Course Evaluation - Gender Affirming Care Clinic at Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital: Model of Care and Role of Behavioral Health: Jonathan Poquiz, PhD & Allegra Kartha, MSW

As behavioral health providers, we will provide data on the psychosocial outcomes of trans and non-binary youth initiating care within the Gender Affirming Care Clinic. Given that we are a pediatric institution, we will be solely focused on discussing populations of trans and non-binary youth and adolescents.

We will describe health disparities and barriers to gender-affirming care that disproportionately affect transgender and non-binary youth (TNB) and describe a clinical model of care that emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach in providing care. We highlight our clinical model by emphasizing the role of behavioral health in providing psychoeducation on the gender affirmative approach to care for all TNB youth and their families initiating care. Interdisciplinary collaboration and utilization of behavioral health providers can address barriers in accessing care by being the first point of contact for families initiating care.

Course Objective #1: Review health disparities among transgender and non-binary youth

Course Objective #2: Identify barriers in accessing gender-affirming behavioral health care for transgender and non-binary youth

Course Objective #3: Describe the model of care of the Gender Affirming Care Clinic and interdisciplinary efforts to address health disparities and access to care

Dr. Poquiz (he/him) is a pediatric psychologist in the Gender Affirming Care Clinic at Johns Hopkins All Children’s. He specializes in providing outpatient and interdisciplinary care for transgender and gender diverse youth, as well as for youth with differences in sex development/intersex diagnoses. His research is centered on these populations.
Allegra Kartha (they/them) is the social worker for the Gender Affirming Care Clinic at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. They joined the hospital staff in 2021. In their clinical work, Allegra utilizes a a non-judgmental approach pulling from different interventions.