A pressing issue for the child welfare and juvenile justice systems is the treatment of LGBTQ youth in facilities and under the care of the state, particularly transgender youth. Unfortunately, these youth often do not receive affirming, effective care, nor responsible and suitable placements. Thus, while young trans people may experience interpersonal harm, they also face institutional harm perpetuated by police, courts, juvenile correctional facilities, child welfare agencies, and other institutional entities, which repeatedly occurs in what seems to be a coordinated effort to allow violence and stigma to flourish as they fail to protect these youth.

We explore the facets of this issue by focusing on the case study of Jane Doe, a transgender teen whose plight caught the eye of activists and the media. She had been under the custody of the Department of Children and Family (DCF) Services from early childhood and had repeatedly experienced sexual assault while under the care of the state. She also spent time in an adult carceral facility – including in solitary confinement – despite not having been charged with a crime and was briefly psychiatrically hospitalized. Nowhere was she given meaningful support for her gender transition. For years prior to being institutionalized, Jane Doe experienced pervasive, severe physical and sexual abuse from family members on the basis of her transgender identity, had engaged in survival sex, and was coping with the pain of her trauma through illicit drug use. Despite a lawsuit filed on her behalf, it seemed that the only respite Jane had from harmful placements was aging out of DCF care.

Jane Doe's story is tragic and, although extreme in some instances, crystallizes many relevant issues for transgender youth in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. We complement our analysis of this case study with relevant empirical data about LGBTQ youths’ experiences in families, schools, communities, the child welfare system, and the juvenile justice system. Doing so allows us to paint a portrait of the structural issues at play in instances of serious system failure, as with Jane Doe. Consistent with the practical goals of this volume, we discuss ten policy recommendations we see as stemming from this case. Our recommendations are targeted at various levels of intervention, including institutional, interpersonal, and even society-wide.