Anti-Racist Research Implementation - a Review of a Multisystem Collaborative Approach Towards Addressing Institutional Harm in Systems

Racial disparities in the child welfare system have been a long standing and pernicious problem. Research has been done to highlight these problems, yet few have resulted in the implementation of anti-racist trainings within localized child welfare systems. This roundtable provides an overview of the process of conducting a localized institutional analysis using anti-racist research framework in a region, that led to state-wide racial equity training of child-welfare collaborators to begin addressing racial disparities. Racial disparities are created and fostered systemically, and responses to the problem warrant a similar approach. In an effort to address racial disparities, a statewide training was created to initiate anti-racism and racial equity education for everyone involved in the institution from, advocates, children, lawyers, caseworkers and judges, and even “mandated reporters� such as teachers, healthcare workers, and early childhood professionals. This roundtable presentation will serve as an in-depth overview of the creation of this collaborative initiative from initiation to implementation. Roundtable members include representatives from the advisory group which consists of an attorney and an administrator from the Department for Children and Family Services (DCF), and one administrative professional from a private child welfare entity who works in collaboration with DCF, and two researchers in academia.

This roundtable will engage in a robust discussion describing the process of initiating the advisory team to drafting and conducting four virtual racial equity training modules for child-welfare collaborators. The first roundtable member will provide background regarding how a prior research project became the framework for this anti-research initiative. The second member will discuss the process of creating the mission and vision of the collaborative. Ranging from garrisoning support from state leaders to creating an advisory team, this aspect of the presentation will provide key information surrounding the initiation process. The third member will discuss the process of creating content for the training. This involves selecting relevant topics for a relatively wide audience directly and indirectly connected to the child welfare system. The fourth member will highlight the challenges experienced in the journey of implementing anti-racist training. This includes opposition within a system that embraces antiquated notions likes “colorblindness� to professional resistance within collaborative networks. Finally, the fifth member will discuss the dissemination and evaluation process. This involves sharing the creation of an “Ant-racist toolkit� for professionals and the implementation of surveys to evaluate the effectiveness of the virtual trainings. The roundtable will end with robust discussions to help attendees to think of the process surrounding implementing similar anti-racist research and racial equity initiatives in their various institutions and provide recommendations in the collaborative process.