Disproportionality in Child Welfare

Crampton, D. , & Jackson, W.L. (2007). Family group decision making and disproportionality in foster care: A case study. Child Welfare, 86(3), 53-69.

Abstract: Research on the disproportionate number of children of color in the child welfare system suggests that we should focus on key decision points such as investigations, substantiations, and placements to understand how experiences of children vary by race and ethnicity. The article describes one community's efforts to use Family Group Decision Making in placement decisions to reduce disproportionality in foster care by diverting children from regular foster care services and keeping them within their extended families.

Derezotes, D.  (2001).  Examining child maltreatment and the impact of race in receipt of child welfare services in the United States. Urbana, IL: Family Violence Prevention Fund.

Abstract: (none available)

Dunbar, K., & Barth, R.P.  (2007).  Racial disproportionality, race disparity, and other race-related findings in published works derived from the national survey of child and adolescent well-being.  Seattle, WA: Casey-CSSP Alliance for Racial Equity in the Child Welfare System.

Abstract:  The paper examines child welfare in the context of race and ethnicity. Topics include whether there are racial differences in some of these areas of child welfare services: Early childhood development; Early intervention services; Mental health; Substance abuse treatment; Parental arrests; Domestic violence; and Reunification.  Even when child need was similar, African American families used fewer services. Other  findings suggest the presence of race and ethnicity effects related to: African American women served in child welfare reported much higher rates of domestic violence; Infants and adolescents were the two age groups with the greatest level of reunification rate differences by race; and Parents of African American children placed in out-of-home care were more likely to have experienced a recent arrest.  Other differences related to race and ethnicity are not as consistent. The paper calls for more research into how unfair services to African American children and families arise.

Hill, R.B.  (2007, December).  An analysis of racial/ethnic disproportionality and disparity at the national, state, and county levels.  Seattle, WA: Casey-CSSP Alliance for Racial Equity in Child Welfare.

Abstract: This report was written by Senior Researcher Robert B. Hill, Race Matters Consortium, Westat. It was published in December 2007 by the Casey-CSSP Alliance for Racial Equity in Child Welfare.

Dr. Hill's study makes several important contributions to the study of disproportionality and disparity in the child welfare system.

While most studies focus on comparisons between blacks and whites, this analysis incorporates other communities, namely American Indians, Asians and Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics.

Furthermore, while most studies examine disproportionality at only one geographic level, this analysis describes racial/ethnic disproportionality and disparity at three levels—national, state, and county.

Hill, R.B.  (2006, October).  Synthesis of research on disproportionality in child welfare: An update. Seattle, WA: Casey-CSSP Alliance for Racial Equity in the Child Welfare System.

Abstract:   More than half of the 500,000 children in foster care on any day in America come from ethnic minority families even though children from minority communities make up less than half the children in this country. Why are so many children of color in the child welfare system? This paper is an extensive study of the research available on this topic.

Oswald, D.P. , & Coutinho, M.J. (2006). Why it matters: What is disproportionate representation? The Special Edge, 20(1), 6-7.

Abstract: (none available)

United States Government Accountability Office. (2007). African American children in foster care: Additional HHS assistance needed to help states reduce the proportion in care (GAO Publication No. GAO-07-816). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Abstract: A higher rate of poverty is among several factors contributing to the higher proportion of African American children entering and remaining in foster care. Families living in poverty have greater difficulty accessing housing, mental health, and other services needed to keep families stable and children safely at home. Bias or cultural misunderstandings and distrust between child welfare decision makers and the families they serve are also viewed as contributing to children's removal from their homes into foster care. African American children also stay in foster care longer because of difficulties in recruiting adoptive parents and a greater reliance on relatives to provide foster care who may be unwilling to terminate the parental rights of the child's parent-as required in adoption-or who need the financial subsidy they receive while the child is in foster care.

Most states we surveyed reported using strategies intended to address these issues, such as involving families in decisions, building community supports, and broadening the search for relatives to care for children. HHS provides information and technical assistance, but states reported that they had limited capacity to analyze data and formulate strategies, and states we visited told us they relied on assistance from universities or others.

States reported that the ability to use federal funding for family support services was helpful in keeping African American children safely at home and that federal subsidies for adoptive parents helped move children out of foster care. However, they also expressed concerns about the inability to use federal child welfare funds to provide subsidies to legal guardians. As an alternative to adoption, subsidized guardianship is considered particularly promising for helping African American children exit from foster care. States were also concerned about the lack of flexibility to use federal foster care funds to provide services for families, although states can use other federal funds for this purpose if they consider it a priority.

Vandergrift, K.F.  (2006).  Disproportionate representation in the child welfare system: Emerging promising practices survey.  Washington, DC: National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators.

Abstract: (none available)

Williams-Mbengue, N., & Christian, S. (2007, April). The color of care: Legislators are seeking answers to difficult questions about race and child welfare. State Legislatures, 30-32.

Abstract: (none available)

Wulczyn, F., & Lery, B. (2007). Racial disparity in foster care admissions. Chicago, IL: Chapin Hall Center for Children.

Abstract: According to national data, roughly 37 percent of the children in foster care are African American despite the fact that African American children make up only 15 percent of the children living in the United States. The ratio of the two percentages – 2.47 – reflects the fact that African American children are overrepresented in the nation’s foster care system. To better understand this overrepresentation, this study addresses the issue of entry rate disparities at the county level. The study is based on children first placed in foster care between 2000 and 2005, from 1,034 counties in states that contribute to the Multistate Foster Care Data Archive. Patterns in the underlying data connect disparity to age- and place-specific risks. Both placement and disparity rates are highest for infants – particularly African American infants. Disparity generally decreased over time because the placement rate for white children increased while the rate for black children declined. However, disparity increased for teens. Rates of entry declined in urban areas during a period when placement rates in more rural counties increased. In addition to these basic data, the report also examines how entry rate disparities at the county level vary in relation to characteristics of the local population. Disparity tends to be lower in counties with a larger proportion of African American residents, children in poverty, female-headed households, and residents with less than a high school education.