The following resources provide State and local examples of data, analysis, and reporting focused on disproportionality and disparity within their child welfare systems.
Data Books or Dashboards
2018 Child Welfare Data Book (PDF - 1,628 KB)
Oregon Department of Human Services, Office of Reporting, Research, Analytics and Implementation (2019)
Analyzes Oregon’s child welfare data across the child welfare continuum, from child protective services to adoption and guardianship. The report contains tables showing the disproportionality index and representation rates by race/ethnicity across the child welfare continuum.
Child Welfare Data Dashboard
Minnesota Department of Human Services (2020)
Provides data on State performance measures and Federal performance measures for Minnesota that can be filtered by performance measure and year from 2015 to 2018. Each performance measure includes a race/ethnicity figure that visualizes whether that race/ethnicity meets the performance standard.
Children in Foster Care, by Race/Ethnicity
kidsdata.org
Presents the rate per 1,000 of children in foster care by race/ethnicity for each county in California.
Community Builders: Data and Research
Children’s Services Council of Services Council of Broward County
Provides a data dashboard that includes race and ethnicity information across several systems, including child welfare, utilizing their integrated data system.
Reports
Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder in Child Protection: Disparities, Allegations and Services (PDF - 360 KB)
DeZelar (2019)
Minn-Link, 40
University of Minnesota, Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare
Explains the disparities found for children with autism spectrum disorder in the child welfare system in Minnesota. The research brief also describes child welfare disparities related to the identity intersectionality of autism spectrum disorder with race/ethnicity, income, and living area.
Also see: A Discussion Guide (PDF - 101 KB)
Conditions of Children in or At Risk of Foster Care in Illinois: FY2019 Monitoring Report of the B.H. Consent Decree (PDF - 4,291 KB)
Fuller, Nieto, Wang, et al. (2019)
University of Illinois, School of Social Work, Children and Family Research Center
Details the State of Illinois’ compliance with their goals of child safety, permanency, and well-being across several different domains, one of them being racial disproportionality (see Chapter 4 of the report). The analysis found that children who are African American are overrepresented and children who are Hispanic are underrepresented consistently.
Data Brief: Racial Disproportionality in Allegheny County’s Child Welfare System (PDF - 124 KB)
The Allegheny County Department of Human Services (2017)
Analyzes racial disproportionality within child welfare in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The report found that Black and bi/multiracial children are referred to child welfare at disproportionate rates and that disproportionality continues throughout child welfare involvement.
FY 2018 Disproportionality Analysis (PDF - 872 KB)
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (2018)
Reviews fiscal year 2018 Texas data regarding racial disproportionality across child welfare system involvement from referral to removal and compares changes over time and by county. The report shares that children who are African American continue to be overrepresented from referral to removal.
The Nebraska Foster Care Review Office Quarterly Report: Second Quarter Report
Nebraska Foster Care Review Office (2018)
Provides information and recommends changes for the Nebraska Legislature on conditions and outcomes for children in foster care in Nebraska. Pages 7–18 of the report include a special study on “Disproportionality of Minority Children in Out-of-Home or Trial Home Placements.”
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ+) Data
LGBTQAI+ Action Plan (PDF - 3,092 KB)
New York City Administration for Children’s Services (2020)
Describes how LGBTQAI+ children and youth are overrepresented in New York City’s foster care system and identifies differences in the experiences of this population as compared to their peers. Findings showed LGBTQAI+ youth are more likely to be youth of color, be placed in group homes, have severed ties with family members, run away or be homeless, and struggle with depression.
LGBTQ Youth in Unstable Housing and Foster Care
Baams, Wilson, & Russell (2019)
Pediatrics, 143(3)
Shares a research study that presents data from the California Healthy Kids Survey. The survey found youth living in foster care and unstable housing are disproportionately lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ). Additionally, the study found that youth in foster care who are LGBTQ have disparate outcomes resulting in more fights in school and more victimization, and they are more likely to be depressed than heterosexual youth in foster care.
Progress Towards Building an Affirming and Supportive Child Welfare System: getREAL in Allegheny County (PDF - 5,253 KB)
Weber & Bettencourt (2019)
Center for the Study of Social Policy
Explains the institutional analysis that focused on the experiences of LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning and those for whom these labels do not accurately describe their sexual orientation or gender identity) children and families in Allegheny County’s child welfare system from 2013 to 2014 and the follow-up progress that has been completed since the analysis. One of the challenges needing attention is integrating racial disparity and LGBTQ+ efforts so they are not siloed.
Study Finds Overrepresentation of LGBTQ+ Youth in Midwest Foster Care System
Institute for Innovation and Implementation
Describes the overrepresentation of LGBTQ+ youth in an Ohio-based child welfare agency. It also presents negative outcomes that are more common among this population and practice improvements to address these outcomes.