CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley Ethnic/Racial Disproportionality and Disparity: A National Perspective Barbara Needell, MSW, PhD Center for Social Services Research University of California at Berkeley New York, NY October 16, 2007 The Performance Indicators Project at CSSR is supported by the California Department of Social Services and the Stuart Foundation Presentation developed by Emily Putnam-Hornstein, MSW

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley National Efforts: Casey Alliance/CSSP GAO Report APHSA/NAPCWA Workgroup CFP Breakthru Series AECF Race Matters Toolkit California Disproportionality Project Other state efforts

STRATEGY: Leverage resources, expertise & experience to bring about change: 1. Legislation, policy change and finance reform 2. Research, evaluation & data-based decision-making 3. Youth, parent & community partnership 4. Public will and communication 5. Human service workforce development 6. Practice change (site-based implementation) Casey-CSSP Alliance for Racial Equity GOAL: “to significantly reduce racial and ethnic disproportionality and disparity in jurisdictions agreeing to partner with the Alliance by 2015…” WORK TO DATE: Research commissioned, partnerships with multiple jurisdictions, dissemination of report findings, publication of assessment tools, etc. Alliance Family Court Judges YouthParentsAdvocatesFoundations Child Welfare Organizations Civic Leaders Casey Family Foundations

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley 2007 GAO Report Report recommendations: –Matters for Congressional Consideration “…Congress may wish to consider amending federal law to allow federal reimbursement for legal guardianship similar to that currently provided for adoption.” –Recommendations for Executive Action “…(encourage) states to regularly track state and local data on the racial disproportionality of children in foster care and use these data to develop strategies…” “…encourage states to make increased use of HHS's National Resource Centers as a source of technical assistance on this issue.” “…further assist states in understanding the nature and extent of disproportionality…actions should include completing and making publicly available information on disproportionality that the agency is developing under its Culturally Competent Practice Knowledge Initiative…

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley APHSA/NAPCWA Workgroup SystemIndividual Societal Strategy Culture Policy Legal System Communications Training and Education Resources Practice Economic Issues Technology People Disproportionality and Organizational Assessment Tool Assess the current conditions that are contributing to disproportionality Understand these factors within three spheres of influence: societal, system, and individual Facilitate further exploration of these factors to effect change

Casey Family Programs: Breakthrough Series Collaborative Vision: Child welfare systems that are free of structural racism and benefit all children, families & communities Guiding Assumptions Multiple disadvantages: social, political, economic, attitudinal Factors include: poverty, racism, organizational culture, service strategies, and resources No significant differences in rates of child maltreatment (suggesting influence of race in institutional response and decision making) Framework for Change Identify key areas where reducing and ultimately eliminating racial disparities through policy, programming, practice and training are likely Adopt principles to guide action rather than adopting prescriptive approaches Framework Components Create supportive agency mission Develop cross-system leadership Support families in context Improve community capacity Educate staff and stakeholders Design culturally sensitive services Use and share Data

Race Matters: Toolkit Contents TOOLUSUAL APPROACHRACE MATTERS APPROACH What’s Race Got to Do With It Across the board aggregated data or quick assumptions on the basis of simple disaggregation Data are always disaggregated by race and deeply analyzed Fact Sheets Typical focus for disparities is on the individual Focus on structural explanations for racial disparities How to Talk About Race Sometimes divisive, too often rhetorical, and usually individually focused messages Leading with values that unite instead of divide; bundling solutions with problem descriptions; leading with structural and embedded issues Racial Equity Impact Analysis Pursuit of generic, across-the- board outcomes Pursuit of racially equitable outcomes System Reform & Community Building Strategies Color-blind approachRace-informed approach Organizational Self- Assessment Good people with good intentions is all that’s needed Assessing staff capacity to do work that uses an embedded racial inequities lens & organizational operations that model equity

California Disproportionality Project Casey Family Programs (CFP) Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) CA Dept. of Social Services (CDSS) CA Social Work Ed. Council (CalSWEC) Child & Family Policy Institute (CFPIC) State Interagency Workgroup Center for Social Services Research (CSSR) 2003 Training Symposium Meeting to discuss project…decide on a “Breakthrough Series Collaborative Model” Proposal to Casey Alliance for Racial Equity Agreement to fund a California effort using system improvement funds Project connected to State Interagency Team’s Workgroup to ensure statewide involvement/impact Technical consultation… Interviews and meetings with California stakeholders to develop Framework and Self-Assessment rating tool Pilot testing in Pomona/LA and Fresno Planning team to finalize Framework, rating tool, and scope of project (November 2007) Hire staff, engage counties, formal and informal system partners, and begin work! (Early 2008)

CA Disproportionality Project & Family to Family: Rating Tool Strategic Elements: 1.Building Authentic Tribal and Community Partnerships 2.Collecting and Using Data 3.Raising Awareness and Providing Training 4.Leading by Example 5.Engaging Birth Families and Youth as Authentic Partners 6.Engaging the Broader Child Welfare System 7.Preventing, Diverting, and Ensuring Equity for Child Welfare Involvement 8.Achieving Practice and Decision-Making that Does Not Result in Racial Disproportionality and Disparities 9.Ensuring Least Restrictive, Appropriate, and Supported Placements 10.Hiring, Promoting, and Supporting Staff

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley A sampling of state efforts over the last few years… Minnesota: –Legislative mandate to study why African American children in Minnesota are disproportionately represented in out-of-home placements Michigan: –State commissioned task force to study the disproportionate representation of African-American and other children of color in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems Texas: –Mandate that the Department of Family and Protective Services analyze data regarding child removals and other enforcement actions to determine whether actions were disproportionately initiated against any racial or ethnic group. Florida: –Lawmakers enacted the “One Church, One Child of Florida Corporation Act” to utilize the resources of Black churches to expedite the adoption of adoptable Black children out of Florida’s foster care system.

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley Definitions… Disproportionality: when a group makes up a proportion of those experiencing some event that is higher or lower than that group’s proportion of the population Disparity: a comparison of one group (e.g, regarding disproportionality, services, outcomes) to another group

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley 2004 National Estimates: Ethnicity and Path through the Child Welfare System (Missing Race & Multi-Race Children Excluded)

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley 2004 National Estimates: Ethnicity and Path through the Child Welfare System (Missing Race & Multi-Race Children Excluded)

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley 2004 National Estimates: Ethnicity and Path through the Child Welfare System (Missing Race & Multi-Race Children Excluded)

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley 2004 National Estimates: Ethnicity and Path through the Child Welfare System (Missing Race & Multi-Race Children Excluded)

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley Black Disproportionality 36.3% 15.1% = National Estimates: Disparity Index White Disproportionality 42.7% 60.3% = 0.7 Disparity Index = 3.4 Please note that the #’s shown above do not match the GAO disproportionality rates exactly due to minor rounding differences.

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley How do large states stack-up? It depends…

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley New York 1.00 Overrepresented Illinois California United States Texas Florida Underrepresented 2004 National Entry Data: Racial Disparity Indices (group compared to white)

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley New York 1.00 Overrepresented Illinois California United States Texas Florida Underrepresented 2004 National In Care Data: Racial Disparity Indices (group compared to white)

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley CSSR.BERKELEY.EDU/UCB_CHILDWELFARE Needell, B., Webster, D., Armijo, M., Lee, S., Cuccaro-Alamin, S., Shaw, T., Dawson, W., Piccus, W., Magruder, J., Exel, M., Conley, A., Smith, J., Dunn, A., Frerer, K., & Putnam Hornstein, E., (2007). Child Welfare Services Reports for California. Retrieved [month day, year], from University of California at Berkeley Center for Social Services Research website. URL: Barbara Needell (pcs) GO BEARS!!!!