A new state initiative is designed to support and expand gender-affirming care.
The Transgender and Gender Diverse (TGD) Wellness and Equity Program will be coordinated by the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago.
According to a press release, the initiative will expand comprehensive and medically necessary care for transgender, gender-diverse, and LGBTQ+ people throughout Illinois. This program equips organizations that currently serve LGBTQ+ communities to increase their capacity to provide culturally- and medically-competent gender-affirming care.
This care will address social determinants of health, historical and contemporary trauma, and their unique impact on Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color who identify as transgender, gender-diverse, and other LGBTQ+ identities.
Through a competitive grant process, organizations were identified including the Springfield arm of the Board of Trustees at Southern Illinois University, Central Illinois Friends in Peoria, the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, the Douglas County Health Department in Tuscolam the Rainbow Cafe LGBTQ+ Center in Carbondale, Centerstone in West Frankfort and several Chicago programs.
Those organization s, through the TCD Wellness and Equity Program will provide services including training and behavioral health support, Employing Healthcare Navigation Specialists and Gender-affirming care training for staff, participation in a learning collaborative and strategies to expand participation in a learning collaborative and strategies to broaden gender-affirming care.
“We are so proud to play a role in this programming for our gender-diverse community. Together with our partners, such as PHIMC and these grant recipients, we will counter stigma and provide equitable access to healthcare,” said Dulce M. Quintero, IDHS Secretary The
Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago (PHIMC) was chosen as the lead organization
