The following resources provide State and local examples of data, analysis, and reporting focused on disproportionality and disparity within their child welfare systems.
2020 Child Welfare Data Book (PDF - 639 KB)
Oregon Department of Human Services, Office of Reporting, Research, Analytics and Implementation (2021)
Presents tables showing Oregon’s child welfare data, including the disproportionality index and representation rates by race/ethnicity of children.
Child Welfare Data Dashboard
Minnesota Department of Human Services
Provides data on State performance measures and Federal performance measures for Minnesota and includes a race/ethnicity figure for each.
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.
State-Level Data for Understanding Child Welfare in the United States
Williams (2020)
Child Trends
Displays State and national data on child maltreatment, foster care, kinship care, and adoptions. The data shows race and ethnicity statistics for each topic in each State.
2020 State of Child Welfare: Protecting Children and Promoting Stable Families in PA
Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children (2020)
Presents a five-year analysis of Pennsylvania’s child welfare system and examines county-level and State-level racial disparity and disproportionality.
Child Welfare Fact Sheet: Achieving Race Equity in the Child Welfare System (PDF - 194 KB)
Rhode Island KIDS COUNT (2020)
Provides a report on disproportionality in the child welfare system in Rhode Island, including statistics, and offers a series of recommendations for how to reduce these inequities.
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.
Also see: A Discussion Guide (PDF - 101 KB)
Contact With Child Protective Services is Pervasive But Unequally Distributed By Race and Ethnicity in Large U.S. Counties
Edwards, Wakefield, Healy, & Wildeman (2021)
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Examines rates of Child Protective Services contacts in the 20 most populous counties in the United States and shows racial and ethnic inequality is high in some counties.
Does Contact With Child Protective Services Vary by Race/Ethnicity and County?
Casey Family Programs (2021)
Provides county-level data on race/ethnicity and involvement with child protection for the 20 largest counties in the United States.
Fiscal Year 2021 Disproportionality and Disparity Analysis (PDF - 681 KB)
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (2021)
Reviews data in Texas for 2021 regarding racial disproportionality across child welfare system involvement and shows African American children are overrepresented.
LBGTQ Youth in the Massachusetts Child Welfare System: A Report on Pervasive Threats to Safety, Wellbeing, and Permanency (PDF - 954 KB)
Hussey (2021)
Massachusetts Commission on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Questioning Youth
Examines the experiences of LGBTQ+ youth with the child welfare system in Massachusetts and reports on issues around safety, threats to wellbeing, and poor permanency outcomes.
LGBTQAI+ Action Plan (PDF - 3,092 KB)
New York City Administration for Children’s Services (2020)
Describes the overrepresentation of LGBTQAI+ children and youth in New York City’s foster care system and identifies negative differences in the experiences of this population as compared to their peers.
LGBTQ Youth in Unstable Housing and Foster Care
Baams, Wilson, & Russell (2019)
Pediatrics, 143(3)
Shares a research study that finds 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.
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
Offers an analysis 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 in Allegheny County’s child welfare system and the progress that has been made since the analysis.