In the midst of a mental health emergency for children and adolescents, support for LGBTQ youth and families is needed more than ever. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, LGBTQ youth were 4-6 times more likely to attempt suicide compared with non-LGBTQ peers, and separation from services and support has increased isolation and risk. This week's Online Briefing for Community and Faith Partners, hosted by the San Francisco Interfaith Council, welcomes Family Acceptance Project (FAP) Founder and Director
Caitlin Ryan whose presentation will provide information and access to multilingual resources from the FAP at San Francisco State University to help religious leaders
and congregations to decrease risk for LGBTQ young people by increasing family connectedness and support. Twenty years ago, the FAP conducted the first research on LGBTQ youth and families to help racially and religiously diverse families decrease their LGBTQ children’s risk for suicide, substance abuse and homelessness, to strengthen families and to support well-being. The FAP’s evidence-based family support model has enabled scores of diverse parents and families to support their LGBTQ children to prevent serious health risks related to stigma, rejection and discrimination and to increase well-being, grounded in the family’s religious and cultural values. Interfaith Councils, like our own, provide an important resource for helping to strengthen families to decrease rejection and risk rooted in core roles of building understanding and serving our communities.
Agenda:
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY ONLINE BRIEFING MODERATOR
Michael G. Pappas, Executive Director
San Francisco Interfaith Council
WELCOME & READING OF SFIC STATEMENT
Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Chair
San Francisco Interfaith Council and
Senior Minister
First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco
REFLECTIVE MOMENT
Tyler Gregory, Chief Executive Officer
Jewish Community Relations Council
GUEST PRESENTER
Caitlin Ryan, Ph.D., ACSW, Director
Family Acceptance Project at San Francisco State University
RESPONDENT
Robert A. Rees, Ph.D.
Former Visiting Professor and Director of Mormon Studies
Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley
