In 2003, Clara Anderson, Vice-President of Advocacy at the
Children’s Bureau, Inc., launched a research analysis with her intern, Rebecca Trego,
which provided recognition of the disproportionality within Indiana’s child
welfare system (Busch, Wall, Koch & Anderson, 2008). Included in the report were new findings and
strategies to solve issues related to “differential placement rates” (Busch, et.
al., 2008, p. 257). The report captured
the over-representation of minority, specifically “black youth in out-of-home
care by the Indiana Department of Child Services” (Busch, et al., 2008, p.
257). These statistics include the
following:
Statewide Child Population: 81.5% White, Non-Hispanic; 10.4% Black; 4.8% Hispanic, and 3.3% Other [2000; N=1,574,845]
Foster Care Population: 64.9% White, Non-Hispanic; 27.9% Black, 5.4% Hispanic, and 1.8% Other [2001; N=6030]
Termination of Parental Rights: 56.7% White, Non-Hispanic; 38.8% Black; 2.3% Hispanic; and 2.1% Other [2001; N=869]
Relative Placement: 43.1% White, 52.0% Black, and 4.9% Other [2001; N=2112]
Assisted Guardianship: 37.3% of children were White, 60.1% Black, and 2.5% Other [2001; N=158]
The information gathered from this report helped to generate child welfare advocates and state legislators to evaluate and recognize the importance of the disproportionality and over-representation across the state. The following year, 2004, Chairman of the Indiana Commission on Childhood Poverty, Dr. Michael Patchner, Dean of IU School of Social Work submitted to the state recommendations entitled, Putting Children First from the Indiana Commission on Abuse and Neglected Children and Their Families. This report included recommendations that supported the Anderson and Trego (2003) analysis. Specifically, the report proposed the state to review the over-representation of children of color:
Recommendation 7: “Reduce the over-representation of children of color in the child welfare system by funding research to develop culturally sensitive screening tools, refine assessment practices and revise training. The unique factors that bring children into care must be identified and barriers to timely and appropriate interventions eliminated” (Indiana Commission on Abused and Neglected Children and their Families, 2004, p. 13).
Preceding the recommendation report, entities from the “public and private child welfare agencies” including The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, collaborated to provide support and guidance in relationship to disparities within the juvenile justice system (Busch, et. al., 2008, p. 258). This partnership evolved into the Indiana Disproportionality Committee (IDC), whose vision was to ensure “children of all races and ethnicities are equitably served by Indiana’s child welfare and juvenile justice systems” (Busch, et. al., 2008, p. 258). The mission of IDC at that time was to “create equality within the Indiana child welfare and juvenile justice systems and equalize the proportional of children of color in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems with their percentages of the overall population” (Busch, et. al., 2008, p. 258).
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Statewide Child Population: 81.5% White, Non-Hispanic; 10.4% Black; 4.8% Hispanic, and 3.3% Other [2000; N=1,574,845]
Foster Care Population: 64.9% White, Non-Hispanic; 27.9% Black, 5.4% Hispanic, and 1.8% Other [2001; N=6030]
Termination of Parental Rights: 56.7% White, Non-Hispanic; 38.8% Black; 2.3% Hispanic; and 2.1% Other [2001; N=869]
Relative Placement: 43.1% White, 52.0% Black, and 4.9% Other [2001; N=2112]
Assisted Guardianship: 37.3% of children were White, 60.1% Black, and 2.5% Other [2001; N=158]
The information gathered from this report helped to generate child welfare advocates and state legislators to evaluate and recognize the importance of the disproportionality and over-representation across the state. The following year, 2004, Chairman of the Indiana Commission on Childhood Poverty, Dr. Michael Patchner, Dean of IU School of Social Work submitted to the state recommendations entitled, Putting Children First from the Indiana Commission on Abuse and Neglected Children and Their Families. This report included recommendations that supported the Anderson and Trego (2003) analysis. Specifically, the report proposed the state to review the over-representation of children of color:
Recommendation 7: “Reduce the over-representation of children of color in the child welfare system by funding research to develop culturally sensitive screening tools, refine assessment practices and revise training. The unique factors that bring children into care must be identified and barriers to timely and appropriate interventions eliminated” (Indiana Commission on Abused and Neglected Children and their Families, 2004, p. 13).
Preceding the recommendation report, entities from the “public and private child welfare agencies” including The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, collaborated to provide support and guidance in relationship to disparities within the juvenile justice system (Busch, et. al., 2008, p. 258). This partnership evolved into the Indiana Disproportionality Committee (IDC), whose vision was to ensure “children of all races and ethnicities are equitably served by Indiana’s child welfare and juvenile justice systems” (Busch, et. al., 2008, p. 258). The mission of IDC at that time was to “create equality within the Indiana child welfare and juvenile justice systems and equalize the proportional of children of color in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems with their percentages of the overall population” (Busch, et. al., 2008, p. 258).
To read more, click here.