A Michigan group received federal funds for a “family therapy” program that instructs parents to affirm their child’s gender confusion — and enlists public school districts in the effort.
A nearly $1.3 million federal grant awarded in early 2024 to Arbor Circle, a resource center that offers counseling and support for youth 10-18 who identify as LGBTQ, states that Kent County and Ottawa County school districts will partner with the organization to promote its Supportive Assistance for Families and LGBTQI+ Youth (SAFLY) program.
Arbor Circle’s SAFLY program provides LGBTQ-identifying youth and their families with “counseling and support programs that aim to reduce rejection and behavioral health risks,” according to the grant description.
“This project will also bring together systems and community organizations that engage with youth/families to support increased acceptance and understanding, training on successful interventions and awareness of available services,” the description states.
School districts committed to supporting the program by helping Arbor Circle identify its “target population” and providing “referrals” to SAFLY during the three-year grant period, as well as by participating in an advisory work group, engagement letters obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation reveal.
“The challenges faced by youth who identify as LGBTQI+ and their families in the larger Ottawa County community have continue to grow in scope and visibility,” Ottawa Area Intermediate School District (ISD) Regional School Health and Equity Consultant Stacey Sills wrote in a letter. “Families of LGBTQI+ identifying youth need a more comprehensive array of support, paired with a stronger community voice for these youth to ensure services continue to be flexible and inclusive.”
Kirsten Myers, assistant superintendent of Student Services for the Kent Intermediate School District signed onto an identical letter of commitment to collaborate on SAFLY.
Arbor Circle’s family counseling uses the Affirm model, Arbor Circle President Kristin Gietzen told the DCNF.
One of the interventions included in the model, Affirm Caregiver, is designed to foster “affirmative parenting practices among caregivers of LGBTQ+ youth,” according to the developer’s website.
“We provide information about these services to community-based organizations and entities – any place where a family may be seeking information and resources – including schools,” Gietzen said.
Affirmative Research, the group that developed the Affirm model, has partnered with the child welfare system in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, which earlier piloted a program that infuses gender ideology into the foster care system using federal grant funds awarded at the end of the Obama administration. Social workers in Cuyahoga County helped inform the Biden administration’s foster care rule requiring children who identify as LGBT to be placed in affirming homes, the DCNF previously reported.
Affirmative Research also collaborates with the Center of Excellence for LGBTQ+ Behavioral Health Equity, which is funded through the NIH’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Recruitment Efforts
A Kent ISD spokesperson told the DCNF the district has not been “actively engaged in the items listed or other work related to the grant and program” since signing its letter of support.
“Our district provided a letter of support in June 2023 for Arbor Circle’s grant application,” an Ottawa Area ISD spokesperson likewise told the DCNF. “At this time, we have not received details from the organization regarding next steps, including how students will be identified or what role our district might play.”
Communications obtained by the DCNF suggest referrals to the SAFLY program will be built through Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs, as well as McKinney-Vento representatives, who work with homeless students.
Sills and other Ottawa Area ISD representatives received an update in October from a representative from Out On The Lakeshore (OOTL), an LGBTQ+ community center working with Arbor Circle.
OOTL and Arbor Circle intend to develop a resource webpage supplying information about the SAFLY program and a safe shelter for youth “at risk of running away” to distribute to GSA clubs and McKinney-Vento representatives, OOTL Executive Director Jennifer Evans wrote.
“This is exciting stuff, and we can’t wait to collaborate with you!” an Ottawa ISD representative replied to Evans on Oct. 16, inviting OOTL and Arbor Circle to a meeting in January.
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