Davis Wright Tremaine Fall 2026 Research Clinic (Phase 1)

Project Overview:

A cornerstone of L4GG’s transgender rights policy work is our Policy Resource Hub for Transgender Rights. After the Supreme Court's ruling in United States v. Skrmetti, which held that states may restrict access to gender-affirming care for transgender youth, states moved quickly to enact a patchwork of new laws. Some states prohibited Medicaid coverage for medical or surgical gender-affirming care, restricted transgender youths' participation in sports and access to restrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity, and limited classroom materials or instruction addressing LGBTQ topics. Other states took the opposite approach, passing laws to protect providers offering gender-affirming care and expanding state anti-discrimination statutes to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity in employment, housing, education, and public accommodations. 

Because of the rapidly changing and heavily litigated landscape of transgender rights, transgender advocates need accurate, up-to-date information on the status of the law across all states and territories. To meet this need, L4GG launched the Policy Resource Hub for Transgender Rights in Fall 2025, providing a centralized, up-to-date resource to help advocates inform their legislative and litigation priorities.

Through the work of over 300 pro bono attorneys and L4GG’s own in-house experts, the Hub is updated every single business day for every U.S. state and territory and verified for accuracy. It currently answers 3 questions: 1) what is the law governing access to medically-necessary gender affirming healthcare in your state; 2) what is the law on education, identification documents and public accommodations for transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals in your state; and 3) what are the constitutional provisions and civil rights laws in your state pertaining to the rights of transgender and gender-nonconforming people. 

We now plan to launch a new question to the Hub, in response to a repeatedly expressed need from our community. This question will address state laws, regulations and policies related to issues faced by transgender parents, parents of transgender children, and transgender children in foster care. 

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION:

L4GG is a community of 125,000 lawyers, law students, and activists fighting to ensure equal rights, equal opportunities and equal justice under the law. We coordinate large scale pro bono programs and engage in advocacy and policy work, seeking not only to establish and enforce equality under the law, but to also create the social and economic conditions that lead to true equity.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PARTICIPATING ATTORNEYS

  1. Attend the Training.

    Training will be held on October 27th from 1-4 pm ET. The clinic will begin with a training by L4GG’s attorneys on the context and importance of the research, as well as the research questions and methods.

  2. Review the Research Questions

    We recommend that you review each of the research questions and decide on the order of your research prior to beginning. While you are researching, we recommend that you pull the questions into a separate document for your particular state/territory, so that you are able to take notes as you research. 

  3. Conduct Your Research 

    When starting, we recommend conducting a simple Google search of your state and open-access portals like Justia State codes as well as official state legislature websites.  

    Focus specifically on state statutes, administrative codes and regulations, executive orders, and state agency policies (e.g., Department of Human Services or Child Welfare Agency guidelines). Please do not include case law/court decisions at this stage. 

    Double check legislation is presently in effect. Be careful when verifying whether a statute, regulation or policy is currently in effect. A common issue when using search engines or news summaries is encountering early bill drafts or proposed legislation where specific protective or restrictive sections were amended or removed prior to final passage. Always cross-check the final enacted statutory code on Justia or official state legislative portals to confirm what language actually passed into law. 

    Distinguish shield/sanctuary laws from Child Protective Services (CPS) definitions. State "shield" or “sanctuary” laws typically prohibit state courts or law enforcement from enforcing out-of-state subpoenas, warrants, or civil/criminal judgments relating to gender-affirming care. While important, shield laws are separate from Question 1, which asks whether in-state law defines parental support or care as child abuse, medical neglect, or grounds for CPS removal within your assigned state. 

    Avoid reporting general baseline custody/best interests factors. Do not copy your state’s general statutory list of “best interests of the child” factors or general custody standards unless the text explicitly names transgender status, gender identity, gender expression, or gender-affirming care (e.g., explicit anti-bias statutory language in custody laws or specific prohibitions against considering gender identity/care). If a state relies solely on standard, non-specific custody factors without explicit reference to gender identity or care, record “No specific authority found.:

    Review the “Supplemental Tools and Resources” section of this document for additional background materials that you can use to guide your search.

    Brainstorm terms before you begin your search. Most topics can be described in numerous ways, and not all jurisdictions will use the same terminology. Develop a list of relevant terms up front and continue to refine it as you continue your research.

    Keyword recommendations include: “transgender;” “gender identity;” “gender expression;” “gender-affirming care;” “transition;” “gender dysphoria;” “puberty blockers;” “cross-sex hormones;” “medical neglect;” “child abuse;” “neglect;” “Child Protective Services;” “CPS;” “child in need of care;” “child removal;” “parental fitness;” “best interests of the child;” “custody;” “foster care;” “foster parent;” “out-of-home placement;” “group home;” “child welfare agency;” “Department of Children and Family Services;” “Department of Human Services;” “placement guidelines;” “religious exemption;” and “religious freedom.”

    Keywords used together may prompt the most responsive answers, such as: “[State]” + “gender-affriming care” + “child abuse” + “Child Protective Services policy” or “[State]” + “foster care” + “gender identity” + “placement policy” 

  4. Compile Your Research

    We recommend that during the legal research process, you gather your findings in a Word or Google document prior to completing the online form.

  5. Citations

    Whenever discussing any laws, regulations, or cases in your responses, please provide both the Bluebook citation and link to the citation in Justia. We ask that any citations to statute are linked to Justia - if you find the citation or case in Westlaw or Lexis, please then search for it in Justia to provide a publicly available link. This allows us to easily add the research to public facing materials for our community. 

  6. Copy with Hyperlink

    Whenever possible, please copy a link directly to the relevant section of the code you’re citing.  You can do this by right clicking on text in the relevant public web page and selecting the option to “copy link to highlight,” so whoever clicks said link is brought to the exact text you highlighted, helping readers navigate text-heavy documents. 

  7. Submit Your Research.

    Once you have completed your research, please copy and paste your team’s findings into the corresponding fields using this online form. Only one form should be submitted for each state.

    Please check your answers for accuracy before pressing “Submit.”

    If you are not able to submit your research before the end of the clinic, please make sure to submit by Friday, October 30.

  8. Repeat Steps #2-7 for Each State Assigned to You

Questions?
During the clinic: Click the “Raise Hand” button or come into the main Zoom room

After the clinic: Email  amorrison@L4GG.org, bria@L4GG.org for substantive questions and Lauren@L4GG.org for logistics questions.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION & RESOURCES:

As you conduct your research, we recommend you consult the following resources:

  1. Family Equality publishes the LGBTQ+ Foster Care Laws by State Guide, which provides state-by-state overviews of foster care non-discrimination standards and child welfare rules. Note: research may be outdated and should be cross-checked.

  2. The Movement Advancement Project (MAP) maintains Equality Maps that track state child welfare nondiscrimination laws Note: research may be outdated and should be cross-checked.

  3. The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) maintains a youth care policy tracker, which tracks state legislative medical bans, provider penalties, insurance restrictions, and court injunctions. Note: research may be outdated and should be cross-checked.

  4. State Child Welfare Agency Websites & Policy Manuals: Statutory codes often do not capture internal administrative guidelines. We recommend searching the official website and policy manuals of your assigned state’s primary child welfare department (e.g., Department of Children and Family Services, Department of Social Services, Child Protective Services) for policies titled “Youth Rights,” “Placement Guidelines,” or “Health Services for Children in Care.” 

  5. Justia: This is a publicly available resource for the state codes of each jurisdiction. If you need to cite a historical version of a state statute, please provide a Justia hyperlink citation to the most recent version of the statute or the relevant historical version of the statute as appropriate. Note: Justia does not include Westlaw or Lexis keycite or red flags. If you need to cite a historical or current version of a state statute, please provide a Justia hyperlink citation to the most recent version of the statute as appropriate.

  6. Your Westlaw, Lexis, Bloomberg, or Fastcase Account (Optional): If you or someone on your team has active access to subscription legal databases, you may use them to assist in your initial statutory research. Note: We understand every firm has a different policy on AI use. If your subscription includes an AI tool or you utilize AI in your research, please independently verify any information provided by it. 

RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

(PLEASE REMEMBER TO INCLUDE CITATIONS AND LINKS WHEN AVAILABLE FOR EACH OF YOUR ANSWERS)

For your assigned state, please answer the following questions:

[1] Does the state have any statute, regulation, agency policy, executive order, or related authority addressing whether a parent’s transgender status, support or affirmation of a transgender child, or decision to obtain, facilitate, or consent to gender-affirming care for a transgender child my constitute child abuse, neglect, or other grounds for a Child Protective Services (CPS) investigation or removal?
Note: Only report authorities that specifically and explicitly reference transgender/gender non-conforming identity, gender expression, or gender-affirming healthcare. Do not list or summarize your state’s general, baseline statutory definition of child abuse, neglect, medical neglect, or parental fitness unless the text or official administrative guidance mentions gender identity, gender-affirming care, or transgender youth/parents. If your state has no statute or policy specifically addressing gender identity or gender-affirming care in the CPS context, please note in the comments that no specific authority was found.

[1a] If so, please identify the authority and summarize the relevant provisions.

[1b] Please provide a citation and public link to the relevant authority.

[2] Does the state have any statute, regulation, agency policy, executive order or related authority addressing whether a parent’s transgender status or a parent’s support, affirmation, or opposition to a child’s transgender identity or gender-affirming care may be considered in determining custody, parenting time, visitation, parental fitness, or the best interests of the child?
Note: Only report authorities that specifically and explicitly reference transgender/gender non-conforming identity, gender expression, or gender-affirming healthcare. Do not list or summarize your state’s baseline “best interests of the child” factors, standard parental fitness rules, or general custody statutes. If your state has no statute, regulation, or policy specifically addressing gender identity, gender expression, or gender-affirming care in custody proceedings please note in the comments that no specific authority was found.
[2a] If so, please identify the authority and summarize the relevant provisions..

[2b] Please provide a citation and public link to the relevant authority.

[3] Does the state have any statute, regulation, agency policy, executive order or related authority specifically addressing the rights, treatment, placement, or care of transgender children and youth in foster care or other out-of-home care? 

[3a] If so, please identify the authority and summarize the relevant provisions.

     [3b] Please provide a citation and public link to the relevant authority.

Once you have completed your research, please submit your responses (with citations/links) using this online form. Thank you for contributing to this important project.