Faith In America CRISIS In Schools Initiative

Project Goal:

The Faith In America CRISIS In Schools Initiative is a public education and awareness program to increase the knowledge of youth, educators and family service professionals on the issues facing gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth and build a network of safe and supportive adults for LGBT youth.

Project Description:

In collaboration with the national organizations of GLSEN, PFLAG and The Trevor Project and in partnership with local and state agencies that support LGBT youth, Faith in America will distribute informational packets which include the book CRISIS, a collection of 40 stories about growing up gay in America, a discussion activity with corresponding parent/educator guide, an informational resource bookmark and a youth support hotline card to increase the knowledge, skills and awareness of youth, educators and family service professionals in seven states – Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Indiana, Colorado, and Texas. As a result Faith In America will increase accessibility for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth to the resources necessary to promote healthy adolescent development, and provide adults with a resources to use when addressing the personal, social and religious pain and trauma that LGBT youth experience in school and in the community.

The CRISIS In Schools program is a continuation of efforts by a number of national and state LGBT organizations to promote CRISIS as a resource by which the public can better understand the harm caused to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals by a societal climate of violence, discrimination, rejection and condemnation. GLSEN. PFLAG, GLAAD, NGLTF, HRC and a number of individual state chapters within the Equality Federation have and are working to promote the book as such a resource.

CRISIS will reveal to educators and school social work personnel the personal, social and religious pain and trauma experienced by LGBT youth and the extent to which it affects their lives. Educators who were previously unaware of the scope of the problem will want to be part of the solution for the students within their guardianship. The adjoining lesson materials from ROSMY and GLSEN gives educators a means to create within their schools discussions which will serve to lessen the adversity and hostility faced by LGBT youth.

CRISIS will serve the LGBT student by offering them hope and encouragement through the positive role modeling of individuals who once experienced the same pain and trauma that the student may be experiencing.

The CRISIS in Schools Initiative will be launched in Virginia in early fall 2009 with a three-day kick-off tour across Virginia in which the book’s editor Mitchell Gold will speak to regional groups of youth and family service providers. Identified recipients of the packet in Virginia will be invited to attend to receive their packet and a book autographed by the author. Identified recipients who are unable to attend the event will receive the packets hand-delivered by project sponsors, partner agencies, or other local supporters whenever possible. The remainder of the identified recipients will have the packet mailed to them beginning with school principals and working through all other service sectors. The Virginia Initiative will be launched in partnership with Richmond Organization for Sexual Minority Youth (ROSMY).

Packet recipients will receive a follow-up phone survey to determine the usefulness of the materials and to offer additional training, support and youth services that are provided by project collaborators. Surveys will determine if recipients have: read materials; shared materials with others; led the discussion activity with students; distributed youth support hotline cards; posted the information bookmark on their door to indicate they are a “safe” adult; accessed additional materials from partner organizations.

The Initiative will continue in a similar manner in each of the other states identifying state and local partners, hosting public events to kick off the statewide initiative, providing packets with personal delivery wherever possible, and following up with phone surveys that further develop relationships with packet recipients and evaluate the impact of the project.

The CRISIS In Schools Initiative will provide one CRISIS packet to the following:

Total: 7,224 Youth, Educators and Family Service Providers

Each of the 7,224 packets will include:

Total Project Expenses: $27.50/Packet $198,660