DISPROPORTIONALITY:
Addressing the Disproportionate Number of Children and Youth of Color in Foster Care and the Inequitable Outcomes They Experience
Children of all races are equally as likely to be victims of neglect and abuse, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' "National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect" published in 2007. However, a significantly greater proportion of African American children are placed in foster care than children of other races and ethnicities.
Moreover, children of color are likely to stay in foster care for longer periods of time and are less likely to be either returned home or adopted. Across the nation, African American children were more than twice as likely to enter foster care compared with white children in 2004, and African American children remained in foster care approximately nine months longer. American Indian and Alaskan Native children also are overrepresented in the nation's foster care system at more than 1.6 times the expected level.
Although there is great variability among and within the states, data from nearly all states show some disproportionate representation of African American children in foster care. State data also show patterns of disproportionate representation in foster care for Native American children and, in certain localities, Hispanics and Asian subgroups also are disproportionately represented.
- Black (non-Hispanic) children accounted for 34 percent of the out-of-home care population and 15 percent of the general population in 2004;
- White (non-Hispanic) children accounted for 41 percent of the out-of-home care population and 59 percent of the general population;
- Hispanic children accounted for 17 percent of the out-of-home population and 19 percent of the general population;
- American Indian/Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) accounted for two percent of the out-of-home population and one percent of the general population;
- Asian/Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) children accounted for one percent of the out-of-home population and four percent of the general population;
The National Foster Care Coalition and its broad base of member organizations support enhanced technical assistance and tools to help courts and child welfare agencies develop strategies to address and correct the disproportionate representation of children of color in the nation's foster care systems.
Contact:
Kathi Crowe
Executive Director
National Foster Care Coalition
kcrowe@nationalfostercare.org
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