Creating Safe and Supportive High Schools for LGBTQ Students: A Series of Community Readiness Assessments with Five Milwaukee Public Schools

For several years, data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) in Wisconsin and Milwaukee have shown significant disparities between sexual minority youth and their heterosexual counterparts on a number of health outcomes. Sexual minority youth are consistently more likely to report negative behaviors and experiences related to ATOD use, depression and suicide, violence and victimization, and school safety. Data collected as part of a yearly Safe & Supportive Schools (S3) survey between 2011 and 2014 further emphasize these disparities in individual high schools in the city of Milwaukee. In collaboration with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and Milwaukee Public Schools, Diverse & Resilient conducted a Community Readiness Assessment with five high-risk public high schools in Milwaukee about the topic of LGBTQ student safety and support. For each school community, the assessment was used to identify their level of readiness to address the issues of safety and support for their LGBTQ students. The assessment entailed a series of structured interviews with diverse members of the school community, including administrators, support staff, teachers, parents, students, and individuals from allied organizations. Interviews examined a variety of factors, including existing efforts to address the issue, community knowledge of these efforts, leadership and community climate around the issue, community knowledge about the topic, and available resources to address the issue. Based on the results of a quantitative scoring process and thematic analysis for qualitative themes, Diverse & Resilient worked with key school staff to develop intervention strategies appropriate for each individual school community.