Contra Costa County Disproportionality – Examples and Changes Ray Merritt; Dorothy Powell; Children and Family Services Research and Evaluation

General County Information Contra Costa County –Over 1,000,000 in population with 26% under 18 years old –9 th most populous county in state –We divide County into 3 geographic areas –Growing at over 1%/year – County- wide –Some areas in East County growing at over 12%/year

Child Population Increased over 20,000 since 1998

Ethnicity and Population

Child Population Trends Number of Hispanic youth under age 18 likely to surpass that of White youth sometime around 2014

Disproportionality and Disparity Disproportionality –The overrepresentation of a particular group (typically referring to ethnicity) in any given area (e.g., Child Welfare System) compared to their proportion in the population (e.g., African Americans = 11% of the youth population, but make up 49% of the youth in Foster Care) Disparity –The comparison of one group to another (e.g., likelihood of a Black youth, compared to a White youth in being referred to CFS)

Disproportionality Example

Referral Information There is disproportionality throughout the Child Welfare System –Referral Incidence Rates (2005) Black = 85.7/1000 White = 34.4/1000 Hispanic = 28.3/1000 –Substantiated Referral Incidence Rates (2005) Black = 16.6/1000 (19.4% of referrals substantiated) White = 6.9/1000 (20.2% of referrals substantiated) Hispanic = 6.6/1000 (23.2% of referrals substantiated)

Racial Disparity When we examine the disparity between Whites and Blacks for 2005, we see that: –Referrals: Blacks have a 2.5 times higher incidence rate –Substantiations: Blacks have a 2.4 times higher incidence rate –First Entries to Care: Blacks have a 2.9 times higher incidence rate –In Child Welfare Supervised Foster Care on 1 July 2005: Blacks have a 5.3 times higher incidence rate

First Entry to Care Start work on disparity

In Care Incidence Rates Similar to first entries into care, the rates for Black youth in care are decreasing Start work on disparity

All Ethnicities Show Decreases in Time in Placement: Point-in-Time While all ethnicities show decreased length of average time in placement, there is still disparity –Black youth have longer time in placement than youth of other ethnicities

Decreases in Average Time in Placement: Point-in-Time Comparing July 1 st 2001 to July 1 st 2006: –Black Youth (2006: n=892, 49.6%) Average time in placement decreased 3 years (40%) –Native American Youth (2006: n=14, 0.8%) Average time in placement decreased 2.8 years (46%) –Hispanic Youth (2006: n=254, 14.1%) Average time in placement decreased 2.3 years (46%) –Asian Youth (2006: n=47, 2.6%) Average time in placement decreased 2 years (44%) –White Youth (2006: n=592, 32.9%) Average time in placement decreased 1.6 years (34%)

Ethnicity Differences Thus, comparing children of different ethnicities within the Child Welfare System: –Black children have a higher likelihood of a referral –Blacks and Whites have referrals substantiated at about the same percentage (20%) while Asian and Hispanics have slightly higher rates (around 24%) –Black children are more likely to be removed from home and enter child welfare supervised Foster Care –Black children are likely to stay in care for a longer period of time than children of other ethnicities

Target Area Changes Since inception in 2002/2003 –Changes in target area (Richmond – defined by zip codes) and target population (Black children under age 5)

Questions? Contra Costa County Children and Family Services Research and Evaluation