The number of children that enter into foster care, and the time period that they stay in the system for, has been decreasing overall over the past several years. However, there are still disparities in the entry rates, and there are certain counties that account for the majority of the overall decrease in numbers, which means that there is still more that could be done in other areas to improve the situation.
According to national data, only a few years ago, roughly 37% of children in foster care were African American, despite the fact that only 15% of children in the U.S. were African American. This means that African American children were well overrepresented in the nation’s foster care system. According to the National Foster Care Month website, on September 30th, 2005, there were 513,000 children in the U.S. foster care system. The average age was 10 years old; 52% were male, and 48% were female. There were more children of color in foster care as a percentage than in the U.S. population. That said, child abuse and neglect, two of the primary causes of children entering foster care in the first place, occurred at the same rate in all racial and ethnic groups.
Over the last decade, the U.S. foster care population has undergone a substantial reduction in size and has experienced a shift in its racial and ethnic composition. Data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System identifies areas that are most responsible for these trends. The number of children in foster care on the last day of the federal fiscal year (FY) declined by almost on quarter (23.7%) between 2002 and 2012. The numbers declined most dramatically among African American children, accounting for almost three quarters of the overall decline. Hispanic numbers did decrease slightly, despite their continued rapid growth in the general population. One group, children who identified with two or more races, in contrast to the general decreasing trend, experienced substantial growth over the time period.
The number of children that are in the foster care system at one time is primarily determined by the number of children entering, and the amount of time that each child spends there once they have entered. The average length of stay has declined by over one quarter overall, between 2002 and 2012, from 31.3 months to 22.4 months. Declines in the average length of stay are evident among all race and ethnicity groups over this time period, as are the number of children entering.
Federal policies have been emphasizing increasing permanency for children in the child welfare system, with some success. African Americans have been experiencing the biggest reductions, which has led to significant changes in the composition of the foster care population. African Americans previously made up 37% of all children in foster care, compared to the 26% that they now make up, although they still remain at twice the national average. Hispanics, however, have increased from 17% to 21%, and children belonging to two or more races doubled, reaching 6%. Although Native Americans had some reductions in their length of stay, their overall rates only dropped by a little.
Overall, the entry rate as well of the length of stay has been steadily decreasing, but there are still groups that are overrepresented, as well as areas and counties where the numbers are changing drastically more than others. This means that it is possible to keep improving the rates, but it is important to look both at the groups that are claiming too high of a percentage of the foster care population, in light of the percentage of the general population that they make up, and try to find ways to improve those disparities, as well as the areas where little change is happening, and see if the practices that are working in more successful areas may be applied there.
Works Cited
Works Cited
1. "Foster Care Facts and Statistics." Foster Care Facts and Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2014. <http://www.fostercarealumni.org/resources/foster_care_facts_and_statistics.htm>.
2. Hhs. ACYF Office of Data, Analysis, Research, and Evaluation Data Brief 2013-1 (n.d.): n. pag. Web.
3. Kaufman, Leslie. "Foster Children at Risk, and an Opportunity Lost." The New York Times. The New York Times, 04 Nov. 2007. Web. 05 Nov. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/05/nyregion/05foster.html?_r=0>.
4. Wulczyn, Fred, and Bridgette Lery. Racial Disparity in Foster Care Admissions. Chicago, IL: Chapin Hall Center for Children, 2007. Web.
I think this is very interesting in many aspects. I think that how it is 52% for male and 48% for female is interesting because I thought in my own opinion that a lot more girls would be wanted then boys when adopting. I also think it is very interesting in the first graph how it displays the high percentage of white children who are in foster care, because when people are adopting a lot of families only want white children.
ReplyDeleteThis blog post is very interesting. I am very glad that some of the percents for certain races/ ethnicities in foster homes is going down. I think it would interesting to research which races are more prone to adopting a certain race. From what I can see through the media, many celebrities adopt African American/ African or Asian children. However, I do not always hear about black families adopting white or different race children, if at all, which I find quite intriguing.
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