Child protective services involvement and exclusionary school discipline.

The study examined the impact of child protective services (CPS) contact on out-of-school suspensions for 49,918 Wisconsin students (followed from ages 5-6 to 14-15; [school years 2010-2019; 74% White; 7% Black; 11% Hispanic; 8% other; 49% female]). A quasi-experimental design comparing recent CPS contact to upcoming (future) CPS contact shows that both recent CPS contact without foster care and future CPS contact predict higher odds of suspension compared with no contact. Higher odds of suspension emerged prior to CPS contact and did not substantially increase during or after CPS contact, suggesting that system-induced stress is not a primary driver of behavioral problems leading to suspension. Foster care reduced the odds of suspension among White children and children in special education.

Very Low Food Security Among Low-Income Households With Children in California Before and Shortly After the Economic Downturn From COVID-19.

We examined levels of very low food security (VLFS) among low-income households with children in California before and shortly after the economic downturn from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Households were randomly sampled in 2018, 2019, and 2020; 11,653 mothers were administered the US Department of Agriculture 6-item Food Security Survey Module. Post-COVID-19 (April 27 to July 21, 2020, a period when stay-at-home restrictions were eased in the state), 14.0% of mothers reported VLFS versus 19.3% pre-COVID-19 (November 21, 2019, to March 14, 2020) (P = .003), 22.2% in 2019 (P < .001), and 19.0% in 2018 (P = .004). Existing systems to quickly obtain food assistance benefits in California and new federal benefits available in response to COVID-19 may have reduced VLFS.

Racial disparities in child welfare in Ontario (Canada) and training on ethnocultural diversity: An innovative mixed-methods study.

BACKGROUND: Despite continuous reports showing the overrepresentation of Black children in the child welfare system in Ontario, Canada's most populous and ethnically diverse province, knowledge in the factors contributing to this issue remain scarce. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore questions relating to caseworker's training on ethnocultural diversity in connection with racial disparities and overrepresentation of Black children in child welfare services. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTINGS: This two-fold mixed-methods study included (1) a qualitative methodology based on four focus groups with child welfare caseworkers from a Children's Aid Society (CAS) in Ontario and community facilitators (N = 24), and (2) an analysis of academic curriculums from all 36 Ontarian colleges and universities offering social work programs. METHODS: We used an innovative and complementary mixed-method design based on grounded theory. RESULTS: Results from categorical content analyses with NVivo revealed that community facilitators perceived a lack of ethnocultural competency amongst CAS caseworkers. Similarly, CAS caseworkers reported inadequate training on ethnocultural diversity during and following their post-secondary education (college or university). Corroborating these findings, results from documentary analyses of Ontarian university and college curriculums in social work revealed that barely one in two programs had a mandatory course on cultural issues. CONCLUSIONS: This study reveals a need for additional efforts to provide adequate training to child welfare caseworkers on ethnocultural diversity, starting with undergraduate training programs, in order to understand and tackle the overrepresentation of Black children in child welfare services. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Reunification for young children of color with substance removals: An intersectional analysis of longitudinal national data.

BACKGROUND: The opioid epidemic has resulted in increasing attention to the effect of parental substance use disorders on child welfare system involvement, including foster care utilization. Opioid use disorders are more common among whites than people of color, however. OBJECTIVE: This study sought to determine number and proportion of children of color with substance removals and whether disparities exist in likelihood of reunification compared to white children. PARTICIPANTS & SETTING: This study used U.S. Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data to determine rates of foster care entries and outcomes between 2007-2017 across intersections of child race/ethnicity, age, and substance removal status. METHODS: Survival analyses were employed to test the primary research questions. RESULTS: During the 10 year period observed, the number and proportion of white children with substance removals (ages 0-4 and 5+) in foster care increased two- to three-fold compared to children of color with substance removals depending on child age. However, children of color, particularly ages 0-4, faced disadvantages respecting foster care outcomes. Results of the multivariate proportional hazards models revealed that reunification was significantly and substantially more likely for every group compared to young (0-4) children of color with substance removals. Further probing revealed that racial disparities were driven primarily by Black/African American children. CONCLUSIONS: Children of color with substance removals, particularly Black/African American children, are at higher risk of poor child welfare outcomes compared to their white peers.

Differences and disparities over time: Black and White families investigated by Ontario's child welfare system.

BACKGROUND: Black-White disparities in child welfare involvement have been well-documented in the United States, but there is a significant knowledge gap in Ontario about how and when these disparities emerge. OBJECTIVE: This paper compares incidence data on Black and White families investigated by Ontario's child welfare system over a 20-year period. METHODS: Data from the first five cycles of the Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (OIS) (1993-2013) were used to examine trends in child maltreatment investigations involving Black and White families. Incidence rates were calculated. T-tests were conducted to assess statistically significant differences between and within cycles. Population and decision-based enumeration approaches were also used to examine child welfare disparities. RESULTS: The incidence of investigations involving White families almost doubled between 1998 and 2003, but for Black families the incidence increased almost fourfold during the same period. These increases and the difference between Black and White families in 2003 were statistically significant. The results further indicate that Black families experience disparate representation in Ontario's child welfare system over time for most service dispositions. CONCLUSIONS: Several possible explanations are offered for the study's outcome, including changes in risk related to social safety net, the threshold for risk of harm, and bias and racist institutional policies and practices. This study invites policy-makers and child welfare authorities to rethink service delivery in addressing the disparate representation of Black families in the child welfare system.

Substance Use, Mental Health, and Child Welfare Profiles of Juvenile Justice-Involved Commercially Sexually Exploited Youth.

Objectives: To describe the substance use profiles of youth impacted by commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) and explore associations between substance use with mental health diagnoses and child welfare involvement. Methods: Data were systematically extracted from the court files of 364 youth who participated between 2012 and 2016 in Los Angeles County's Succeeding Through Achievement and Resilience (STAR) Court, a juvenile delinquency specialty court for youth impacted by CSE. Descriptive statistics and multivariate regression analyses were conducted to quantify associations between youths' substance use with mental health diagnoses and child welfare involvement. Results: Of the 364 youth impacted by CSE involved in the STAR Court, 265 youth had documented contact with a psychiatrist while in court-of whom, 73% were diagnosed with at least one mental health challenge. Before STAR Court participation, 74% of youth were the subject of one or more child welfare referral; of these youth, 75% had prior out-of-home care. Eighty-eight percent of youth reported substance use, the most prevalent illicit substances were marijuana (87%), alcohol (54%), and methamphetamine (33%). Controlling for age and race, youth impacted by CSE with a diagnosed general mood disorder had more than five times the odds of reporting substance use compared with those without a mood disorder diagnosis (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 5.80; 95% confidence interval CI: 2.22-18.52; p < 0.001); and youth impacted by CSE with prior child welfare placements had more than two times the odds of reporting substance use (AOR: 2.24; 95% CI: 1.04-4.86; p = 0.039) compared with youth without prior placements. The association between substance use and general mood disorder was significant and positive for all substance use types (AOR = 3.3, p = 0.033 marijuana; AOR = 4.01, p = 0.011 concurrent alcohol and marijuana; AOR = 9.2, p < 0.001, polysubstance use). Conclusions: High prevalence of substance use among juvenile justice-involved youth impacted by CSE combined with strong associations between substance use with both mental health diagnoses and child welfare system history underscores the need for comprehensive, specialized substance use treatment. Findings suggest an important opportunity for multidisciplinary collaboration among mental health providers, child welfare professionals, juvenile justice practitioners, and other care providers for these youth.

The road to reunification: Family- and state system-factors associated with successful reunification for children ages zero-to-five.

BACKGROUND: Research suggests that up to one-third of children who reunify re-enter care because of continued maltreatment. For young children, this is particularly detrimental due to rapid brain development during the first years of life. OBJECTIVE: This study examined family- and state child welfare system predictors of successful reunification, or reunification with no reentries into foster care. METHODS: A sample of N=53,789 from the 2012 Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System of children ages zero-to-five who reunified was utilized. Children were tracked over the following three years and a multilevel model was run to compare family- and state system-factors among those that successfully and unsuccessfully reunified. RESULTS: Only 4.6 % of the variance in successful reunification was at the state child welfare system level. After adjusting for family-factors, state average time-to-reunify (OR=1.04, p<.05) and violent crime rates (OR=1.00, p<.01) were associated with successful reunification. A random effect for race and ethnicity and parental drug use suggests that the relationship between race and ethnicity and successful reunification, and parental drug use and successful reunification, varies significantly by state child welfare system. CONCLUSIONS: Given these findings, practitioners and child welfare agencies should prioritize family-centered interventions. Future research could identify which state child welfare systems have successfully improved outcomes for families of color and families with histories of drug abuse.

Pediatric Primary Care Relationships With African American Families: A Critical Review.

INTRODUCTION: High-quality primary care is critical to help African American families mitigate the effects of social determinants of health that negatively affect child health and well-being. At the core of primary care is a healthy relationship between the parent and provider. This critical review of the literature evaluates what is known about the parent-provider relationship for African Americans. METHODS: We identified 277 studies in Ovid MEDLINE and screened them for inclusion. Data extraction and qualitative synthesis were used to describe what is known and identify themes. RESULTS: Twelve cross-sectional analyses and one mixed cross-sectional and longitudinal design research studies were identified. Studies identified parent factors, provider factors, parent-provider interaction factors, and health care system factors that affected the parent-provider relationship. DISCUSSION: The results identify best practices and future research directions for providers, which would improve pediatric primary care quality for African American children.

Ain't nobody got time for dad? Racial-ethnic disproportionalities in child welfare casework practice with nonresident fathers.

BACKGROUND: Given fathers' potential role in bringing about desired child welfare case outcomes, researchers have begun to identify factors that impact agency efforts to identify and involve fathers. Racial-ethnic inequality and bias are not among factors studied, despite longstanding evidence that racial-ethnic minority children make up a disproportionate share of the child welfare population. OBJECTIVE: We set out to identify racial-ethnic patterns in initial casework activity with nonresident fathers and explore whether select factors explain racial-ethnic differentials. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Caseworkers of 1,754 children in foster care in four U.S. states were surveyed. METHODS: Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with whether agencies identified, located, and contacted nonresident fathers. RESULTS: Agencies were less likely to identify nonresident fathers of Black, Latinx, and Multiracial children, relative to those of White children. Among fathers whom agencies identified, Black and Latinx fathers were less likely to be located. Among fathers whom agencies located, Black and Latinx fathers were less likely to be contacted. Whereas greater rates of international mobility among Latinx fathers explained agencies' disproportionately low rates of contact, no other factor explained racial-ethnic differentials. CONCLUSION: We find evidence of historical racial-ethnic disproportionalities across the three initial stages of casework practice with nonresident fathers in U.S. child welfare systems. Though more recent data are needed, this research suggests that racial-ethnic minority foster children are more likely than White foster children to be denied the benefits of agency-father contact, whether due to societal or systemic racial inequalities.

African American perspectives on racial disparities in child removals.

BACKGROUND: African American children are overrepresented in foster care at twice to three times the rate of white children. Scholars argue that racism and oppression underlie disproportionality (Kriz & Skivenes, 2011). OBJECTIVE: This study explored disproportionality as seen through the eyes of African American parents in the child welfare system. The aim was to understand why African American families are over-represented in child custody statistics and to improve family and parenting support for African American communities. PARTICIPANTS & SETTING: Participants included twenty-one African Americans--12 women and 9 men, two of whom were foster parents and 19 of whom were parents involved with child welfare services. All participants reside in two impoverished areas in southern United States. Focus groups were used to collect data and were conducted at a community center. METHODS: The method of analysis was constant comparison analysis (Strauss) and thematic analysis of the focus group discussions in the context of institutional policy. FINDINGS: Six themes (profound lack of trust; overwhelming trauma; severe and persistent poverty; health and mental health; socio-economic conditions; and sense of social isolation were identified, along with three participant suggestions to improve child welfare services (family support services, economic revival, and better communication). CONCLUSIONS: In the current study we note the strong link between poverty, child maltreatment, and child removal and conclude with an exploration of practice and policy implications with recommendations for a way forward. The need for culturally competent and trauma informed child welfare services is also discussed.

We Treat Everybody the Same: Race Equity in Child Welfare.

For several decades, child welfare researchers have explored the issue of disproportionality in child welfare. Top-level government reports have confirmed that African-American children are disproportionately represented in the child welfare system. This knowledge led to the concern that equity standards are not being implemented in child welfare systems partially due to implicit bias and insufficient data to track services to this population of children. The lack of data and recognition of the disparate entry of African Americans into care will continue unless systems move to having the child welfare system understand overrepresentation and the need for equity in the provision of services. This article shares findings of a research study and is focused on the use of data as a strategy to improve racial equity in child welfare. It uses critical race theory (CRT) to explain how racism can impact equity in the provision of child welfare services.

Perceived well-being in adolescent immigrants: it matters where they come from.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this work was to explore whether adolescent immigrants have worse or better perceived well-being, and whether this perception varies by ethnic background or between first- and second-generation immigrants, when compared with adolescents from the host population. METHODS: A representative sample of 47,799 students (13.4% immigrants) aged 11, 13, and 15 years were recruited throughout all Italian regions within the framework of the Italian 2013/2014 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study. RESULTS: Adolescent immigrants from Eastern European and non-Western/non-European countries had a higher occurrence of health complaints and the highest risk of reporting low life satisfaction, which increased among the second generation. The risk of reporting bullying behaviours and physical fights was higher in first-generation immigrants and decreased in the second generation, independent of ethnic background. CONCLUSIONS: Italian welfare immigration policies do not seem to offer the same opportunities to all adolescent immigrant groups, which leads to differing effects on their well-being. To tackle these inequalities, Italy should increase its investment in education through early prevention initiatives, e.g. providing support in intercultural education and proper training to school teachers and staff.

Associations between childhood experiences of parental corporal punishment and neglectful parenting and undergraduate students' endorsement of corporal punishment as an acceptable parenting strategy.

This study evaluated the effects of childhood experiences of parental corporal punishment (CP) and neglectful parenting (NP) on Japanese university students' endorsement of parental CP (EPP) to discipline children, in relation to subjective happiness (SH). A total of 536 undergraduate students who showed no physical symptoms completed anonymous paper-based questionnaires addressing demographic characteristics, undergraduate classes, and recent health conditions on SF-8 (PCS, MCS). It was found that the proportions of participants who experienced pervasive CP and NP were larger in men than in women (36.5% vs. 19.4% for CP; 22.1% vs. 9.7% for NP). Multiple regression analyses (n = 346) revealed that the CP score was associated with positive EPP (ß = 0.310, p < 0.001). Further, students whose major was nursery education reported significantly lower level of EPP; however, neither SH nor good recent health conditions significantly reduced EPP. The NP score was inversely associated with the SH score (ß = -0.253, p < 0.001) (n = 346). In conclusion, childhood experiences of parental CP may affect adolescents' views related to their own parenting. Further investigation using internationally comparable methodologies, especially in prospective cohort studies, is warranted, not only in Japan but also in other Asian countries.

Transnationalism, parenting, and child disciplinary practices of African immigrants in Alberta, Canada.

Child discipline remains a topic of public health interest across the globe. Despite this enduring interest, very little is known about the child disciplinary practices of African immigrants in Canada. This paper explores the disciplinary practices of African immigrant parents in Alberta, a Canadian province with a recent surge in the population of African immigrants. Employing a critical ethnographic methodology, informed by transnational theory, we collected data through in-depth qualitative interviews with a purposive sample of African community leaders (n = 14), African immigrant parents (n = 32), policymakers (n = 2), and health and immigrant settlement workers (n = 10). As members of the African immigrant community, we were deeply immersed in the research settings, which afforded us the opportunity to collect pertinent observational data in the form of reflexive notes. Thematic analysis of the data revealed child disciplinary approaches that incorporate Canadian and African parenting practices, as well as practices that appear somewhat unique to this demographic. We found that African immigrant parents used corporal discipline, persuasive discipline, and a hybrid of the two, as well as emerging practices involving transnational fostering and emotional isolation of children who persistently misbehaved. These practices, in their totality, appeared to be influenced by the transnational experiences of parents and precepts that are traceable to Canada's legal and educational systems. We present theoretical, policy, and service implications of our findings, including a recommendation to incorporate sociocultural dimensions of child discipline into Canadian child welfare policies and practices.

The moderating effects of ethnicity on key predictors of trauma in child welfare involved adolescents.

Key predictors of trauma were examined using a multi-group analysis of a nationally representative sample of 716 child welfare involved youth ages 11-17. Results indicate that co-occurring clinical depression was associated with trauma across all racial/ethnic groups. Results also support that youth's ethnicity moderates the relationship between gender, history of sexual abuse and sexual orientation and the development of trauma. Contrary to prior research, trauma was not significantly associated with substance abuse or having experienced out of home placement for all ethnic groups. Implications for policy, practice with child welfare involved adolescents and future research in this area are discussed.

Child maltreatment in rural southern counties: Another perspective on race, poverty and child welfare.

Building on research that has identified community characteristics associated with child maltreatment, this study investigates the adequacy and equity of the child welfare response at the county level. The study focuses on states in the U.S. south with demographic characteristics that make it possible to disentangle county racial composition from county rurality. County-level child maltreatment data were merged with data from the U.S. Census and other publicly-available sources for the 354 counties in four southern states. Results from multiple regression models indicated that, despite a greater preponderance of risk factors typically associated with child maltreatment, rural, majority African-American counties had lower rates of reported and substantiated child maltreatment compared to other southern counties. Cross-sectional results were consistent across three years: 2012, 2013, and 2014. The findings suggest that children and families in rural, majority African-American counties in the South may not be receiving adequate or equitable responses from the formal child welfare system.

Religiousness, social support and subjective well-being: An exploratory study among adolescents in an Asian atheist country.

Few studies have focused on the relationships among religiousness, social support and subjective well-being in Chinese adolescent populations. This study tries to fill this gap. Using cluster sampling, we selected two groups: Group A, which included 738 Tibetan adolescents with a formal religious affiliation and represented adolescents from a religious culture, and Group B, which included 720 Han adolescents without a religious affiliation and represented adolescents from an irreligious culture. Structural equation modelling showed that only in Group A did social support mediate (partially) the relationship between religious experience and subjective well-being; furthermore, the results of a hierarchical regression analysis showed that only in Group A did social support moderate the relationship between religious ideology and subjective well-being. Possible explanations for the discrepancies between the findings obtained in this study and those obtained in previous studies are discussed.

Child strengths and placement stability among racial/ethnic minority youth in the child welfare system.

While all children deserve a stable living environment, national data illustrate that many states struggle to achieve placement stability for youth in the child welfare system as a significant number of children in foster care continue to experience multiple placements while in state custody. Prior research has not considered the impact of youth protective factors or strengths on the frequency of placement changes that youth experience while in the child welfare system. This study examined the association between strengths measured at multiple levels (i.e., individual, family, and community) and placement stability among 4022 minority youth (aged 10-18) using administrative and clinical data from the Illinois child welfare system. Negative binomial regressions at the family level revealed that youth with at least one loving and supportive family member experienced 16% fewer placement changes than youth without family strengths. At the community level, youth attending schools that work to create an environment that meets its students' needs experienced 13% fewer placement changes than youth without educational supports. These findings can inform the quality of treatment and services provided to minority youth in the child welfare system.