St. Paul Youth Services

NOTE: To download a PDF version of this report, please click here.

St. Paul Youth Services

UPDATE OCTOBER 2025: Our previous investigation of St. Paul Youth Services revealed that the organization and its leadership were openly promoting transgender and homosexual ideologies, while also supporting Planned Parenthood and openly calling for reproductive freedom and unrestricted access to birth control. That information will follow this update.

Our last report revealed that St. Paul Youth Services received its first-ever grant in the 2020-2021 fiscal year for a collective amount of $50,000. Since then, St. Paul Youth Services has received three additional grants, including its most recent grant for the 2023-2024 fiscal year of $45,000.

In addition to what we have already reported St. Paul Youth Services most recent violations of Catholic moral teaching (and CCHD grant guidelines) include:

• Promoting LGBTQ health services and sexual/gender diversity
• Partnering with organizations that advocate for reproductive freedom and unrestricted access to birth control, and LGBTQ/gender affirming causes
• Employing individuals who openly support abortion, and LGBTQ causes

SPYS Direct Support for LGBTQ

On June 24, 2025, SPYS made a post on Facebook in which they stated “In honor of pride month, we are sharing this youth-created video about why Pronouns matter. Our youth understands that.”

SPYS’ partnership with Allina Health

As of February 15, 2025, SPYS entered into a business partnership with Allina Health for the express purpose of “to create an event focused on exploring careers in healthcare and ultimately become a business leader that our BIPOC youth deserve.”

This is an extremely disturbing development because Allina Health has a history of openly supporting abortion by providing abortion resources such as contraceptives, abortifacients, and abortion procedures, including where to acquire them and how to use them. On top of that they also offer gender affirming care and LGBTQ resources.

On its website Allina Health as instructions on how to obtain and use an IUD which is a contraceptive

Also on the website is information on Mifepristone which is an oral abortifacient

Allina Health also provides gender-affirming care on their website, which includes “Gender-affirming hormone replacement to minimize a feminine or masculine appearance”

And here they offer LGBTQ health-services

Whats’s most concerning is that their website also encourages masturbation for children by advising parents to not shame or guilt them for what they are doing, but to tell them to make sure they only masturbate in private

SPYS Leadership

SPYS Board President Julia Freeman is the Director of Community Engagement at Voices for Racial Justice (VRJ), which is a pro-abortion, pro-lgbtq, and pro-socialist organization. Here is the link to her LinkedIn profile.

The VRJ website has a section dedicated solely to funding for organizations that “support people seeking abortions”

The website also has a section on gender-affirming care

In 2023 VRJ stated that several pieces of passed legislation in Minnesota were “victories that are a culmination of decades of organizing and advocacy for change and investment in Black, brown, Indigenous, and LGBTQ people.”

The Director of SPYS Salma Hussein is another example of SPYS leadership being involved in organizations that explicitly violate Catholic moral teaching. According to her bio she is a fellow at the Bush Foundation which openly supports abortion and LGBTQ.

The Bush Foundation received money from OutFront Minnesota which is the largest pro-LGBTQ advocacy in Minnesota. These grants were to be used for the express purpose of supporting various LGBTQ advocacy goals.

The Bush Foundation also provided funds for a reproductive justice group called Our Justice which they describe on their website as “a reproductive justice organization and abortion fund that provides direct financial and logistical support for people seeking abortion care in Minnesota.”

Our Justice was one of the 2023 Bush Foundation Prize Winners and as result was directly funded by the Bush Foundation

Updated Conclusion:

Given that SPYS had already been found supporting abortion, transgenderism, and LGBTQ in our previous reports, this additional information that SPYS has continued to support abortion, transgenderism, and LGTBQ further substantiates our previous report and shows that CCHD has no interest or intention of halting Catholic funds from organizations attacking Catholic teaching. There is no excuse for SPYS to have continued to receive funds after our previous revelations, and now, things are worse. For this reason, the Lepanto Institute is renewing its call for the USCCB to close down the CCHD permanently.

The Previous Report

St. Paul Youth Services (SPYS) received its first-ever grant from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) in FY 2020-2021.  The grant was for $50,000.

SPYS’s website indicates that it was established 45 years ago, as a joint project of the City of Saint Paul and the Saint Paul Police Department.  It is a youth program ostensibly designed to keep kids in school and out of prison.  Unfortunately, SYPS is very active in promoting homosexuality and transgenderism to those very same kids and its executive director promotes homosexuality, birth control, Planned Parenthood, and transgenderism.

SPYS Direct Support for Homosexuality and transgenderism

In 2017, SPYS created a video on the use of preferred pronouns for self-identified “transgender” kids.  The video is a clear propaganda piece intended to generate acceptance of sexually deviant behavior.  This is the original link to the video, but we’ve uploaded the video to YouTube, in case the link here disappears.

On SYPS web page titled “Transform Institutional and Cultural Practices,” SPYS admits to its intention to change minds on homosexuality through training exercises:

“Each year, we partner with organizations and train and coach educators, police, and staff from nonprofits and public agencies on how to create organizations that are truly youth-centric, especially in terms of transforming their practices and environments to be more effective and welcoming for youth of color, LGBTQ youth, immigrant youth, and/or youth who have experienced trauma and/or poverty.”

This point is reiterated on its Public Policy Page, where it states that SPYS works “with elected officials and public agencies to assess the impact of policies on … LGBTQ youth.”

On SPYS’ webpage headlined “Our Approach and Services,” SPYS spells out that it produces workshops directed at adults in the hopes of breaking down barriers to “LGBTQ youth.”  It says:

“IN THE COMMUNITY

Workshops & Training SPYS provides trains leaders and staff of nonprofits and public agencies who work with youth – whether by mission or circumstance – with the power to directly or indirectly influence youths’ lives. SPYS also offers a training course for individual community residents who want to build positive relations with youth in their community or neighborhood and start a local program to engage youth and introduce them to new skills and interests. All of SPYS’ workshops and trainings give adults a better understanding of youth developmental needs, the systemic barriers youth face (especially youth of color, youth living in poverty, and LGBTQ youth), and practical skills, confidence, and motivation to more effectively engage with young people.”

And this approach to promoting sexual deviancy among the youth is on bold display on its social media pages.

In June of 2016, SPYS boldly proclaimed that it “stands with” “our beloved LGBTQ+ youth.”

On June 28, 2016, SPYS posted on Twitter “Love and support for LGBTQ+ youth at #TCPride!”

On June 14 of the same year, SPYS posted that “We stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community”
In December 2021, SPYS posted about its interest in “organizations transforming their practices and environments to be more effective and welcoming for … LGBT Youth.”
In June 2016, SPYS encouraged young people to participate in an LGBT arts festival.

In December of 2020, SPYS tweeted out its pro-lgbt video from 2017 (mentioned above).

The same video was promoted again in February of 2022.

Given this evidence, there is no denying the fact that SPYS is directly promoting and encouraging LGBT ideologies.  But this shouldn’t be surprising, considering the gravely immoral ideologies of its executive director.

Tracine D. Asberry, Executive Director for SPYS

SPYS indicates right on its website that Tracine Asberry is the executive director for the organization.
Asberry has a long history of promoting Planned Parenthood and birth control on social media.

In January of 2017, Asberry wrote a long post calling upon Minnesotans to “March with Planned Parenthood!”
In July of 2014, Asberry expressed her displeasure at the SCOTUS ruling in favor of Hobby Lobby against the birth control mandate in Obamacare, saying: “It’s truly dangerous that five Justices on the Supreme Court have taken decisions about birth control coverage away from women and their doctors, and handed them to bosses.”
In December of 2016, Asberry posted a fundraising initiative for Planned Parenthood.

In July of 2014, Asberry applauded a report from Planned Parenthood about contraception.

On July 3, 2014, Asberry posted a link to Planned Parenthood, declaring that “Knowledge is Power.”

On May 15, 2018, Asberry posted a message decrying the increase in costs for birth control.

In addition to promoting Planned Parenthood and birth control, Asberry also promotes homosexual and transgender ideologies.

On May 14, 2013, Asberry celebrated the state ruling in favor of same-sex “marriage.”

In September 2014, Asberry fought against parental rights legislation aimed at protecting children against LGBT indoctrination.

April 2016, Asberry campaign for school programs that indoctrinated children in LGBT ideologies.
Conclusion

St. Paul Youth Services is an organization that is intent upon indoctrinating youth in LGBT ideologies and is run by an individual who openly campaigns in favor of Planned Parenthood, contraception, and LGBT indoctrination of the youth.