Citation

Pryce J, Lee W, Crowe E, Park D, McCarthy M, Owens G. J. Public Child Welf. 2019; 13(1): 35-59.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/15548732.2018.1467354

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Racial disproportionality has been a longstanding issue within child welfare. The continued overrepresentation of black children in the foster care system is troubling. The authors of this article conducted a case study of two counties in New York State that have steadily decreased the number of black children in foster care in an effort to identify what aspects of their child welfare practice impacted the decline. The case study employed document analysis, in-depth interviews, and focus groups with child removal decision makers. Utilizing a grounded theory approach to content organization and analysis, several themes emerged as noticeable factors. Some of the most salient themes included preventive services and resources, community collaborations, case practice development, family meetings, workforce diversity, the court system, and, the most unique, blind removal meetings. The themes found in this study present promising practices to assist in decreasing the racial disparity in child welfare removal decisions.

Language: en

Keywords

child welfare; foster care; implicit bias; Racial disparity; racial disproportionality