Foster, E. M., M. M. Hillemeier, et al. (2011). Explaining the disparity in placement instability among African-American and white children in child welfare: A Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition. Children and Youth Services Review, 33(1), 118-125.
There is an overrepresentation of African Americans residing in out-of-home care in the U.S. child welfare system, the reasons for which are unclear. In addition, African Americans in foster care experience more frequent placement changes. This is especially concerning as frequent placement changes can have a negative impact on a child’s development. This quantitative study compares out-of-home placement instability among African American and Caucasian children in the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well Being (NSCAW) and attempts to identify mechanisms that may be at the root of racial disparities.
Many of the identified risk factors associated with placement instability (e.g., emotional and behavioural problems, chronic medical conditions, lower socioeconomic status) are disproportionally found in African American children in the child welfare system. However, the findings show that when controlling for these factors, African American children still have more out-of-home placements than Caucasian children. Additional factors not accounted for in the study may explain African American’s increased risk of out-of-home placement instability. Authors posit a potential explanation could be a difference in the way the child welfare system treats children of different races.
Predictors of placement instability among African American children include older age, initial placement in a setting other than kinship care, and behavioural problems. Among Caucasian children only the initial placement in foster care predicted placement instability.
The authors analyzed data from the Child Protective Services cohort of NSCAW which is a national study of child welfare in the United States that collects data directly from children and families involved with child welfare as well as child welfare workers. Interviews were conducted at four time points after the conclusion of the investigation or assessment: between two and six months; 12 months; 18 months; and 36 months. Children were selected for inclusion in the study if they were aged two years or older at the initial interview (this limit was imposed as the Child Behaviour Checklist is not available for children under two years), were African American or Caucasian, and were placed in an out-of-home setting at the initial interview.
The authors point out that several potentially important variables were not available, thus limiting the study.