Date of Award

6-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Social Work

Department

School of Social Work

First Reader/Committee Chair

McAllister, Carolyn

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to gain insight into foster parents’ perceptions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) foster youth through a self-administered survey in an attempt to provide better care for these children. The pool of participants were varied in most areas including age, gender, ethnicity, education levels, and religiosity. However, the majority was heterosexual and had less than 2 years of experience fostering. The results showed no particular demographics, trainings, or level of experience that contribute to more or less acceptance or preparedness. This may be due to response bias, however, it is more likely due to a flawed instrument. The results show that overall attitudes followed a normal bell curve, slightly skewed in favor of more positive attitudes. This is the most important finding of the study, which shows an improvement in foster parents’ overall attitudes compared to prior research. It also showed that more parents feel comfortable fostering LGBT youth, than do not.

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