Achieve Racial Equity in Child Welfare Services
Legislation, Policy Change, Finance Reform
Ten states—California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas, Washington, and Connecticut—have enacted legislation requiring child welfare agencies to examine within their systems the disproportionate representation of children of color in general or the disproportionate representation of African American children more specifically. Massachusetts included provisions addressing racial disparities as part of the larger Act for Protecting Children in the Care of the Commonwealth. In general, the state mandates include the following:
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Monitoring legislation and programs that affect African American families and/or families of color;
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Assisting state agencies with designing services to enhance the well-being of African American families and/or families of color;
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Facilitating the participation of constituents in the development and implementation of community-based services; and
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Offering a series of administrative and legislative recommendations to reduce existing disparities.
For example, the Indiana State legislature established the Commission on Disproportionality in Youth Services to develop an implementation plan to evaluate and address the disproportionate representation of youth of color in the use of youth services in juvenile justice, child welfare, education, and mental health services. In Washington State the legislature directed the Department of Human Services to convene an advisory committee to analyze and make recommendations on the disproportionate representation of children of color in the state’s child welfare system. The legislation also required the development of a remediation plan and an annual progress report for reducing and eliminating racial disproportionality and disparity in the state’s child welfare and juvenile justice systems.