Services to African American Children in Poverty: Institutional Discrimination in Child Welfare?

Beyond Child Protection: Afro-Caribbean Service Users of Child Welfare

“…Both mothers and youths felt that they were treated differently by child welfare workers, foster parents, police, school personnel, and daycare staff. It is well-documented that children and families of color, especially African Americans, experience differential treatment and more negative outcomes than White children and families (Derezotes, 2002;Derezotes et al, 2005;Harris & Courtney, 2003;Rodenborg, 2004). As one mother in this study explained: I feel that I have been treated unfairly .…”

“…At every decision pointfrom reporting to investigation, substantiation, placement in foster care, and reunification-African American children and families are disproportionately represented (Chipungu & Bent-Goodley, 2004;Church, 2006;Fontes, 2002;Harris & Hackett, 2008;Hill 2006;Hines, et al, 2004;Lane, Rubin, Monteith, & Christian, 2002;Lu et al, 2004;Morton, 1999;Needell et al, 2003;Roberts, 2002;Stahmer et al, 2005). Several scholars have expressed concern about the inequitable treatment that Black children and families receive once involved with the child welfare system (Derezotes, 2002;Harris & Courtney, 2003;Rodenborg, 2004). For example, African American children had fewer contacts with child welfare workers, had fewer visits with families, received fewer mental health and other support services, had lower rates of adoption, and were less likely to be reunited with families (Chipungu & Bent-Goodley, 2004;Dunbar & Barth, 2007;Hill, 2006Hill, , 2007Lu et al, 2004;Needell et al, 2003;Stahmer et al, 2005;Owens et al, 2002;Roberts, 2002).…”

Practicing from Theory: Thinking and Knowing to “Do” Child Protection Work

“…So, in seeking to explain the phenomenon of child abuse, using a Critical Theory approach can argue that the widespread over-representation of minority (predominantly black but also inclusive of other minorities) children in Western child protection systems (see [52]) can be explained by racism, oppression and discrimination, for example [53][54][55], while still being congruent with the earlier positions of the perspective. While focusing on minority difference may leave relatively unscrutinised the protection needs of children from majority settings, the concern of this theoretical approach is of the tendency to increase surveillance on the "other" [4].…”

Service Referral Patterns Among Black and White Families Involved With Child Protective Services

“…In that frame, current evidence suggesting that Black families receive inadequate amounts or types of services (relative to White families) may indicate differential treatment by race such that, all else equal, Black families receive fewer compensatory services than White families (Rodenborg, 2004;Courtney et al, 1996). While services are often provided in conjunction with ongoing CPS monitoring, appropriate services have the potential to prevent an escalation in the severity of the case and decrease risk of recurrent CPS involvement (DePanfilis & Zuravin, 2002).…”

“…Indeed, some evidence suggests that the decision to provide services, and the amount and type of services offered, varies by the race of the child or parent, often with evidence suggesting that minority children and families receive fewer services, receive services that are inadequate to meet their Downloaded by [Korea University] at 08:26 26 December 2014 needs or are offered services for a shorter period of time (Courtney et al, 1996;Libby et al, 2007;Rodenborg, 2004;Unrau & Wells, 2005). However, the majority of this research pertains to foster care cases or CPS cases that were opened for ongoing monitoring.…”