Achieving Fairness and Equity: How Training Can Be Part of the Solution

1
Achieving Fairness and Equity How Training Can
Be Part of the Solution

• Symposium on Fairness and Equity Issues in Child
  Welfare Training and Education
• Ruth G. McRoy, Ph.D.
• r.mcroy_at_mail.utexas.edu
• April 12, 2007

2
Role of Training and Education in Promoting Fair
and Equitable Practice within the Field of Child
Welfare

• Review of Disproportionality Data and Issues
• Differential Impact of Services on Specific
  Populations
• Causes, Challenges
• Promising practices
• Staff Training and Educational Challenges and
  Issues
• Promoting Fairness and Equity Through Training

3
Recognize Causes

• As Courtney asked in 1996, Do child welfare
  researchers, policymakers, and practitioners
  believe that it is ethically acceptable to be
  involved in improving the efficacy of a system
  that takes these children without simultaneously
  being involved in remedying the problems that
  bring the children to the system?

4
Child Welfare Public and Private System

• Intersects with and is influenced by
• Juvenile Justice
• Welfare
• Criminal Justice
• Education
• Health Care
• Child Care
• Mental Health
• Media
• Federal and State policy
• .

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Child Welfare Professionals In Search of Answers

• Disproportionality in Child Welfare
• The history
• The context
• Definitions
• Evidence
• Theories
• Responses
• Promising practices

6
1959 Maas and Engler

• reported that more AA children in care and less
  likely to be adopted

7
1963

• Culturally insensitive workers removing children
  from undesirable family situation and placing
  in foster care--
• 81 of children in out of home care in 1963 were
  there because parents were unmarried or came from
  broken homes--
• Most were African American and Indian

8
Jeter (1963) reported that Black children were

• Remaining in foster care for longer periods of
  time than white children
• Adoption not being offered on equitable basis
• Ongoing discrimination in service provision
• Black children being served by public agencies
  and
• Private agencies serving white children

9
Billingsley Giovannoni (1972)

• The system of child welfare is failing Black
  children. It is our thesis that the failure is a
  manifest result of racism that racism has
  pervaded the development of the system of
  services and that racism persists in its present
  operation (p.3)
• Is this still true in 2007?

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1980s to 2005

• Trends in Numbers of Children in Care
• 1982 262,000 children in care (52 were Anglo)
• 1993 429,000(38 Anglo)
• 2000 588,000(35 Anglo)
• 2002 532,000 (39 Anglo)
• 2003 523,000 (39 Anglo)
• 2005 513,000(41 Anglo)

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Overrepresentation

• If a particular racial/ethnic group of children
  is represented in foster care at a higher
  percentage than they are represented in the
  general population

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Disproportionality

• A situation in which a particular racial/ethnic
  group of children is represented in foster care
  at a higher percentage than other racial/ethnic
  groups
• (I.e. If 5 of all White children are in care,
  then 5 of African American, Hispanic etc.)

13
U.S. Child Population under 18( in care)

• 61 White (41 in care)
• 17 Hispanic/Latino (18 in care)
• 15 African American (32 in care)
• 3 Asian American (1 in care)
• 1 American Indian/AN (2 in care)

14
According to AFCARS estimates for Sept. 2005

• 513,000 children in the US foster care system
• White, 41
• Black, Non-Hispanic 32
• Hispanic, 18
• AI/AN Non Hispanic 2
• Asian/PI NI Non-Hispanic 1
• Unknown 2
• Two or more races 3

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2006 California Child Population ( in Care)

• 44 Hispanic (42 in care)
• 35 White (26 in care)
• 10 Asian American (2 in care)
• 7 African American (28 in care)
• 1 American Indian/AN (1 in care)

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78,278 California children in foster Care on July
1, 2006

• 6 are less than one year of age
• 25-- 1-5
• 21-- 6 and 10
• 30-- 11 and 15
• 17-- 16-19
• 1 -- over 19

17
Good News

• In 2000 there were 108,000 in foster care.
• Number in California foster care has decreased
  by 8 from 2003 to 2005

18
County Data

• Alameda County
• 15 of child population is Black
• 67 of children in care are Black
• Contra Costa County
• 11 of Child population is Black
• 46 of children in care are Black
• Solano County
• 17 of child population is Black
• 40 of children in care are Black

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(No Transcript)
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Disparities not unique to California

• 46 states have disproportionate representation of
  African American children in their child welfare
  systems.
• Studies recently completed in MN, Michigan,
  Texas
• Childrens Rights Law Suit in Tennessee

21
Center for Study of Social Policy

• Calculated State by State Statistical Profile of
  Racial Overrepresentation in Foster Care
• States with Extreme Disproportion(16)
• Rhode Island
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• Iowa
• Indiana
• Pennsylvania
• Arizona
• Montana

• Illinois
• California
• Oregon
• Wyoming
• Minnesota
• Idaho
• New Hampshire
• Wisconsin

22
Demographics of the 78,278 California children in
Foster Care

• Average number of months in care 39 months in
  2003 (30 months nationally)
• 46 have experienced three or more foster care
  placements (42 nationally)
• Majority of children come into care because of
  parental neglect

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Californias foster children

• 47,429 waiting to be reunified
• 5 or 4,852 waiting to be adopted
• Avg. time foster care children have been
• waiting to be adopted-- 46 months (42 months
  nationally)

24
AFRICAN AMERICAN CHILDREN IN CARE IN CALIFORNIA

• African American children represent 6.7 of the
  under 17 population.
• But represent 28 of those in social services
  care
• 21, 915 children in care are African American

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Black kids more often taken from families by
social workers

• Recent news headline
• Santa Clara CountyBlack children represented
  only 2.4 of the population younger than 17 in
  the county, but accounted for 12.8 percent of
  children in the child welfare system in 2005,
  more than 7 times the rate of White children.

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Needell, Brookhart, Lee (2003)

• Needell, Brookhart, Lee (2003) found that Black
  children in California are more likely than White
  or Hispanic children to be removed from their
  caretaker and placed in care, even when age,
  reason for maltreatment, neighborhood poverty are
  taken into account.

27
Annually about 11 or 4,535 California children
exit care at 18 or older

• Another 7 (2,877) leave for other reasons
• Including running away, transfer, or death

28
Nationally, about 20,000 children age out of
foster care with no place to go.

• Former foster children are 22 times more likely
  to be homeless than peers and one-third end up
  poor.

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Child Welfare Decision Point Analysis

• Identify points where change in representation
  occurs
• Report/no report
• Investigation/no investigation
• Substantiation/no substantiation
• Case closed/no services/in home services/out of
  home care (kin,foster)
• Reunification/adoption/remain in care or age out

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Percent of African American vs. White Children
in population, victims, entering foster care, in
foster care, and waiting for adoption
Child Maltreatment 2002 http//www.acf.hhs.gov/pr
ograms/cb/publications/cm02/index.htm, p.
23 National Adoption and Foster Care Statistics
http//www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/dis/afcars/publ
ications/afcars.htm Estimates based on AFCARS
data 3/04
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African American children in California

• Are more likely than White or Latino children to
  be reported for abuse, and more likely to be
  placed in foster care, particularly if they are
  infants. They are less likely to be reunified and
  adopted than children of other races (Needell, et
  al, 2004).

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Questions

• Why are children of color reported to the system
  at such a high rate?
• What is the relationship between poverty and
  disproportionality?
• Do children receiving a greater level of publicly
  funded services get referred to child welfare
  more often, due to visibility?
• What is the relationship between neighborhoods
  and services?
• What is impact of children who live in resource
  poor neighborhoods?
• (Crystal Ward Allen-Public Children Services
  Association of Ohio 2005)

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Possible Explanations

• Disproportionate need
• Societal discriminatory practices over which the
  child welfare systems have little or no control.
• Discriminatory practices within the child welfare
  system (Needell, et al. 2003).

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Courtney (1996) reported inequities in

• child maltreatment reporting
• service provision
• kinship care
• family preservation

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Courtney (1996) reported inequities in

• exit rates
• length of care
• placement stability
• adoption
• Majority of racial differences reported were
  between African Americans and Anglos rather than
  any other group

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Links to Child Welfare

• Poverty
• Domestic Violence
• Growth of single parent families
• Impact of welfare reform
• Child support
• Neglect is often product of poverty/high
  visibility
• Child maltreatment
• Judicial system
• Homelessness
• Substance Abuse
• Oppression/Racism

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Considerations in Disproportionality

• Poverty
• Lindsey (1991) and Pelton (1989)
• Parental income is the best predictor of child
  removal and placement
• Majority of children in care from single parent,
  low-income households.

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(Pelton, 1989, pp. 52-53)

• The reason for placement is that the family,
  frequently due to poverty does not have the
  resources to offset the impact of situational or
  personal problems which themselves are often
  caused by poverty, and the agencies have failed
  to provide the needed supports, such as baby
  sitting, homemaking, day care, financial
  assistance, and housing assistance.

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In California

• 1 in 5 children lives in a household that earns
  less than the federal poverty level (16,600 per
  year for a family of three).
• 1 in 3 African American, Latino and Native
  American children, ages 5 and younger, lives in a
  very low-income family.
• One in 12 White children lives in a very low
  income family.

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The State of Black California Racial Inequality

• Blacks economic standing is a little over half
  that of Whites
• Blacks housing quality, health index, education,
  criminal justice index
• is about two-thirds that of Whites.
• Only index in which Blacks scored higher is civic
  participation.

41
According to The State of Black California

• Black poverty rate is 22.4 compared to the White
  poverty rate at 8.
• 33.9 of Black children live in two parent
  families as compared to 72 of White children.
• Blacks higher in felony arrests, misdemeanor
  arrests, homicide rates for males and females
  higher in school dropout rates

42
Neglect

• Often product of poverty
• Parents under scrutiny/more likely to be reported

43
Theories of Disparities

• Spatial concentration of child welfare
  supervision in communities of color.
• Lindsey (1991)parents income level was best
  predictor of childs removal (national survey
  data analysis of those who received supportive
  services and those placed in care)

44
Possible Explanations

• Disproportionate need
• Societal discriminatory practices over which the
  child welfare systems have little or no control.
• Discriminatory practices within the child welfare
  system (Needell, et al. 2003).

45
Barth (2001)suggests multiplicative model

• There are small to medium increases in the
  disproportionality by population experienced by
  AA children as they move through the child
  welfare system, which results in substantial
  differences in their representation in child
  welfare compared to their representation in
  general population
• Argues greater risk for child abuse and neglect
  in AA families
• Reentry rates highest for AA children

46
Garland, et al (1998)

• Reported that race/ethnicity is a factor in
  determining placement of African American
  children and not simply a confound related to
  socioeconomic factors

47
Jenkins and Diamond (1985)

• Higher probability for minority children to be
  placed in foster care when living in a geographic
  area where they are relatively less represented
  (more visible).

48
Visibility Hypothesis

• Garland, et.al (1998) tested this hypothesis
  using population of minors referred to receiving
  facility in San Diego.
• More visible a child was in community, more
  likely child would be placed in foster care.
• Pattern only present for African American
  childrennot Hispanic or Asian children.
• Pattern not related to socioeconomic
  characteristics, as these were equal among AA and
  Hispanic

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Unintentional Bias

• Robert Hill (2004) suggested that many
  caseworkers are looking out for the best
  interests of children, but many may be culturally
  insensitive to minority groups.

50
Differential attributions and labeling bias

• Physicians may be more likely to attribute injury
  to abuse in lower income homes.

51
Child Maltreatment Reporting

• AA families more likely to be reported for
  suspected child abuse and neglect, YET
• NIS-1,NIS2,NIS3--estimates about incidence of
  child abuse and neglect reported NO differences
  in incidence of child abuse and neglect by racial
  group

52
Parental Substance Abuse

• Parental substance abuse reason for 42 of
  children who were victims of abuse and neglect
• In 77 of these cases, alcohol was the problem
  substance, and cocaine in 23
• Alcohol and drug related cases more likely to
  result in foster care placements than other cases
  (DHHS, 1999)
• Black women more likely to be reported for
  prenatal substance abuse and
• more likely to have children removed

53
Relationship between race and child welfare
outcomes

• African Americans disproportionately poor
• Disparate family preservation service delivery
• Inequities in child maltreatment reporting,
  service provision, kinship care, family
  preservation, exit rates, length of care,
  placement stability and adoption (Courtney 1996,
  Barth, 1994)
• Enter care at younger ages (Kemp Bodonyi, 2000)
• Less likely to have plans for visitation (Olsen,
  1982)

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Child and Family Reviews

• Noted a strong association between caseworker
  visits and improved outcomes for children.
• Greater likelihood of involving children and
  parents in case planning
• Greater likelihood of reunification or
• Placement in other living arrangements in a more
  timely manner
• Managing the risk of harm to children

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Children of Color in the Child Welfare system

• I think any individual, regardless of their
  minority status, that ends up in a poverty
  situation is more visible, because theyre having
  to access free clinics, and social services, and
  welfare, and those types of things. Child abuse,
  certainly crosses the broad range of
  socio-economic classes, however, if you have more
  wealth to your name, its easier to cover up.
  People are less likely to report you. (Comments
  from CPS Worker)

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• Families living in poverty are most likely to be
  living in resource poor communities,
  geographically isolated from other communities
  that might offer support and services. Without
  access to services, families are further
  compromised. The more compromised these families
  are, the more likely it is that they eventually
  will come into contact with the system.

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Disparities not Unique to Child Welfare

• Also occur in
• Special Education
• Health
• Mental Health
• Criminal Justice

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Decision Makers Needing Training

• Social Workers
• Judges
• Teachers
• Medical Personnel

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Addressing Disproportionality

• Child Welfare Information Gateway
• State and Local Efforts to Mitigate
  Disproportionality
• http//basis1.ccalib.com/BASIS/chdocs/docs/canweb/
  SF
• Casey Family Programs Breakthrough Series
• Race Matters Consortium (racemattersconsortium.org
  
• State Studies on Disproportionality
• Minnesota, Michigan, Texas
• Court Cases

60
Rep. Rangel Started Inquiry

• into the High Number of Black Children in Foster
  Care
• Releases Data Showing Significant
  Over-Representationand Requests Investigation
  from the GAO

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Assembly Bill 672

• February 21, 2007
• Introduced by Assembly Member Beall
• Will require the California Child Welfare Council
  to prepare a workplan and appoint a committee to
  develop a statewide vision and strategy for
  reducing the inappropriate disproportionate
  representation of children of color in
  Californias child welfare and foster care
  systems.

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• The ethnically competent social worker of today
  and of the future must be sensitive to ethnic
  considerations and competent in dealing with
  ethnic concerns.Leigh(1985) The Ethnically
  Competent Social Worker.

63
NASW Standards for Cultural Competence in Social
Work Practice

• Cultural Competence refers to not only knowledge
  about a culture, but the ability to provide
  meaningful assistance to and on behalf of someone
  from that culture.
• Cross Cultural Skills
• Use the clients natural support system in
  resolving problems

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Heart BeatNewsletter of the Public Children
Services Association of Ohio (Vol. 18, 8, 2005)

• The strategy is not about defending our system,
  or assigning blame, but recognizing that child
  welfare must be one of the leaders to develop
  strategies to change outcomes for large numbers
  of children.
• Training caseworkers on diversity is not the
  solution! If it were, our numbers would have
  improved by now. (Crystal Ward Allen, Exec.
  Dir.)

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Professional Social Work Education

• Social work continues to lag in producing a
  labor force prepared to take on the complexities
  of culture, race, and ethnicity to maximize
  positive outcomes for children, families, and
  communities.
• Agency administrators regularly proclaim that
  graduating social workers are unprepared to work
  with diverse client populations.
• (McPhatter Ganaway, 2003).

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• Components of cultural competency
• Knowledge (history, ones culture and that of
  clients )
• Self-awareness and understanding dynamics of
  difference in the helping process understand
  power and privilege
• Intervention strategies and skills
• Selecting, modifying and assessing the
  appropriateness of available practice strategies
  to work with diverse client groups adapt
  practice skills to the clients cultural context
• Understand the differential impact of social
  policy on special populations

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RecommendationsMore than just numbers

• Need to study link between workforce issues and
  improved outcomes for children and families
• Studies have shown that to improve staff
  retention, must not only reduce direct service
  caseloads, but also improve supervision, agency
  supports, and hire staff with professional
  commitment to the job and relevant education

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GAO (2003)

• Workforce issues
• Low salaries, high caseloads, administrative
  burdens, lack of supervisory support and
  insufficient training opportunities.

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Moving from Cultural Competency to Fairness and
Equity
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Decision Points

• Every decision point is subject to bias. The
  challenge is to understand how such biases
  manifest in the child welfare system.

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Prevention and Family Reunification

• Work to prevent unnecessary out-of-home placement
  or to promote family reunification
• Agencies should acknowledge inequitable service
  delivery to minority children and analyze why

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Training on Prevention Programs-Point of
Engagement

• Alternative Response Systems
• Identify and engage at-risk families before they
  come to the attention of the formal child welfare
  system.
• Differential Responsecommunity based network of
  formal and informal support services for children
  and families with multiple inconclusive child
  abuse and neglect referrals to divert families
  from CPS
• Seamless service delivery community outreach
  team decision making one stop shopping safety
  net

73
Family Assessment Training

• Are conditions related to safety the result of
  poverty factors?
• Is substance use affecting parenting?
• Have maternal and paternal relatives been
  conducted?
• What are the alternative forms of permanency?
• What are the familys mental health, income,
  housing and substance abuse needs?

74
Need Training in Enhancing Caseworker Visits

• Role of supervisors in promoting the quality and
  timeliness of caseworker visits
• Link between caseworker visits and outcomes for
  children and families
• Caseworker visiting strategies
• What worked well?
• Challenges during visit?
• Meeting goals of visit
• Relating to children and families

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Role of Caseworkers in Child Placement Decision
Making

• Child Outcomes
• SafetyRemove the child from risk of harm
• ALSO CONSIDER
• PermanencyStability and outcomeadoption,
  guardianship, emancipation, age out, reunified
• Well Beingmental and emotional health, physical
  health, and educational attainment

76
Training on Special Challenges for Youth

• Experienced abuse and neglect
• Physical and mental health problems
• Developmental delays
• Educational difficulties
• Mild to severe psychological and behavioral
  difficulties
• Multiple moves/losses
• Sibling and other family connections
• Concerns/Fears about adoption

77
Training on Impact of Loss on Children

• Interventions for children
• Multiple losses
• Acknowledging childs pain
• Providing information
• Preparing children for placement
• Reducing trauma
• Helping child adjust
• Childrens internal working models of adults

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California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse

• Assessment of Evidence Based Practices
• Well SupportedEffective Practice
• SupportedEfficacious practice
• Promising Practice
• Acceptable/Emerging PracticeEvidence unknown
• Evidence fails to demonstrate effect
• Concerning practice
• How closely does the intervention fit with the
  outcomes you wish to affect?
• Eliminate disproportionality and disparate
  treatment
• Consider populations on which interventions have
  been tried and on which they need to be tried.

79
Training Needs Staff need knowledge of culture

• Impact of racism and poverty on behavior,
  attitudes, values
• Help seeking behaviors
• Role of language, speech patterns, communication
  styles
• Impact of social service policies on clients of
  color
• Power relationships
• Privilege
• Knowledge of Specific Groups

80
Strengths Approach

• How will I look for strengths throughout the life
  of this case and how will I document them in the
  case file?
• What are the maternal and paternal influences in
  the life of the parent and child?
• Which relatives have the capacity to support the
  parent(s) and children as an out of home
  placement prevention strategy during the current
  case problem?
• How can I make a referral to culturally competent
  family therapists, domestic violence and
  substance abuse programs?

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Topics for Worker Training

• Assessing culturally responsiveness of
  legislation and policy
• Cultural dynamics of the community in which they
  work
• Economic and political capacity
• Potential of educational institutions
• Safe and affordable housing/health and wellness
• Attitudes and perceptions of child welfare agency
• Finding relatives/exploring placement options

82
Insider and Outsider Status

• Insiders have a shared cultural heritage and a
  measurable degree of mutual identification
• May or may not reside in the same neighborhood
• Qualify for community membership regardless of
  neighborhood of locality
• Outsiders
• Seek to work with clients or communities that are
  culturally and ethnically different form
  themselves.
• Can become passing insiders once they obtained
  grounded knowledge base
• Insiders invisibly screen (consciously or
  unconsciously)
• (Woodroffe Spencer, 2003)

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Child and Family Centered Training

• Knowledge needs
• How to access the latest literature, research,
  evidence based practices which focus on
  populations of color
• The issues that bring most children into the
  system poverty, substance abuse, neglect, abuse,
  parental lack of opportunity and access to
  services
• The impact of multiples losses and multiple
  attachments and uncertainties on children
• Crisis theory, grief loss theory, child
  development, cognitive understanding, adolescent
  development, identity development
• How to appropriately prepare children before,
  during and after a move

84
Training for Culturally Competent Organizational
Change

• Is the organization addressing cultural
  competence due to external pressure or do you
  have a comprehensive plan for training culturally
  competent staff?
• What are the barriers to change?
• Assess the current training on cultural
  competency
• What is the evidence of training effectiveness
  related to child and family outcomes?

85
Training Needs

• Understanding state and federal legislation
  impacting children and families
• Training to analyze policies and their
  differential impact on children and families
• Training on how policies and funding determine
  service priorities

86
Training on Assessing Cultural Dynamics of a
community

• Communitys economic and political capacity
• Spiritual institutions
• Availability of safe and affordable housing
• Effectiveness of schools where children in care
  attend
• Employment and skill development opportunities in
  the community
• Recreational and other life-enhancing activities
  in the community
• Health and wellness issues in the community
• Communitys view of CPS

87
Training on Community Connections

• Partnering with the community from which the
  children come
• Empowering communities
• Involving families in the system in training
  workers
• Impact of family and community disruption
• Cant walk in someone elses shoes until we take
  off our own.

88
Training on Accountability

• African proverb He who upsets a thing should
  know how to rearrange it.
• Have I done more harm than good?
• Knowledge of impact of family disruptions
• Have I restored order to the families disrupted
  by the system I represent?
• Have I held the system I represent accountable
  for restoring order to that which has been
  disturbed?
• (Miller Jones-Gaston, 2003)

89
Training on Recruiting and Retaining Foster and
Adoptive Families

• Using the datawho is adopting AA children?
• Utilizing training from successful programs
• Involving the community/other adoptive families
• Overcoming barriers to recruitment and retention
• Following families through the process
• Using MEPA guidelines
• Special training for placement of older children

90
Remember

• Training is a processnot a two hour event
• Involve a cultural consultant or person from the
  community to help staff understand the issues
• Collaborate with communities
• Build capacity over time
• Build critical thinking skills
• Trainers must become self aware of impact of
  oppression on their lives

91

• The eyes of the future are looking back at us,
  and they are praying for us to see beyond our own
  time.
• Terry Tempest Williams

92

• THE CHILDRENAREWAITING.