12 Ways Black Children Are Discriminated Against in Foster Care System

12 Ways Black Children Are Discriminated Against in Foster Care System

Race correlates with involvement in the child welfare system more closely than poverty. While there are local variations, Latino children have not traditionally been overrepresented in foster care, while African-American and Native American children represent double the percentage of the foster care population than they do in the general child population. Whites represent a significantly lower percentage than they do in the general child population, while Asian children are the least likely to enter care. Since the disparity in poverty rates for Black and Latino children is relatively small compared to disparity in foster care placement, race operates as its own separate factor, making Black children much more likely than anyone else to wind up in foster care. But why?