Busting out of the child welfare closet: lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender-affirming approaches to child welfare.

This special issue of Child Welfare emerged from a series of conversations with child welfare colleagues who partici pated in the work conducted by CWLA and the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund as they developed a unique partnership entitled. Fostering Transitions: CWLA/Lambda Legal Joint Initiative To Support LGBTQ Youth and Adults Involved with the Child Welfare System. A special issue about this topic never has been published before, and many wondered why so little concern has been expressed about the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) persons affected by child welfare in national, state, and local policies; child welfare agency practices; and professional publications. For the most part, with few exceptions, the situations that gay and lesbian children, youth, and families endure are representative examples of child welfare in its most challenged state. The very existence of this population is generally unacknowledged publicly by