ABSTRACT

The intersection of poverty and child welfare has long been acknowledged and debated, with particular emphasis on the vulnerability of poor children for placement in the foster care system (Billingsley & Giovannoni, 1972; Courtney & Dworsky, 2006). In 1909, a special commission on the care of dependent children advised President Theodore Roosevelt that, barring unusual circumstances, poverty alone should not be used as a reason for removing children from the home (Herman, 2005). Nevertheless, poor families are several times more likely to be separated from their children than families with adequate financial means (Barth, Wildfire, & Green, 2006). Families of color are at even greater risk of having their children placed in foster care than their White counterparts. These disparities are often exacerbated by substance abuse, mental illness, domestic or child abuse, homelessness, parental absence or incarceration, and/or segregated, oppressed, and resource-poor communities. As a result, children and families in the foster system often face a host of challenges that tear the family apart, causing serious emotional trauma, social dislocation, and ongoing economic hardship.