Best Practice Trends

"Best practices" emerging from jurisdictions around the US working to challenge disproportionality and disparate outcomes for children of color in the child welfare system tend in 2006 to have these common characteristics:

Multiple strategies requiring changes in both policy and practice levels of operation. Strategies are interrelated and often indistinguishable from those needed to improve services for all children and families.

Child welfare agencies and their partners are emphasizing prevention, substance abuse intervention, kinship care services, family reunification, and other permanency suport services that directly influence outcomes.

Strategic partnerships are crucial to all this, particularly those under the leadership of communities of color.

Source: The Center for Community Partnerships in Child Welfare of the Center for the Study of Social Policy. (2006, December). Places to watch: Promising practice to address racial disproportionality in child welfare. Report prepared for The Casey-CSSP Alliance for Racial Equity. Available online from http://www.csssp.org

Juvenile Justice

The research literature shows a strong connection between child maltreatment and delinquent behavior. Black youth are more likely than white youth-with the same offenses-to be referred to juvenile court, to be detained prior to trial in locked facilities, to be formally charged in juvenile court, to be tried as adults, and to be committed to juvenile or adult correctional facilities.

A small but disproportionate number of youth who age out of the foster care system often ends up in correctional institutions.

Source: Hill, R.B. (2006, May). Synthesis of research on disproportionality in child welfare: An update. Report prepared for the Casey Center for the Study of Social Policy Alliance for Racial Equity. p.. 32-33. Available online from http://www.racemattersconsortium.org/docs/BobHillPaper_FINAL.pdf

Disproportionality and Black Children

All 50 states have disproportionate representation of African American children in foster care, ranging from 2 to 4 times their percentage in the general population.

Source: The Center for Community Partnerships in Child Welfare of the Center for the Study of Social Policy. (2006, December). Places to watch: Promising practice to address racial disproportionality in child welfare. Report prepared for The Casey-CSSP Alliance for Racial Equity. Available online from http://www.csssp.org

"…there are few things as dangerous as sleepwalkers."

Ralph Ellison, The Invisible Main, p. 5

Disproportionality and Latino/a Children

Latino/a children seem at a national level to be represented proportionately in the foster care system. However, on a state basis, they are overrepresented in ten states and underrepresented in the remainder of states.

To consider adequately the needs of children, one needs to look at data on a state level.

Source: Hill, R.B. (2006, May). Synthesis of research on disproportionality in child welfare: An update. Report prepared for the Casey Center for the Study of Social Policy Alliance for Racial Equity. Available online from http//www.racemattersconsortium.org

Are these issues just fads?

Attention to racial disproportionality and disparate outcomes in child welfare is not a fad.

"Concerned child welfare administrators, scholars, researchers, and workers have puzzled over this problem for over 30 years. Yet because it stems from a network of social and political disadvantages at the individual and institutional level, many leaders assume it is simply the norm and believe that there is little that they can do to change it. In the meantime, disproportionality and disparate outcomes for children and families of color in the child welfare system continue to increase."

Source: Casey Family Programs Foundation. (2007). Framework for change: Reducing disproportionality and disparate outcomes for children and families of color in the child welfare system. 2.

What is disproportionality?

"Disproportionality refers to the differences in the percentage of children of a certain racial or ethnic group in the country as compared to the percentage of the children of the same group in the child welfare system. For example, in 2000 black children made up 15.1 percent of the children in this country but 36.6 percent of the children in the child welfare system."

Source: Hill, R.B. (2006, May). Synthesis of research on disproportionality in child welfare: An update. Report prepared for the Casey Center for the Study of Social Policy Alliance for Racial Equity. p.. 3. Available online from http://www.racemattersconsortium.org/docs/BobHillPaper_FINAL.pdf

What do we mean by disparate outcomes?

"Disparity [or disparate outcomes] means unequal treatment when comparing a racial or ethnic minority to a non-minority. This can be observed in many forms including decision points (e.g., reporting, investigation, substantiation, foster care placement, exit), treatment, services, or resources. Research shows that children of color in foster care and their families are treated differently from-and often not as well as-white children and their families in the system. For example, fewer African American children receive mental health services even though the identified need for this type of service may be as great (or greater) for African American as for other racial or ethnic groups."

Source: Hill, R.B. (2006, May). Synthesis of research on disproportionality in child welfare: An update. Report prepared for the Casey Center for the Study of Social Policy Alliance for Racial Equity. p.. 3. Available online from http://www.racemattersconsortium.org/docs/BobHillPaper_FINAL.pdf

Child Maltreatment

The National Incidence Studies (NIS-1, 2, and 3) (1980, 1986, and 1993) consistently demonstrate that families of color are no more likely to maltreat their children than white families in like circumstances. NIS-4 is underway right now and will be based on 2005 data.

The NIS studies are specifically designed to identify both forms of maltreatment that are typically reported to the child welfare system and also those that are less likely to be reported.

Source: Hill, R.B. (2006, May). Synthesis of research on disproportionality in child welfare: An update. Report prepared for the Casey Center for the Study of Social Policy Alliance for Racial Equity. p.. 3. Available online from http://www.racemattersconsortium.org/docs/BobHillPaper_FINAL.pdf

Derezotes, D.M., Poertner, J., & Testa, M.F. (Eds.). (2005). Race matters in child welfare. New York: Child Welfare League of America.

Maltreatment in Black Communities?

The National Incidence Studies (NIS-3, 1993) actually found that, after controlling for income level, unemployment rate, and urban/rural status, black communities had lower rates of child maltreatment than white communities. This suggested the strong protective factor of the extended family in black communities.

This was a controversial finding, making disproportionality even more disturbing. This finding is being further investigated in NIS-4.

Source: Hill, R.B. (2006, May). Synthesis of research on disproportionality in child welfare: An update. Report prepared for the Casey Center for the Study of Social Policy Alliance for Racial Equity. p.. 3. Available online from http://www.racemattersconsortium.org/docs/BobHillPaper_FINAL.pdf

Investigations

In 2003, aproximately 68 percent of all reports of maltreatment of a national basis were investigated. Race seems to interact with other factors in the decision whether to investigate.

Reporting

Are people of color more likely to be reported for maltreatment than whites?

Numerous studies, including the NIS-1, 2, and 3, show that public and private hospitals as well as schools and the general public overreport abuse and neglect among black families and underreport it among white families. This includes situations such as suposedly evidence-based reporting connected with newborn infants who test positive for drug use.

Source: Hill, R.B. (2006, May). Synthesis of research on disproportionality in child welfare: An update. p. 17-19. Report prepared for the Casey Center for the Study of Social Policy Alliance for Racial Equity. Available online from http://www.racemattersconsortium.org/docs/BobHillPaper_FINAL.pdf

Substantiation

Are there racial differences in substantiation?

According to 2003 National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) reports, there were four key predictors of substantiating an allegation of child maltreatment: (1) report was made by a professional; (2) prior report of abuse or neglect; (3) report was for physical abuse rather than neglect: (4) race or ethnicity of victim or family.

In 2003, 4 out of 10 allegations of maltreatment were substantiated. A comprehensive review of studies in states across the nation shows that children of color are significantly more likely to be substantiated than white children.

Source: Hill, R.B. (2006, May). Synthesis of research on disproportionality in child welfare: An update. p. 20-21. Report prepared for the Casey Center for the Study of Social Policy Alliance for Racial Equity. Available online from http://www.racemattersconsortium.org/docs/BobHillPaper_FINAL.pdf

Placement in Foster Care

According to 2003 National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) data, 15 percent of substantiated children nationally were placed in foster care while 85 percent received services in their own homes. Neglected children were more likely to be placed in foster care than physically and sexually abused children.

Black children who were victims of abuse or neglect were 36 percent more likely than white children than white victims of abuse or neglect to be placed in foster care.

Source: Hill, R.B. (2006, May). Synthesis of research on disproportionality in child welfare: An update. p. 21-22. Report prepared for the Casey Center for the Study of Social Policy Alliance for Racial Equity. Available online from http://www.racemattersconsortium.org/docs/BobHillPaper_FINAL.pdf

Race, Advantage, and Foster Care?

Sometimes people ask whether black children would still be placed in foster care if they had the same social advantages as white children.

Data from a number of studies reveal that advantaged black children still were more likely to be placed in foster care than white children in like circumstances. Hill (2005a) reanalyzed a large data set and controlled for abuse allegations, child disability, parental substance abuse, and Medicaid benefits: the child's race continued to be a strong determinant of foster care placement.

Source: Hill, R.B. (2006, May). Synthesis of research on disproportionality in child welfare: An update. p. 22-23. Report prepared for the Casey Center for the Study of Social Policy Alliance for Racial Equity. Available online from http://www.racemattersconsortium.org/docs/BobHillPaper_FINAL.pdf

Exits from Foster Care

Most studies show that the way children leave the care is a major contributor to disproportionality
White children are far more likely than children of color to be reunified with their families;
Children of color are increasingly likely to be adopted, but their adoptions take longer to finalize than their white counterparts;
There is no significant difference between children of color and white children in their rates of running away from care.
Obviously, longer stays in care contribute to racial disproportionality in child welfare.

Source: Hill, R.B. (2006, May). Synthesis of research on disproportionality in child welfare: An update. p. 24. Report prepared for the Casey Center for the Study of Social Policy Alliance for Racial Equity. Available online from http://www.racemattersconsortium.org/docs/BobHillPaper_FINAL.pdf

Reentry to the Child Welfare System

National reentry rates for children who leave foster care and return average about 20 percent in the first three years after leaving care, with no significant differences between races. Since reentry rates are equally high, this rate suggests general failures in rehabilitation, services, or inadequacies in the assessment and decision-making processes used in the broadly defined child welfare/mental health system.

Source: Hill, R.B. (2006, May). Synthesis of research on disproportionality in child welfare: An update. p. 25. Report prepared for the Casey Center for the Study of Social Policy Alliance for Racial Equity. Available online from http://www.racemattersconsortium.org/docs/BobHillPaper_FINAL.pdf

"The Visibility Hypothesis"

Black children are twice as likely to be placed in foster care when they live in counties where they comprise five to ten percent of the population than when they live in counties where they comprise 30 to 50 percent of the population!

This hypothesis has been confirmed in four sequential studies.

"Thus, to adequately understand the overrepresentation of children of color in foster care, it is necessary to also examine external factors that relate to the geographic context (especially their racial and ethnic composition) of the child welfare system" (Hill, 2006, p. 28).

Source: Hill, R.B. (2006, May). Synthesis of research on disproportionality in child welfare: An update. p. 25. Report prepared for the Casey Center for the Study of Social Policy Alliance for Racial Equity. Available online from http://www.racemattersconsortium.org/docs/BobHillPaper_FINAL.pdf

Services to Families and Children of Color

Numerous studies over many years document inequities in a wide range of fields, all of which contribute to disproportionality and disparate outcomes in child welfare.
38,000 excess deaths among black families every year attributed to racism in medical practice place children in single-parent families (Institute of Medicine, 2002).
Differential sentencing laws similarly place children of color at special risk for poverty, family disruption, and homelessness (National Urban League, 2007);
Repeated studies in child welfare reveal disparities such as fewer and lower qualities of services, fewer contacts by caseworkers, services delayed until problems are perceived as chronic, and failure to address basic needs such as food, shelter, and housing. (Hill, 2006, p. 28).
All these inequities contribute to disparate outcomes, and thereby contribute to barriers to reunification.

Sources: Everett, J.E., Chipunga, S.P., & Leashore, B. (2004). Child welfare revisited: An Africentric perspective. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers.
Hill, R.B. (2006, May). Synthesis of research on disproportionality in child welfare: An update. p. 28. Report prepared for the Casey Center for the Study of Social Policy Alliance for Racial Equity. Available online from http://www.racemattersconsortium.org/docs/BobHillPaper_FINAL.pdf
Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. (2003). Unequal treatment: Confronting racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare. Washington, DC: Author. National Urban League. (2007). The state of Black America 2007. Washington, DC: Author.

Disparities in "Kinship Care"

Both black and Latino cultures have long traditions of extended families caring for children, something that became known in the 1980s as "kinship care." Kinship care has become an increasingly popular resource, with obvious benefits in terms of continuity and stability.

On the other hand, numerous studies reveal significant disparities between the benefits and services provided to kin and non-kin foster caregivers. This is particularly disturbing as kinship caregivers may be economically disadvantaged, yet feel reluctant to request services essential to children's well-being.

Source: Hill, R.B. (2006, May). Synthesis of research on disproportionality in child welfare: An update. p. 29. Report prepared for the Casey Center for the Study of Social Policy Alliance for Racial Equity. Available online from http://www.racemattersconsortium.org/docs/BobHillPaper_FINAL.pdf

Mental Health Services and Disproportionality

Maltreated children who enter the child welfare system comprise a high risk group for serious impairment in a number of mental health areas as well as developmental delay. The additional stressors of being separated from parents and being in care compound these risks.

Numerous studies demonstrate that, controlling for variables such as age, diagnosis, form of maltreatment, and such, children of color are less likely to receive mental health services than white youth. In addition, several studies reveal that well-meaning clinicians who have internalized stereotypes of blacks as being more violent or aggressive than white youth may diagnose or develop treatment plans that divert children to the juvenile justice system rather than providing therapy, offer medication only in place of counseling, and at the very least delay exit from care.

Source: Hill, R.B. (2006, May). Synthesis of research on disproportionality in child welfare: An update. p. 31-32. Report prepared for the Casey Center for the Study of Social Policy Alliance for Racial Equity. Available online from http://www.racemattersconsortium.org/docs/BobHillPaper_FINAL.pdf

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