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Trans and Gender Diverse Community Track
Knowledge and Skills Building Workshops
Tanya Chase, PsyD.
Program Manager
HealthRIGHT 360
The Healthright 360 Transwomen’s Residential & Networked Services (TRNS) Project provides an enhancement of services for residential transgender women clients. The program works first on client engagement in treatment. Transgender clients need very specific support. Discrimination, lack of culturally relevant services, and ignorance in society about the needs of transgender individuals directly lead to a majority of the problems experienced by clients. All clients experience gender dysphoria. In this context, engagement begins with assessing clients for their specific transition needs. The majority of clients are not taking hormones to support their diagnosis of gender dysphoria.
Offering clients clear directions about how to legally change their name and gender serves as a strong recruitment and retention incentive. The program helps clients fill out the necessary forms, walks them through the steps, and literally walks them to the courthouse. Similarly, clients are immediately referred to medical and mental health care so they can receive the necessary medications (e.g. hormones, HIV medications, and other medications) for mental and physical health needs. When clients receive this level of support for their gender identity, as well as for their medical and mental health needs, they quickly gain self-esteem and begin the harm reduction path to meet the primary goals of the project: 1) Reducing HIV infection and transmission rates of clients; 2) reducing impact of violence and trauma on clients by integrated trauma treatment, and linking them to immediate primary care and mental health treatment and medications; 3) Supporting clients by increasing HealthRIGHT 360 staff cultural competence for treating trans-women; 4) increasing client HIV and Hep C testing at intake, and if indicated immediately referring them to primary care services; 5) Educating clients with regular HIV prevention and transmission education; and 6) implementing evidence-based interventions for SUD and trauma-informed treatment to increase health coping skills for clients.