ABSTRACT
Protecting children from maltreatment, abuse, and neglect is the primary mission of the child welfare system in the United States, principally through preventive services and foster care. At least, in theory, the child welfare system’s mission is bias free and protects all children regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, social class, ability, sexual orientation, and immigration status (Sedlak & Broadhurst, 1996; Sedlak, McPherson & Das, 2010). There is overwhelming statistical evidence, however, that in actual practice, the child welfare system reflects an inequitable social order that is anything but bias free (Chipungu & Bent-Goodley, 2004; Cooper, 2013; McRoy, 2005; Sedlak & Broadhurst, 1996). This inequitable social order is especially true in foster care, where even when controlling for poverty and other risk factors related to child maltreatment, abuse, and neglect, Native Indian and Black children are still disproportionately represented in removals from the home and placement in foster care when compared with their representation in the general population of children (Child Trends Data Bank, 2014; Cooper, 2013; Curtis & Denby, 2011; Hill, 2006; McRoy, 2005; Padilla &Summers, 2011; Sedlak, McPherson & Das, 2010; U.S. Census Bureau, 2009). Although the degree of racial and ethnic disproportionality in foster care placement varies significantly across the country, it is nevertheless present at some level in virtually every state (Padilla & Summers, 2011).
