08/01/2022

Office of Senator Patrick Toomey

United States Senator for Pennsylvania

248 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

(202) 224-4254

Dear Senator Patrick Toomey:

Early childhood education is a crucial and pivotal part of a child’s sustainable

development and it is what sets children on the path to a happier, more productive, and

meaningful life. As your constituent, I am writing to you to urge your support of minority

lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer+ youth of America today, in order for them to safely

continue their education without harm. When children are not given the opportunity to receive

the education most beneficial to them and are instead placed into juvenile and adult criminal

justice systems, they are negatively affected for the rest of their lives. Education is the answer

to crime prevention. There are no restorative justice practices or opportunities for rehabilitation

once a child is in the adult criminal justice system, and support in the juvenile criminal justice

system is weak, especially for minority LGBTQ+ youth.

Please help the youth justice community by supporting termination of solitary

confinement for children, which is detrimentally ineffective. Another way you can help is by

voting for the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, which has not been

reauthorized in 13 years. There is a desperate need for its reauthorization, revision, and full
funding because it institutes federal standards for care and custody in order to protect children

that are brought into the criminal justice system. The Act addresses four core protections: the

overrepresentation of minority children, children would be removed from adult justice systems

where they should not be in the first place, there would be deinstitutionalization of long term

incarcerated children, and separation from adults both by sight and sound. Other ways you can

support incarcerated minority LGBTQ+ youth and prevent further youth injustice in the

juvenile and adult criminal justice systems is through The Trevor Project, The National Center

for Transgender Equality, and the Human Rights Campaign.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the national public health institute for

the United States, has reported an average of 1.7% of high school students identify as

transgender, and transgender students are more likely than cisgender students to report violence

victimization, substance use, and suicide risk. The “CDC’s 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey

data shows substantial health disparities that exist among an estimated 2.6 million sexual

minority students”, and compared to their heterosexual peers, minority LGBTQ+ youth are

more likely to have been bullied at school, to seriously consider suicide, feel sad or hopeless,

and use illicit drugs. This negatively affects their educational opportunities, which in turn

increases their risk to enter criminal justice systems, both juvenile and adult.

One of the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis interventions for LGBTQ+

youth that you can start supporting today is The Trevor Project. They work tirelessly to provide

24/7 crisis intervention hotlines through phone and chat services, research teams, safe space

social networking sites, and they also operate an education program with resources for

organizations fighting for pro-LGBTQ+ legislation and against anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and

policy positions. According to The Trevor Project’s 2020 National Survey on LGBTQ+ Youth
Mental Health, 48% of LGBTQ youth reported engaging in self-harm in the past twelve

months, including over 60% of transgender and nonbinary youth. 1 in 3 LGBTQ youth

reported that they had been physically threatened or harmed in their lifetime due to their

LGBTQ identity, and 46% of youth reported they wanted psychological or emotional

counseling from a mental health professional but were unable to receive it in the past twelve

months.

Another organization you can support is The National Center for Transgender Equality,

which is a nonprofit social equality organization with focuses in transgender youth. It found

that 75% of transgender youth feel unsafe at school, and those who were able to persevere had

significantly lower GPAs, were more likely to miss school out of concern for their safety, and

were less likely to plan on continuing their education. The NCTE has also determined that

“Historically, federal, state, and local policies have required or allowed for discrimination

against LGBTQ+ students, educations, faculty, and staff, and created environments where they

are not safe to learn or safe to work.” The Human Rights Campaign, which works locally,

nationally, and globally on issues that affect the LGBTQ+ community, including youth, has put

together a resource called “Schools In Transition: A Guide for Supporting Transgender

Students in K-12”. Your support of the HRC would benefit the community as a whole and help

advocate for LGBTQ+ youth across the states.

Clearly, this problem in the education system needs to be addressed. I hope that you can

understand this is a pressing issue. The safer, more included, and more supported children and

their families feel, the more likely they are to continue early childhood education, and the least

likely they are to be involved in crime and criminal justice systems. Senator Patrick Toomey, as

you are my legislator, I urge you to please support the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention Act, the termination of solitary confinement for children, and advocacy

organizations like The Trevor Project, The Human Rights Campaign, and The National Center

for Transgender Equality, to help increase the quality of education and decrease the rate of

incarceration for minority LGBTQ+ youth of this country.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Jackie Tsimmerman

jxt77042@hawkmail.hacc.edu

(717) 961-8707

HACC, Harrisburg Area Community College

1 HACC Drive

Harrisburg, PA 17110