Citation

Barbarin OA. Int. J. Child Maltreat. 2021; 3(4): 449-466.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s42448-020-00063-5

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Long-standing disparities exist in the rates at which African American families come under the scrutiny of child welfare systems. Disparities occur most often at the reporting stage. African Americans families are disproportionally reported to and investigated for child neglect but not physical abuse. The strains of economic disadvantage experienced disproportionately by African American families make them more likely to be scrutinized by mandated reporters leading to an higher number of African American children who are removed from the care of their families and placed in foster care. Once under the supervision of the child welfare system, a lack of cultural sensitivity and a bias toward punishment make the system less likely to provide families the assistance they need to support the healthy development of their children. The outcomes of the majority of the children placed in foster care do not provide strong support that upon exiting the system the children are much better off for it. Upon leaving foster care almost half are chronically unemployed and are relegated to dead end low-wage job on which they are hardly able to meet their own needs let along support a family. This situation has led to calls for a radical re-envisioning of child welfare system to make it more pro-active and preventive. To address racial disparities institutional racism in child welfare must be confronted, a moratorium on mandated reporting of neglect should be enacted and child welfare systems should be re-focused from investigations of negligent families to reducing the disadvantages of socially neglected families.

Language: en