Children of Color in the Child Welfare System: Perspectives from the Child Welfare Community

		Email Follow these Steps to email a friend or colleague a link to this information. Children of Color in the Child Welfare System: Perspectives from the Child Welfare Community Year Published: 2003 http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/otherpubs/children/index.cfm Responding to concerns about the over-representation of minority children in the child welfare system, particularly African-American children, the Children's Bureau sponsored an exploratory qualitative study of the child welfare system's response to children of color. The project was intended to gain insight into the issue of over-representation (or racial disproportionality) from the perspective of the child welfare community, including agency administrators, supervisors, and direct service workers, and to describe the strategies child welfare and child-welfare serving agencies use to meet the needs of children and families of color in the child welfare system. The project team conducted site visits to child welfare agencies to talk with agency administrators, supervisors, and workers, among others, regarding the issue of over-representation, and to find out more about the types of programs, practices, and strategies that are being implemented to meet the needs of children and families of color, particularly African-American children and families. Nine sites were selected for participation, including: one agency each in Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, California, North Carolina, Virginia, and Texas, and two agencies in Minnesota. Participants were asked to describe their own general perceptions of the issue of overrepresentation, the types of policies, procedures or practices they thought would enable their agency to better serve children and families of color, and their own agencies' ongoing programs and policies that address the needs of children and families of color. Across all sites, an overwhelming majority of participants at all levels cited poverty, and poverty-related circumstances, as primary reasons for the over-representation of minority children in the child welfare system. In terms of directions for change, the overwhelming emphasis among participants was for agencies to focus on prevention and provide more front-end or prevention programs and services to families. Current efforts of agencies to serve children of color included prevention programs, recruitment of minority foster and adoptive families, systems reform, collaboration and contracted services, developing councils on over-representation, and focusing on agency practices, including implementing practices related to training and supervision of staff and hiring a diverse staff to better represent the population. A literature review, implications for policy and practice, and recommendations for future research are provided. 111 references. (Author abstract modified) Step 1: Recipient email address(es) (First one is Required) To Email Address 1: To Email Address 2: To Email Address 3: To Email Address 4: To Email Address 5:   Step 2: From Email Address (Required) From Email Address:   Step 3: Verify You are Human (Required) Are you Human? True False   Step 3: Send the link Print (PDF 1270KB)  Share
Author(s)	United States. Children's Bureau. Chibnall, Susan.;Dutch, Nicole M.;Jones-Harden, Brenda.;Brown, Annie.;Gourdine, Ruby.
Year Published	2003

Table of Contents

Authors

Acknowledgements

Executive Summary

I. Introduction

II. Literature Review

2.1 Theories of Disproportionate Minority Representation

Disproportionate need
Racial bias and child welfare decision making
Interactions between family risk and child welfare practice

2.2 Race and Decision Making in the Child Welfare System

Incidence of CAN and reports of abuse
Investigation and substantiation
Family preservation and reunification
Foster care

2.3 Conclusion

III. Methodology

3.1 Developing the Research Questions

3.2 Selecting and Recruiting the Case Study Sites

3.3 Developing the Discussion Topics

3.4 Conducting the Site Visits

IV. Findings

4.1 The Issue of Over-Representation: The Perspective from the Field

External factors
Poverty and related issues
Community and family characteristics
Discriminatory practices
Media issues
Internal factors
Worker bias
Agency practices
Over-representation and Federal policies
The Multi-ethnic Placement Act
Adoption and Safe Families Act

4.2 Examining the Strategies Child Welfare Agencies Use to Meet the Needs of Children and Families of Color

How can agencies better serve children and families of color?
The nature of service delivery: emphasizing prevention
Building public and private agency partnerships
Additional resources
Agency-related factors
Staff issues
Administrative support
What is necessary to reduce over-representation?
External resources for clients
Agency resources for clients
Community connections

4.3 Responding to Children and Families of Color: Promising Programs and Practices Prevention programs

V. Discussion

5.1 Racial Disproportionality in the Child Welfare System

5.2 Service Delivery Strategies and Children of Color

5.3 Concluding Remarks

VI. Implications for Policy and Practice

6.1 Implications for Practice

Workforce issues
Strategies for serving children and families of color

6.2 Implications for Policy

VII. Recommendations For Future Research

What is the impact of systematic reforms and their resulting practices on racial disproportionality in the child welfare system?

Do those who report child abuse and neglect discriminate against families of color?

Are culture-specific prevention programs successful in reducing the numbers of children entering the child welfare system?

Do targeted recruitment programs, designed to increase the numbers of minority foster and adoptive parents, result in decreased numbers of minority children in the child welfare system?

Do staff characteristics influence the trajectories of minority children in the child welfare system?

Do minority children and families have a different level of resources when compared to majority children and families?

What are the effects of cultural competency and cultural sensitivity training on actual child welfare practice?

What about Federal policies?

VIII. Conclusions

Appendix

References

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