Black Children Suffer From Inequities in the Foster Care System

More than 400,000 American kids were in foster care as of September 2020. There are kids of many ethnicities in the foster care system, but black children suffer from inequities more. Find out more about it in this article. Although they only made up 14% of the nation’s children3, 23% of the children in the child welfare system were Black that year.

In the same time period, White children accounted for nearly half of all children but only 43% of all children in foster care. While Hispanic children made up 26% of all children in the country, they made up only 22% of the children in foster care. There is an unnecessary number of Black kids in foster care.

The challenge agencies may have in finding foster homes that look like Black youngsters add insult to injury. Even with a permanent fix like adoption, the issue persists.

Adoptive families of other races can and do raise happy healthy Black children, but they often confront obstacles in understanding and supporting their child’s identity as a Black American. A vital component of a Black child’s development, according to experts, is having the chance to be adopted into a family that shares their ethnicity. Without those opportunities, many of them will remain in the care of the state’s child welfare agency.

Explanations for the Disproportion

Black children are disproportionately affected in the foster care system for many reasons. A variety of factors, including those related to the environment and society, are said to influence the figures, as discussed by experts.

The results are also affected by people’s implicit racial attitudes. According to the research, child protective services are more likely to probe Black homes. The rate at which black children are taken from their homes and placed in foster care is likewise significantly higher.

Black children enter foster care twice as often as White children and stay nine months longer on average. This is why it’s crucial that children grow up in families that look like them.

When a youngster has no family or friends to care for them, a safe haven is better than none. However, having Black parents can give a Black child access to a new world of knowledge and experiences, as stated by specialists. Finding families to foster or adopt older children in the system is tough, even though there are many families of color anxious to adopt babies and little children.

The percentage of foster families with Black adults was 4% in 2021. By 2020, there were 490 Black foster families and over 1,100 White foster families in Alabama. Last year, over 2,500 Black families in California provided foster care, while over 6,000 White families did so.

Many Black families are reluctant to join the system, according to those who work within it.

Children benefit from many viewpoints. It’s hard enough for today’s youth to see people who look like them in politics, the arts, the sciences, business, etc., but imagine never seeing individuals of your own race in your parents.

The Way Forward for Foster Children

When a child can’t live with his or her biological family, the foster care system steps in to give him or her with a stable, loving home. As a final goal, we hope to return children to their own families. When that isn’t possible, finding a long-term fix is critical.

Adoption

The number of children in foster care can be reduced by assisting them in finding permanent homes. In 2019, the child welfare system facilitated the adoption of more than 66 thousand children. According to the National Council for Adoption, 35% of adopted children are people of color. When a family adopts a child, they can spend the rest of their life feeling wanted, cared for, and cherished.

How to Identify and Reach Out to More Minority Families

Workers in the child welfare and adoption sectors have voiced their agreement that more Black families should be available to foster and adopted children. They put themselves in the shoes of people of color to understand their concerns.

Organizations are making an effort to inform Black families about the merits of fostering and adopting children. This will be done through outreach in churches and communities of color as well as advertising featuring Black families and children.

More can be done to address inequalities in the foster care system. Being aware of the issue and making an active attempt to find a solution is a good first step.

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