What's New
Casey-CSSP Alliance Aims to Reduce Overrepresentation of Minority Children in Foster Care
In Pennsylvania, blacks make up 13 percent of the general population, but 49 percent of the children in foster care. In Illinois, African-Americans make up nearly 19 percent of the population, but nearly 74 percent of the children in foster care. The story is the same for American Indian/Native Alaskan and Latino children – too many are in the child-welfare system, compared to their numbers in the general population. In 46 states, the proportion of black children in foster care is more than two times the proportion of black children in the state's total number of children 18 or younger. To address this problem, Casey Family Programs, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Casey Family Services, 
the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, the Marguerite Casey Foundation, and the Center for the Study of Social Policy joined together last year to launch a national campaign to achieve racial equity in the child welfare system.
The Casey-CSSP Alliance will target selected jurisdictions with the long-term goal of significantly reducing overrepresentation of children of color in foster care and improving outcomes for them and their families by 2015. The Alliance wants to reduce inequitable experiences, treatment, and outcomes for minority children in foster care. The Alliance's mission is to create a child-welfare system free of structural racism and one that benefits all children, families, and communities. Why are minority children over-represented in the child-welfare system when national studies have shown that black families are not more likely to abuse or neglect their children? 
The reasons are complex, but the Alliance's work looks at the issue across six broad areas: legislation, policy and finance reform; research, evaluation and database decision-making; youth/alumni, parent, and community partnership and development; public will and communication; human services workforce development and practice change.
The Alliance has set up work groups to address these areas. The work of the Alliance or its members has included briefing the Congressional Black and Hispanic caucuses and assisting U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-NY, in his request for a GAO audit of the overrepresentation of black children in foster care. Other work has included surveying promising practices aimed at reducing racial disparities in 10 jurisdictions and drafting a briefing paper about the problem and its impact on children, families, and communities. "That paper will help initiate conversations with child welfare administrators, judges, court personnel, youth, and parents about the need to work together to address this problem," 
says Khatib Waheed, senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Social Policy. This year and next year, the Alliance also will test tools designed to help jurisdictions determine if racial disparity exists in their systems and to promote solutions. The Alliance also plans to train birth parents and foster care alumni who are interested in strengthening their ability to function as effective advocates and leaders in this effort.
