Taking responsibility and creative workarounds: LGBTQ+ affirmative practice in child welfare

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) youth are overrepresented in child welfare and report identity-based harm within systems of care. LGBTQ+ affirmative practice may mitigate these risks, yet little is known about how child welfare professionals operationalize affirmation in routine practice. This study explored how child welfare professionals conceptualize and implement LGBTQ+ -affirming practice and the organizational and systemic factors that shape its implementation. Using constructivist grounded theory, we conducted five focus groups and three interviews with child welfare professionals (N = 43) employed at Ontario Children’s Aid Societies. Participants represented diverse roles and substantial sector experience. Data were analyzed using open and axial coding with constant comparison, supported by analyst triangulation, member checking, and review by sector and lived-experience experts. The core theme, taking responsibility, was central to affirmative practice in child welfare systems. Five interconnected themes described how responsibility was enacted: communicating and cueing affirmation, capturing identities, generating creative workarounds, leveraging leadership, and partnering and resourcing. The resulting framework offers actionable targets for policy, supervision, training, and partnerships to move from ad hoc efforts toward systematized, agency-wide affirmative care.