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The LGBT-Friendly Senior Housing
Metric |
Click Here to go to the Online Housing Guide Home Page
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The LGBT-Friendly Senior Housing Metric, sometimes referred to as “the metric” or “the standard”, is the basis from which the CfA LGBT evaluates a senior housing community’s LGBT cultural competency. The standard focuses on an agency’s policies, procedures, programs, outreach, marketing, and staff training in an effort to bring visibility and explicit attention to the needs of its LGBT residents.
While many senior housing communities believe their staff and culture to be welcoming to all, the lack of overt, or explicit, LGBT symbols and protections will perpetuate a culture of silence and invisibility, indicating real or assumed discrimination to LGBT seniors.
Towards this end, our team leads are trained to work with staff in our partnering housing communities to implement visible and meaningful changes to indicate overt acceptance and affirmation to the LGBT population, or as we like to tell each other, “making the implicit, explicit”.
A minimum score of 80% is required to be included in this housing guide. All community scores are included in their individual features. For more information about participation in our program, please click here, or see below
While many senior housing communities believe their staff and culture to be welcoming to all, the lack of overt, or explicit, LGBT symbols and protections will perpetuate a culture of silence and invisibility, indicating real or assumed discrimination to LGBT seniors.
Towards this end, our team leads are trained to work with staff in our partnering housing communities to implement visible and meaningful changes to indicate overt acceptance and affirmation to the LGBT population, or as we like to tell each other, “making the implicit, explicit”.
A minimum score of 80% is required to be included in this housing guide. All community scores are included in their individual features. For more information about participation in our program, please click here, or see below
CATEGORY |
% OF SCORE |
Section A: Policies: (Employee Equity and Resident Bill of Rights) |
20% |
Does your employment nondiscrimination policy include sexual orientation? |
5% |
Does your employment nondiscrimination policy include gender identity/expression? |
5% |
Does your resident bill of rights include sexual orientation? |
5% |
Does your resident bill of rights include gender identity/expression? |
5% |
Section B: Resident Procedures and Forms |
30% |
Does your senior housing community have a written process in place for how to handle residents making discriminatory comments to one another? |
5% |
Does your senior housing community have a written process in place on how to handle staff making discriminatory comments to residents? |
5% |
What is your community’s policy on transgender residents using preferred pronouns and name of choice? |
5% |
Does your visitation policy explicitly grant equal visitation to LGBT residents and their visitors? |
5% |
Do the intake forms your senior housing community uses provide an option for transgender residents to disclose information on gender identity, preferred pronouns, and name of choice? |
5% |
Do intake forms provide an option for unmarried couples to identify their relationship (i.e. “partner” or “relationship status”)? |
5% |
Section C: Outreach, Marketing, and Programming |
25% |
Does your community/agency engage in outreach to the LGBT community? |
5% |
Do any of your senior housing promotional materials contain images of LGBT individuals? |
5% |
Does your senior housing community offer LGBT-themed programming for your residents? |
10% |
Does your senior housing community post any LGBT flyers, media, or other resources in a public space? |
5% |
Section D: LGBT-Competency Trainings |
25% |
Has your staff received training in the past year on LGBT-specific issues? |
25% |
Are you doing anything to educate your current residents on diversity issues? |
0% |
Total |
100% |
How your community can be included in the next North Texas LGBT-Friendly Senior Housing Guide:
Step 1A staff member at your community will fill out a survey assessing your community’s current practices according to the LGBT-Friendly Senior Housing Metric.
(Note: Your initial score will not impact your community’s ability to fulfill all aspects of the standard.) |
Step 2A team member from the Coalition for Aging LGBT (CfA LGBT) will schedule a site visit to discuss your survey results, tour the community, and develop a plan to bring your community up to standard.
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Step 3Your community will work with our team members to schedule staff trainings, LGBT programming events, and work to update policies, procedures, forms, and other forms of marketing and outreach to the LGBT community. This process should take between 1-4 months.
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Step 4Once your community has met at least the minimum standard, your community will pay a small fee, and will be included in the next North Texas LGBT-Friendly Senior Housing Guide.
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How to participateIf you are a retirement community in either Dallas, Tarrant, Denton, or Collin County, and would like to participate in our next North Texas LGBT-Friendly Senior Housing Guide, you can click the button below or contact:
housinginfo@cfa.lgbt If you are a resident in a retirement community, and would like the Coalition for Aging LGBT (CfA LGBT) to work with your retirement community to become more LGBT-friendly, you can click the button below or contact:
housinginfo@cfa.lgbt For general inquiries about the Coalition for Aging LGBT, to learn more about volunteering opportunities, or to donate to our mission, please contact:
contact@cfa.lgbt |
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