CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley Black/White and Black/Hispanic Racial Disparity in Child Welfare: Controlling for Poverty Status and Findings from Linkages to Birth Record Data Barbara Needell, PhD, MSW Emily Putnam-Hornstein, PhD, MSW Center for Social Services Research University of California at Berkeley We gratefully acknowledge the support of the California Department of Social Services, the Stuart Foundation, & Casey Family Programs

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley poverty data estimates of the population of children (ages 0-17) living in poverty by race/ethnicity using the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, poverty multipliers were calculated by race/ethnicity for California and each of its 58 counties multiplier applied to the California Department of Finance Population Estimates for the years

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley why are people poor? * 2010 Estimates of CA Children in Poverty Black 28% White 8% Hispanic 26% Asian/PI 11% Native American 25% *

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley

definitions disproportionality: when a group makes up a proportion of those experiencing some event that is higher or lower than that group’s proportion of the population disparity: a comparison of one group (e.g, regarding disproportionality, services, outcomes) to another group population in poverty: disproportionality calculated using the population of children in poverty rather than the general population (census)

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley % % white black disproportionalitydisparity % % % % Ratio white black

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley Black Disproportionality 18.9% 5.9% = 3.21 White Disproportionality 27.0% 31.5% = 0.86 Hispanic Disproportionality 50.2% 51.4% = 0.98 Black vs. White Disparity Index = 3.74 Black vs. Hispanic Disparity Index = 3.29

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley Black Disproportionality 18.9% 9.0% = 2.11 White Disproportionality 27.0% 13.7% = 1.97 Hispanic Disproportionality 50.2% 70.2% = 0.72 Black vs. White Disparity Index = 1.07 Black vs. Hispanic Disparity Index = 2.95

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley

data Unique dataset constructed by linking children reported for maltreatment during the first five years of life to their birth record –state CWS/CMS records linked to vital birth records –probabilistic methods (84% of child welfare records matched) 530,843 children born alive in CA in 2002 –14% reported for maltreatment (N=74,182) –6% substantiated as a victims (N=27,805) –0.8% entered foster care (N=4,388) Racial disparities? –examined aggregate Black vs. White and Black vs. Hispanic disparity across decision points –estimated child level risk at each decision point, after adjusting for other risk factors

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley why are people poor? * *

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley And what do we find?

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley Racial Disparity…

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley racial disparities…across all decision points

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley

the problem with summary statistics: The average human has one breast and one testicle. * * ~Des McHale

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley what is hidden beneath the summary statistics? Significant racial variations in the presence of risk factors that are associated with disparities… In multivariate models, we adjusted for twelve sociodemographic and biomedical risk factors for contact with child protective services: child’s sex (n.s.), low birth weight, birth abnormality, prenatal care, maternal birth place, maternal race/ethnicity, birth payment method, maternal age, maternal education, abortion history, paternity information, birth order Significant interactions between a number of covariates and Medi-Cal coverage led us to stratify models

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley

conclusions from data summary statistics indicating disparities mask large covariate effects Black/White disparity is not present (and even) reversed for lower income children/ mothers Black/Hispanic disparity is diminished but remains for lower income children/mothers

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley more questions than answers… Are the service needs of Black, Hispanic, and White children and families being addressed? Are “thresholds” the same for Black, Hispanic, and White children and families? What are the appropriate rates for Black, Hispanic, and White children (and children of other race/ethnicities)?

CENTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH School of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley Needell, B., Webster, D., Armijo, M., Lee, S., Dawson, W., Magruder, J., Exel, M., Cuccaro-Alamin, S., Putnam- Hornstein, E., Williams, D., Simon, V., Hamilton, D., Lou, C., Peng, C., Moore, M., Jacobs, L., & King, B. (2011). Child Welfare Services Reports for California. Retrieved 7/4/2011, from University of California at Berkeley Center for Social Services Research website. URL: Questions? Comments?