Youth Transcare & Support in The Hague: A Community-Led Research and Action (CLRA) project, together with Naomi van Stapele and Mi Jung van der Velde

The Municipality of The Hague endorses the importance of inclusive care and support for transgender youth. These young people face unique challenges in their development, self-acceptance, and social acceptance, especially when it comes to issues surrounding gender diversity and the possible process of gender-affirming medical interventions. Access to and quality of the necessary care and support play a crucial role in their well-being. This research aims to map out the barriers and opportunities that transgender youth experience in their quest for adequate care and support. By investigating these experiences, this research aims to contribute to improving care practices and the support network for these youth in The Hague.

At the same time, this proposal acknowledges the essential role that caregivers and other supporters play in the lives of transgender youth. Therefore, the research will also explore the challenges and opportunities professionals encounter in their work with transgender youth. This includes an evaluation of their level of knowledge, the availability of specific training on gender diversity, and institutional support or obstacles that affect their ability to provide effective, inclusive, and empathetic care. By integrating both perspectives, this research proposal aims to provide a holistic view of the current state of care and support for transgender youth in The Hague, with the ultimate goal of recommending concrete steps for improvement at both the individual and systemic levels.

I am responsible for guiding and facilitating the Community-led research and action (CLRA) proces, which is a transformative research method. In this approach, individuals who can provide in-depth insights through their own lived experiences conduct action research themselves. The aim is to address a specific problem that directly affects them. In this context, 'community' refers to a group of people who share a common experience, which becomes the subject of the research. In the context of this proposal, the community researchers are transgender youth. This method is based on the belief that transgender youth best understand their own needs and challenges and should therefore be actively involved in designing and conducting research as well as the subsequent actions. The CLRA method also encourages broader participation of these youth as they themselves are the researchers, formulating their own goals, collecting data, conducting analyses, drawing conclusions, and making recommendations for the Municipality of The Hague, all under the guidance of trained researchers.