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A paper by Robert B. Hill, Ph. D. commissioned by the Casey/CSSP Alliance on Racial Equity..
This study expands the knowledge about racial and ethnic disproportionality and disparity at
the national, state and county levels for the field of child welfare, using two national data sets,
the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) and the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis
and Reporting System (AFCARS), to examine the participation of Native American/American Indians, Asian
Americans/Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, Blacks, Hispanics and Whites at three decision-making
points: child protection investigations, substantiated investigations, and placement into foster care.
Race and Society, Volume 7, Issue 1, 2004, Pages 17-33
Robert B. Hill
Three reasons are most often provided to explain the persistent overrepresentation of black children in
the child welfare system. One, since black families have more risk factors (unemployment, single-parent
families, poverty, etc) that cause them to abuse and neglect their children more than white families,
the higher representation of blacks is appropriate. Two, since blacks are more highly concentrated among
the poor than whites, blacks are expected to be overrepresented in child welfare due to their lower class
status—not because of their race. But this article focuses on a third explanation—institutional racism.
This thesis holds that systemic discrimination, which emanates from decision-making processes in child welfare,
is a major contributor to the disparate representation of black children.
Robert Hill conducts an analysis which examines how institutional racism influences the operation of the child
welfare system to result in disparate adverse effects on black children and their families. The evolution of
blacks in child welfare is viewed from an historical perspective. It assesses the impact of other systems
(notably mental health, special education and juvenile justice) on the child welfare system. It examines
the extent to which decision-making processes at various stages of child welfare screen in black children
and screen out white children. It describes how systemic racism denies vital social and economic supports
to kin caregivers who are responsible for their related children. This assessment ends with practice, policy
and research recommendations to reduce the overrepresentation of black children in child welfare.
This article is available at the following link::
linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1090952404000403
Race Matters in Child Welfare: The Overrepresentation of African American Children in the System
Dennette Derezotes, John Poertner and Mark F. Testa, Editors
 Although African Americans
constituted 15% of the child population of the United States in 1999, they accounted for 45% of the children
in substitute care. In contrast, Caucasian children, who constituted 60% of the U.S. child population,
accounted for only 36% of the children in out-of-home care. Additionally, several studies show that children
of different ethnic or racial backgrounds receive dissimilar treatment by the child welfare system, but
little is known about the appropriateness of the treatment. This compilation of papers critically examines
child welfare policy and practice, the causes of child maltreatment, and how each impacts the disproportionate
representation of African American children in the system.
Price: $24.95
CWLA Stock Number: 8746
Publication Date: 2004
ISBN-13: 9780878688746
Available at the following link: http://www.cwla.org/pubs/pubdetails.asp?PUBID=8746
A paper by Robert B. Hill, Ph. D. commissioned by the Casey/CSSP Alliance on Racial Equity.
This paper summarizes current research findings on racial disproportionality and disparities
in treatment and services within the child welfare system, as well as, explores recent patterns
in child maltreatment and disproportionality, the role race plays at various decision-making
stages in child welfare, the extent of racially disparate treatment in child welfare, and how
other social systems contribute to disproportionality in child welfare.
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