1. Sara Pieper and Nikki Domico Swk 444 12/10/2008

2. Macon County Demographics 14% of Macon County is considered under the poverty line 82% of the population are white, 14% are African American, and 1% are Native American, 3% are other The average household income in $39,047 per year, which is slightly below the average national income The divorce rate of Macon County couples is approximately 13%

3. Permanency Information

4. Each Year African American children have more indicated reports Could be due to cultural differences The evaluation tools used may not accommodate certain cultural norms; which may result in a higher amount of indicated reports as opposed to Caucasian and Hispanic children.

5. Permanency Information For example in the Karp’s article Crack Babies: Black children defy stereotypes, face bias, it was reported that African American women in the intercity had their babies tested more often for drug exposure in comparison to Caucasian women. However, their babies were tested without their consent sometimes. If more African American children are having hotline calls on them it is likely that more of them would also have more indicated reports

6. Permanency Information

7. African American and Caucasian children the percentages children who did not experience a substitute care placement are fairly high. For the majority of the years more African American families receiving intact services did not have their kids placed in substitute care. One reason could be strong family support among the culture, and ability to follow the service plan

8. Permanency Information

9. Overall high numbers of children do not leave the system within 12 months For the years of 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002 the length of stay for African American children has been much longer than Caucasian children. reasons: the parents have not completed their service plan, a permanent placement cannot be found, a child’s guardian may be found unfit, etc. Dixon’s article helped to remind us that racism is still prevalent which is causing discrimination, and therefore increasing racial problems and issues towards African Americans

10. Permanency Information All permanency information was derived from the University of Illinois Child and Family Research Center website utilizing Macon County statistics http://cfrcwww.social.uiuc.edu

11. Group Project: Church Support Inventory Called local Decatur churches to find who was willing to participate in mentoring and transporting struggling parents in the DCFS system Found that most churches were unwilling to contribute unless parents were current members of the church Most churches were willing to offer pastoral counseling services as a “walk-in” basis out of 21 churches were willing to participate in a mentoring program

12. Group Project: Toy Drive Two campus toy drives to collect toys for Macon Co. foster children Donations from: Alpha Chi Omega(Millikin University) and Epsilon Sigma Alpha(Illinois State University) Donations include: winter clothing, board games, coloring books, art supplies, and other toys

13. References Dixon, T. (2008). Network News and Racial Beliefs: Exploring the Connection Between National Television News Exposure and Stereotypical Perceptions of African Americans. Journal of Communication. 58, 321-337. Karp, S. (2001). Crack Babies: Black Children Defy Stereotypes, Face Basis. The Chicago Reporter. February 2001.