Eps 8: Racial issue child welfare system
It also describes strategies that can assist child welfare administrators, program managers, and policymakers with addressing these issues in general and at specific decision points in the child welfare process (e.g., prevention, reporting, investigation, service provision, out-of-home care, permanency).
Examples of State and local initiatives that address disproportionality also are highlighted.
This issue brief explores the prevalence of racial disproportionality and disparity in the child welfare system.
Host
Madison Walker
Podcast Content
It remains unclear whether institutional bias in the area of child welfare has led to increased scrutiny of children from ethnic minorities. Many studies have been conducted on racial inequalities in the child welfare system, and a significant number of them have documented the over-representation of black children within the system. There is no clear evidence that ethnic minority or ethnic minority children are more likely to be involved in child welfare than their white counterparts.
It should also be noted that disruptive behavioural problems are of crucial importance for the welfare of children, as they are a robust indicator of instability in the placement of young people. Such factors may explain why African-American youth are more likely than non-Hispanic or white youth to be diagnosed with disorders and problems, even though physician assessments of impairments and parent assessments of external problems do not indicate ethnic or ethnic differences.
In Connecticut, we have worked with the state to identify opportunities for black children in foster care to be reunited with their families quickly, and have helped to show that a significant number of them are successfully reunited within 12 months. Black children, including mandatory health checks - Ups, social services and family reunification programs.
This is one of the most important issues we see when it comes to racism and racial injustice in the best interests of children. Eliminating structural racism among the children the system serves is a priority for children's rights. In 2020, we received a grant to explore and recommend strategies to end the surveillance, investigation, and ousting practices in our system that reinforce structural racism and tear families of color apart.
The front door is a very problematic way for children to enter the child welfare system. We need to focus like lasers on keeping children in their families and pretending they get the dollars they need to do what they want. Our group has a mission to move the system forward by understanding the importance of strengthening the family and caring for those who want to deport the children.
We have developed prejudices about the purpose of the child protection system. We must conclude that this is an institution designed to monitor, regulate and punish poor families of color.
Most white children entering the system are allowed to stay with their families to avoid the consequences of their actions, while most black children are deprived of their families. Black children in the social care system were placed with foster carers for more than three times as long as their white counterparts. Once out of the home, a black child receives fewer benefits, is less likely to be adopted or sent home than its white counterpart, and is more likely to stay or move within and outside the state's child protection system. In most cases, if removed, he will remain in foster care for at least two years before being adopted.
Although this list is not exhaustive, it is a good starting point to explore why so many African-American children are and remain in foster care.
In Pelton's work on this topic he found that the poor were over-represented in child welfare as a group. Since poverty is the main cause of child poverty in the US, we would expect poor, white, and others to be more represented in foster care than in other social programs. Although a significant number of African Americans live in poverty, we do not see numbers of black children in Foster's care in many states, such as New York and New Jersey.
Understanding the structure of the child protection system and the role of women in its design partly explains why our legal system is so comfortable tolerating voluntary advocates whose role in other contexts would not survive even half-hearted challenges through due process. I remember very well that during the civil war, women played a key role in creating the modern child protection system. Although the CASA program is a relatively new development, it has been practiced since it was created in the 1980s as an experiment by a Seattle judge.
This bias harms the child welfare system, which includes families of color and lower socio-economic status. Help us develop a broader view of the CASA program through the work of our colleagues at the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington and the Center for American Progress.
Statistics from similar reports across the country show differences in race and poverty. This article deals with race - poverty, although we must also address other prejudices, such as those relating to entitlement to child care, entitlement to benefits and entitlement to childcare. Race and socioeconomic status influence decisions in many ways, not only in the social system, but also in education, employment, health care, and other areas.