Opinion: Reducing racial disparities in foster care might endanger Black children
LA TimesTo what lengths should we go to reduce racial disparities in the child welfare system? The only racial or ethnic group currently subject to different treatment is Native children under the Indian Child Welfare Act, which requires different measures for determining whether maltreatment can be substantiated, different efforts toward reunification and different standards for placement in foster care or adoption. And yet cases involving Black children represent only 17% of the families involved with Minnesota’s child welfare system. The racial disparities in these measures are actually larger than the racial disparities in the child welfare system, another indication that the system has already erred on the side of leaving too many Black children in dangerous situations. As one recent paper in the journal Child Maltreatment noted, “Available data provide no evidence that Black children were overreported relative to observed risks and harms reflected in non-CPS data.” Before we throw out the constitutional principles of equal protection for members of every race, we should take a closer look at the facts on the ground.
History of this topic
Opinion: Fentanyl could fuel another cycle of loss in L.A.’s Black communities. It doesn’t have to
LA Times
Opinion: How to prevent Black kids from becoming stuck in foster care
LA Times
Two women murdered their adopted Black kids. One writer sought out the birth families
LA Times
Is our child welfare system "broken"? Or is it ripping apart Black families by design?
Salon
Children in care ‘handed over to criminals and abusers’ due to ‘failing’ system
The Independent
AP analysis: COVID prolonged foster care stays for thousands
Associated PressDiscover Related
