Special Feature: Transforming Child Welfare Panel on Queering Child Welfare and Child Well-being (Part 1)
“I think it really comes from the heart and practicing with relationality and centering that with the youth that they’re working with.”
Kyle Turone, UBC-MCFD Sponsored Research Project
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About the Episode
This episode is a special edit of the Centre for the Study of Services to Children and Families’ annual Transforming Child Welfare Panel event which was held on February 27, 2026. This year, the panel presentation focused on queering child welfare and child well-being, and featured researchers and graduate students whose research examines the experiences of 2SLGBTQ+ children and youth. The topics ranged from foster caregivers supporting 2STNBGD youth in care, the experiences of former 2SLGBTQ+ youth in care, queering children’s rights, to challenging assumptions of the child welfare system, and healthcare social work practice with younger trans and gender diverse people. Joined by Kayla Kenney, Kristi Pinderi, Marko Aguilar Maurer, Emma McIllroy, and Kyle Turone, the panelists share their findings from their research and discuss the ways in which the child welfare system has evolved, and the ways that the system can continue to still evolve to better support 2SLGBTQ+ children and youth.
Timestamps
1:58 — Event Introduction
3:20 — Opening Remarks from the Director of the UBC Vancouver School of Social Work, Dr. Lea Caragata
7:00 — Introduction to Kyle & Emma: Gender Affirming Caregiving Strategies for 2STNBGD Youth
8:36 — Introduction to Kayla: Healthcare Social Work Practice with 2STNBGD Young People
10:23 — Introduction to Marko: Queering Children’s Rights in Child Welfare
12:58 — Introduction to Kristi: Experiences of Former 2SLGBTQ+ Youth in Care
18:08 — Challenging the Child/Adult Binary through Research
22:18 — Social Workers Working with Trans Communities: Acknowledging History to Inform Practice
24:28 — Emphasizing the Relationality of Foster Caregiving for 2STNBGD Youth
27:35 — Institutional Silence and the Importance of Viewing Queer Culture as Protective and Affirmative
Mentioned in this Episode
Berrak-Tinaz, M.(2025). (Un)becoming family policing records : a desire-focused queer CYC autoethnographic social fiction approach (T). University of British Columbia. Retrieved from https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0449863
Kia, H., Kenney, K., MacKinnon, K. R., Abramovich, A., Salway, T., Ferlatte, O., Knight, R., Charles, G., & Marshall, S. K. (2023). “It saves lives”: Peer support and resilience in transgender and gender diverse communities. SSM – Qualitative Research in Health, 3, 100264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmqr.2023.100264
Leonce, I., McIlroy E. G. A., Turone, K., & Yu, H. (2025). Gender-affirming caregiving strategies for foster parents in British Columbia. Research and Evaluation in Child, Youth and Family Services, 7, 18-32. https://doi.org/10.14288/recyfs.v7i1.201241
Pinderi, K. (2025). “We are the few who held hope” : lessons learned from 2S/LGBTQ+ former youth in care and child welfare practitioners (T). University of British Columbia. Retrieved from https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0450540
Our Guests
Kayla Kenney (they/any) is a registered clinical social worker and a PhD Candidate at the UBC School of Social Work. Their doctoral research
focuses on social work practice with younger trans and gender diverse people in healthcare. Kayla has
clinical experience as a behavioural health clinician providing counselling with TGD youth and families.
Kristi Pinderi (he/him) is a registered social worker, a child welfare practitioner, and a former pioneer activist for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community in Albania and queer refugees in Canada. He completed his Master of Social Work at UBC. Kristi is a cofounder of Tirana Pride, and of STREHA, the first residential shelter for LGBTQ+ unhoused youths in all the Southeast Europe.
Marko Aguilar Maurer (he/him) graduated from the Master of Arts program in Human Development, Learning, and Culture at UBC. Marko’s research explores queering children’s rights in the context of child and youth care to promote new understandings that challenge normative assumptions about child welfare and envision new ways to protect children, families, and communities (previously published as Berrak-Tinaz, M.).
Emma McIlroy (she/her) is a social worker with a decade of experience across health and child welfare systems. She works to advocate for inclusive, culturally safe, and identity-affirming care for children and families.
Kyle Turone (he/him) is a social worker and researcher based in British Columbia whose work focuses on trauma-informed and equity-centred practice with children, youth, and families. He holds a BSW from the University of Victoria and an MSW from UBC.