Precarious Partnerships: Designing a Community Needs Assessment to Develop a System of Care for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning (GLBTQ) Youths

This article describes the planning and implementation of a mixed-method community needs assessment with the intent of cre­ ating a system of care for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (GLBTQ) youths in an urban area. Flowing from qualitative to quantitative research strategies, this needs assess­ ment utilized key informant interviews, focus groups, and survey research in a countywide initiative. Rather than outline each set of findings, this article provides a brief description of the four phases of research activities and the action steps that were completed during each phase. Community context for the needs assessment is described in detail and a final system of care is proposed. Notable barriers and challenges associated with the community needs assessment are also articulated.