The Maine Health Access Foundation has funded a two-year project to improve the health and behavioral care provided to Maine’s transgender youth. In partnership with the Maine chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), OUT Maine will build resources designed specifically for health and mental health providers and provide trainings to improve the care provided to transgender youth. 

During the first year of the pandemic, OUT Maine convened a transgender youth health action team, also with support from the Maine Health Access Foundation. The trans youth, aged 16-25, identified key gaps in services and resources that would help providers, youth and families to provide and obtain better support. To help hone the effort, Maine AAP conducted a survey of medical providers last spring. The responding practitioners endorsed the list of recommended resources and set the stage for this two-year project. An educational campaign is a key component of the project, and will include a video and podcast of transgender youth experiences and recommended ways to improve health and mental health services. 

“We are very excited about this partnership and the potential impact of the work on Maine’s services for our transgender youth,” said Jeanne Dooley, MSW, executive director of OUT Maine, in a news release. “The project will be led by Aiden Campbell, MSW, whose own experience with transitioning in Maine brings invaluable expertise to this initiative.”

OUT Maine has an ambitious goal: to create more welcoming and affirming communities for Maine’s diverse queer youth in all of their intersectional identities by changing the very systems that serve them. For more information, please visit www.outmaine.org.