Service Accessibility for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Youth

Abstract

Although Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and/or Questioning (LGBTQ) youth experience alarming rates of behavioral and social problems, service use among these youth is disproportionately low. It is likely that decreased service accessibility plays a causal role in service underutilization among LGBTQ youth. To expand the existing research on service accessibility issues in this population, a modified Delphi approach was used to gather expert consensus opinion from experienced youth service providers. Data revealed four broad levels of service accessibility barriers (i.e., societal, provider-related, youth-related, and resource-related) and five categories of strategies to increase service accessibility for LGBTQ youth (provider-focused, society-focused, youth-focused, school-focused, and resource-focused). Implications of current findings for future research into service access issues among LGBTQ youth are discussed, as are applications of current findings for the creation of service structures that facilitate service access among these youth.