A Case Study in Public Child Welfare: Community Level Strategies That Lower Racial Disparity in Child Welfare Decision-Making

Background and Purpose

The overrepresentation of children of color in the child welfare system has been a persistent issue. Children of color are more likely to be placed in foster care than non-minority children and children of color experience a longer stay in foster care, as well as a longer wait for family reunification and slower exit rates than non-minority children. The purpose of this comparative case study was to explore the strategies that impact racial disparity at a community level. In doing so, the researchers aimed to extrapolate the most effective strategies and disseminate the recommendations and implications.

Methods

The researchers employed qualitative methods in two New York State (NYS) counties. A multiple case study design was used which is useful for identifying generalizable knowledge about how and why particular organizations, programs or policies found success or failure (Goodrick, 2014).

The research team traveled to each county to conduct 90-minute in-depth face-to-face interviews and 90-minute focus groups. After the interviews and focus groups, the researchers conducted content analysis of training curriculum and community resources provided by each county. 

The analysis was done utilizing a 3-prong coding system which included, preliminary coding, neighbor coding, and selective coding. After the preliminary round of coding, the researcher created Code Neighbors. Code Neighbors are a thematic grouping where ATLAS.ti groups codes and notates where they are found throughout the transcript and shows if they are similar to other codes. As this process continued, a master codebook was created which housed every code that emerged from the code neighboring. Approximately 20 codes emerged from the data.

Results

Data analysis revealed that both counties had improved the disproportionate numbers of black children in their foster care system. Findings indicated that there were common strategies between both counties that were effective and also unique strategies that improved each system individually. Shared strategies included, community resources/preventive services, Implicit Bias and other relevant trainings, formal community collaborations, and case practice development. There were also unique strategies for both counties (County A and County B). Strategies for County A consisted of blind removal meetings and workforce diversity. For County B, a formal systems of care model and their court system helped with their improvement. Several participants reported that marginalized populations, often black children, are negatively impacted by implicit bias. Therefore, there needs to be formal strategies in place within organizations that mitigate the disparity.

Conclusion and Implications

Findings highlight the importance of formal and innovative strategies that aim to decrease implicit bias that leads to racial disparity, which ultimately results in racial disproportionality. This study adds valuable insight into the decision making process that is occurring within every child welfare agency around the country. With this county specific and local level knowledge that this study provides, there could be replication in other child welfare organizations as the work toward racial justice still remains. Implementing relevant trainings, community collaborations, preventive services, fostering workplace diversity and blind removal meetings indicate that racial equity is a propitious ideal in child welfare.