works with children, youth and families, we know how important is to celebrate the accomplishments of the LGBTQ+ community and celebrate PRIDE month. As part of our DEI ongoing DEI journey, we’ve been able to make strides to promote equity for LGBTQ+ staff and families. 

With the help of stakeholders, community partners, and staff feedback, we have been able to update agency and program paperwork to be more inclusive of gender identity and expression, including preferred pronouns for clients and staff. Normalizing small changes like these help us ensure that children and families feel heard and respected by the teams they are working with.

Additionally, case managers and clinical teams at Kaleidoscope were able to attend a two day training on how to better support youth on their caseload that may identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. As part of our ongoing effort to promote equity, Kaleidoscope is engaging training opportunities for staff to be more knowledgeable about the communities they work with.

These new efforts are but a small piece of our Equity journey and approach to supporting LGBTQ+ youth and families. In addition to licensing same sex foster parents and working with LGBTQ+ resources in the community, our staff serve as allies and advocates for LGBTQ youth and families year round.

Learn more about Illinois’ DCFS services to LGBTQ+ youth here.