Taskforce - Breaking News 2/3/26
Important - Faye got herself the dang Flu this week. Work will be a bit slower kicking off, but if you don't hear back from her, she's likely resting.
Current Events
Current Goals
Current Events
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Current Goals
ABout
Mission |
Giving at least ONE protective factor to every LGBTQ+ youth in North Dakota.
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Summary |
The LGBTQ+ Safety Taskforce is a collection of 47 core volunteers who each work within their legislative district. They are tasks with connecting to community leaders, creating support structures, sharing data, and creating resources.
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VAlues |
The Taskforce operates from a model of harm reduction and the belief that every North Dakotan, regardless of their culture, faith, or political background, wants our kids to grow up happy.
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The Task Force
Overview
The LGBTQ+ Safety Taskforce is an effort to empower people across North Dakota to create avenues of safety, support, help, and hope to LGBTQ+ youth by developing core volunteers within each legislative district. The work is split between legislative districts for the purposes of having a clear and logical division of labor and geography, which also corresponds to the state's political structure. While this effort is not political in nature, our politicians do pass laws that can hurt or help these youth.
How Core Volunteers Work
Each district would have a core volunteer who lives or works within their actual district. They would be tasks with making connections to state politicians, school boards, superintendents, faith leaders, and other people of influence within the district to inform them on LGBTQ+ youth stories, outcomes, and data. They would also be encouraged to create or find at least one LGBTQ youth support group and be a point of contact for individuals looking for resources in their district. The relationship building can also extend to PTAs, healthcare clinics, and any other organization that may interact with youth, with the goal of sharing information and resources.
The core volunteer does not need to do everything themselves, but can be expected to find people to talk to politicians, lead support groups, or otherwise increase protective factors for LGBTQ+ Youth. There may be multiple core volunteers per district and many opportunities for less informal involvement. There is also an opportunity for individuals to volunteer as official liaisons to the professional groups across the state.
Multi Disciplinary and Balanced Approach
Each core volunteer will be equipped with the tools, training, and support to be successful. There will not be assignments or group meetings or committees; each volunteer will be expected to go at the pace that makes sense for them and be autonomous in their work.
While this taskforce is dedicated to increasing protective factors for LGBTQ+ youth, each interaction will be an opportunity to educate stakeholders on suicidality, substance use, homelessness, trafficking, and other risk factors that all youth experience, and we want to mitigate.
Work Focused
The driving principle of the taskforce is accomplishing tasks. Doing things. Moving the world forward one step at a time, no matter how small that step.
The work will also be evolving, flexible, and interactive. A core volunteer may encounter a problem and ask for help in creating a new resource. They may have a project they'd like to launch, where they'll need support. The second part of this effort will be creating work groups around solving particular issues that form around the problem, identify solutions, create resources, and then dissolve.
How Core Volunteers Work
Each district would have a core volunteer who lives or works within their actual district. They would be tasks with making connections to state politicians, school boards, superintendents, faith leaders, and other people of influence within the district to inform them on LGBTQ+ youth stories, outcomes, and data. They would also be encouraged to create or find at least one LGBTQ youth support group and be a point of contact for individuals looking for resources in their district. The relationship building can also extend to PTAs, healthcare clinics, and any other organization that may interact with youth, with the goal of sharing information and resources.
The core volunteer does not need to do everything themselves, but can be expected to find people to talk to politicians, lead support groups, or otherwise increase protective factors for LGBTQ+ Youth. There may be multiple core volunteers per district and many opportunities for less informal involvement. There is also an opportunity for individuals to volunteer as official liaisons to the professional groups across the state.
Multi Disciplinary and Balanced Approach
Each core volunteer will be equipped with the tools, training, and support to be successful. There will not be assignments or group meetings or committees; each volunteer will be expected to go at the pace that makes sense for them and be autonomous in their work.
While this taskforce is dedicated to increasing protective factors for LGBTQ+ youth, each interaction will be an opportunity to educate stakeholders on suicidality, substance use, homelessness, trafficking, and other risk factors that all youth experience, and we want to mitigate.
Work Focused
The driving principle of the taskforce is accomplishing tasks. Doing things. Moving the world forward one step at a time, no matter how small that step.
The work will also be evolving, flexible, and interactive. A core volunteer may encounter a problem and ask for help in creating a new resource. They may have a project they'd like to launch, where they'll need support. The second part of this effort will be creating work groups around solving particular issues that form around the problem, identify solutions, create resources, and then dissolve.
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This is ultimately a work in progress. Ideas, directions, and goals may change as the year progresses.
Contact Questions? Email me at [email protected] |
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The center - harm reduction
The LGBTQ+ Safety Taskforce is about increasing safety and protective factors for LGBTQ+ youth by leveraging existing resources and creating opportunities for support. There is no one answer to the different communities across the state, the families being impacting, or the needs of our youth. Each issue is something to creatively problem solve a solution and hopefully pave a path for the next person while doing so. Below is examples of problem solving.
Examples
No LGBTQ+ support group exists within a school, it doesn't feel safe to start one.
Can an external group be created, possibly at someone's house or a local coffee shop? Can an online group be created? Can the youth be connected to a group that's regionally closer by zoom? Can you find an Anime club or other activity group for the youth in the meantime?
Our schools policy states we must out any trans youth, what can we do to keep them safe?
Can a social worker be present to monitor and prevent physical abuse? Can there be safety plans to check in with the youth every week? If negative experiences have arisen due to policy, can advocacy inform school education leaders and politicians? Can there be professional flowcharts to be developed and followed for a multitude of professionals?
My child is getting bullied at school and they aren't doing anything about it.
What local community leaders can be tapped to have more productive conversations? Are you comfortable talking to reporters, even in an anonymous capacity to report on the experience? Are there alternative ways to keep the youth safe or online school as an option? Is the youth connect to support structures? Do they have access to therapy?
Can an external group be created, possibly at someone's house or a local coffee shop? Can an online group be created? Can the youth be connected to a group that's regionally closer by zoom? Can you find an Anime club or other activity group for the youth in the meantime?
Our schools policy states we must out any trans youth, what can we do to keep them safe?
Can a social worker be present to monitor and prevent physical abuse? Can there be safety plans to check in with the youth every week? If negative experiences have arisen due to policy, can advocacy inform school education leaders and politicians? Can there be professional flowcharts to be developed and followed for a multitude of professionals?
My child is getting bullied at school and they aren't doing anything about it.
What local community leaders can be tapped to have more productive conversations? Are you comfortable talking to reporters, even in an anonymous capacity to report on the experience? Are there alternative ways to keep the youth safe or online school as an option? Is the youth connect to support structures? Do they have access to therapy?
The Why
LGBTQ+ youth are at enormous risk every day, and there is no statewide intervention to reduce the specific risk factors they experience. Far from that, state law mandates many policies that lead to increased harm for trans youth in particular and increased minoritized stress for LGBTQ+ youth as a whole. Recent federal policies have further strained any help, support, or hope for many of these youth. North Dakota no longer even collects data on their experiences, denies medically necessary care, discourages any state-sponsored help, and encourages environments of silence and shame for youth who struggle with gender dysphoria.
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Self Harm and Suicide in High School - YRBS 2023
Suicide is complex and multifactorial. Yet, we understand how risk factors pile up to create the increased likelihood of suicide. LGBTQ+ Youth are more likely to experience trauma, bullying, and abuse, while being less likely to have adults they identify as safe, and much less likely to ask for or get help for the problems they have. Research also suggests one protective factor can dramatically reduce suicidality even if they have a host of risk factors or adverse childhood experiences. The goal of this taskforce is to increase protective factors and therefor reduce suicide and suicide ideation in this state.
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The How
The LGBTQ+ Taskforce is not designed to do any particular thing, but to be a compass towards a host of goals that align with the idea of increasing protective factor for LGBTQ+ youth across the state, split up by core volunteers in each legislative district.
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Building Stories
Increase the voice of LGBTQ+ youth and their families by having more journalistic stories, presence in media, and relationship building with representatives. |
Sharing Resources
Ensure each professional and family is equipped with the most current resources for help and support. Develop resources where none exist to create solutions to unaddressed problems today. |
Creating Support
Develop support networks for families and LGBTQ+ youth to create support. Parent to parent support groups, youth groups, and any avenue to increase social connection and belonging. |
Holistic Approach
Each connection that core volunteers create during this effort is a connection that can be leveraged to talk about suicide prevention in general, bullying, substance use, and a host of other issues that our youth experience. As suicide is complex and multifactorial, the approach in reduce it by necessity must be an approach to increase support, education, and communication within systems.
Each connection that core volunteers create during this effort is a connection that can be leveraged to talk about suicide prevention in general, bullying, substance use, and a host of other issues that our youth experience. As suicide is complex and multifactorial, the approach in reduce it by necessity must be an approach to increase support, education, and communication within systems.
The Timeline
The Taskforce is a very flexible project, where each core volunteer/legislative district will operate on their own timeline for events. However, there are some key goals the general LGBTQ+ Safety Taskforce is going to try to accomplish. This relates to developing the appropriate connections and resources to make sure each core volunteer can be successful. Also, to help organize each volunteer in ways that are meaningful and productive for the goal of reducing suicidality across our state.
The phrases described below cover a loose framework that will guide the LGBTQ+ Safety Taskforce. While most phases will have a particular focus on education, community, politics, or healthcare, those phases are not intended to isolate these considerations to just those units of time. Rather, a special and more intense focus will be put on these subjects to develop out fundamental resources and relationships that can be self-sustaining long after the phase.
Phase One - Feb 2026 to August 2026
The first six months of the Taskforce will be about locating core volunteers in each legislative district. Once a core volunteer registers, they'll be given an introduction email and then asked to set up an introduction session to go over interests and expectations. They will be expected to be self-autonomous after that, with as much guidance as they need, while they work to increase hope. After the first two weeks, the LGBTQ+ Safety Taskforce will have a more formal understanding of where volunteers are existing within the state. We'll create a district map to highlight missing areas and lean on both general and core volunteers to help fill in the gaps.
Phase Two - Sept 2026 to December 2026
The second phase will lean heavily into K12 youth support, aligning itself with the school year. Much more emphasis will be put into school serving organizations, PTAs, GSAs, School Boards, and so on. Across these months the focus will be sharing, developing, or redeveloping resources that specifically help youth in schools will be a priority.
Phase Three - Jan 2027 to May 2027
The third phase will connect to the legislative session and focus on connecting with lawmakers. While this work will be encouraged across the project, given that the 2027 legislative session is happening, lots of encouragement to engage networks and share stories with lawmakers will be leaned on. The LGBTQ+ Safety Taskforce is not a non-profit and can be as partisan as it would like. However, by choice, the effort Faye leads is non-partisan. The LGBTQ+ Safety Taskforce does not support any particular party but works with everyone to create change and supports any lawmaker who shares our vision. Individual volunteers are welcome to be as partisan as they like, as they're autonomous in their work.
Phase Four - Jun 2027 to August 2027
The fourth phase will lean heavily into community support structures, happening across our pride season. This will be a time to reevaluate all the resources and support groups that exist across the state. It will be inviting partners to host their own pride related events, even smaller ones for local communities. And, in general, attempt to improve social connection and belonging across the state.
Phase Five - August 2027 to Dec 2027
This final phase will focus entirely on healthcare access and structures. It will be an assessment of healthcare community partners, access to care, and community health needs.
Sustainability Check 2028
The LGBTQ+ Safety Taskforce serves as an experiment to see how much change a motivated community can make without a formal organization or funding. There is a two-year plan in place for achieving this vision and seeing if people rise to meet the needs of today. I will spend the beginning part of the year writing up a project of everything explored and learned during this time, in hopes it is useful to other states.
The phrases described below cover a loose framework that will guide the LGBTQ+ Safety Taskforce. While most phases will have a particular focus on education, community, politics, or healthcare, those phases are not intended to isolate these considerations to just those units of time. Rather, a special and more intense focus will be put on these subjects to develop out fundamental resources and relationships that can be self-sustaining long after the phase.
Phase One - Feb 2026 to August 2026
The first six months of the Taskforce will be about locating core volunteers in each legislative district. Once a core volunteer registers, they'll be given an introduction email and then asked to set up an introduction session to go over interests and expectations. They will be expected to be self-autonomous after that, with as much guidance as they need, while they work to increase hope. After the first two weeks, the LGBTQ+ Safety Taskforce will have a more formal understanding of where volunteers are existing within the state. We'll create a district map to highlight missing areas and lean on both general and core volunteers to help fill in the gaps.
Phase Two - Sept 2026 to December 2026
The second phase will lean heavily into K12 youth support, aligning itself with the school year. Much more emphasis will be put into school serving organizations, PTAs, GSAs, School Boards, and so on. Across these months the focus will be sharing, developing, or redeveloping resources that specifically help youth in schools will be a priority.
Phase Three - Jan 2027 to May 2027
The third phase will connect to the legislative session and focus on connecting with lawmakers. While this work will be encouraged across the project, given that the 2027 legislative session is happening, lots of encouragement to engage networks and share stories with lawmakers will be leaned on. The LGBTQ+ Safety Taskforce is not a non-profit and can be as partisan as it would like. However, by choice, the effort Faye leads is non-partisan. The LGBTQ+ Safety Taskforce does not support any particular party but works with everyone to create change and supports any lawmaker who shares our vision. Individual volunteers are welcome to be as partisan as they like, as they're autonomous in their work.
Phase Four - Jun 2027 to August 2027
The fourth phase will lean heavily into community support structures, happening across our pride season. This will be a time to reevaluate all the resources and support groups that exist across the state. It will be inviting partners to host their own pride related events, even smaller ones for local communities. And, in general, attempt to improve social connection and belonging across the state.
Phase Five - August 2027 to Dec 2027
This final phase will focus entirely on healthcare access and structures. It will be an assessment of healthcare community partners, access to care, and community health needs.
Sustainability Check 2028
The LGBTQ+ Safety Taskforce serves as an experiment to see how much change a motivated community can make without a formal organization or funding. There is a two-year plan in place for achieving this vision and seeing if people rise to meet the needs of today. I will spend the beginning part of the year writing up a project of everything explored and learned during this time, in hopes it is useful to other states.
Key ResourcesData
Resources |
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promoting Aligned work
The reality is most doors are closed for helping LGBTQ+ youth. As the LGBTQ+ Safety Taskwork organizes and advocates around the state, we will also connect stakeholders to the very important efforts of general suicide prevention, preventing child abuse, or reducing youth homelessness. We believe all youth deserve help and support and if we start from LGBTQ+ youth, it is more likely to hit all the youth who need it. Those listed below are not strictly partners in the LGBTQ+ Safety Taskforce, but work we recommend for the value of what they do.
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K12 Suicide Prevention + other resourcesND Hopes and ND Thrive, through the University of North Dakota and NORC have developed the STARS Program for North Dakota schools that deal with preventing substance use and suicide prevention. They have a tiered training model and can be useful for any school looking to equip professionals with key insight, tools, and understanding to help youth. In addition to STARS training, below includes "Parent's Lead" which is a phenomenal resources for parents in general. We also include B-HERO which provides a litany of useful printouts and guides for school staff on bullying, suicide prevention, substance health, and more.
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Youth trafficking/Abuse PreventionNorth Dakota HOPE Project is a collection of several state partners that all work on preventing child sexual abuse, trafficking, and homelessness. They hose a series of free webinars and each organization under the umbrella does untold work all across the state. Signed on partners include: 31:8 Project, Central Dakota Forensic Nurse Examiners, Children's Advocacy Centers of North Dakota, North Dakota Domestic and Sexual Violence Coalition, First nations Women's Alliance, Families Flourish ND, and Youthworks. The button links below are not fully inclusive of the services in our state. Each organization listed likely has a full spectrum of programing and training, but below serve as examples into the work and services.
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Basic Q&A
Is this a Non-Profit? How would you define this structure?
The LGBTQ+ Taskforce is not a non-profit nor an organization of any kind. Very intentionally, it is an effort made by volunteers who want to see change in their community, and each individual leads the change they'd like to see. The structure here is a framework to help empower individuals to increase protective factors for LGBTQ+ youth across the state. There is no monthly meeting, no committee, or formal structure beyond basic networking, communication, and resource sharing.
My religion or culture defines LGBTQ+ identity as wrong, can we still work together?
The LGBTQ+ Safety Taskforce is about harm reduction. We understand that in North Dakota, there are many people with various holdups and beliefs about the LGBTQ+ community. This effort is not concerned with fighting people to change their minds. It's concerned with finding common ground. Such as the belief that all kids should be able to eat. That's a protective factor. Getting youth to therapy is a protective factor. Getting a kid into theater is a protective factor. Making sure this kid isn't bullied at school is a protective factor.
If individuals are interested in trying to learn more about LGBTQ+ identity, trans identity, or even inclusive faith practices, we can also help. But it would all be opt-in.
The LGBTQ+ Taskforce is not a non-profit nor an organization of any kind. Very intentionally, it is an effort made by volunteers who want to see change in their community, and each individual leads the change they'd like to see. The structure here is a framework to help empower individuals to increase protective factors for LGBTQ+ youth across the state. There is no monthly meeting, no committee, or formal structure beyond basic networking, communication, and resource sharing.
My religion or culture defines LGBTQ+ identity as wrong, can we still work together?
The LGBTQ+ Safety Taskforce is about harm reduction. We understand that in North Dakota, there are many people with various holdups and beliefs about the LGBTQ+ community. This effort is not concerned with fighting people to change their minds. It's concerned with finding common ground. Such as the belief that all kids should be able to eat. That's a protective factor. Getting youth to therapy is a protective factor. Getting a kid into theater is a protective factor. Making sure this kid isn't bullied at school is a protective factor.
If individuals are interested in trying to learn more about LGBTQ+ identity, trans identity, or even inclusive faith practices, we can also help. But it would all be opt-in.
