Wake County Human Services Leadership Team Meeting

1. Wake County Human Services Leadership Team Meeting Wake County, North Carolina February 16, 2006 8:30 – 11:30 am Presenter: Khatib Waheed, Senior Fellow Center for the Study of Social Policy Casey-CSSP Alliance on Racial Equity

2. KEY QUESTIONS Given our history of racial segregation and exclusion in the U.S and its impact upon how public systems have been designed and who they were designed to serve: • Have we done enough to sufficiently reform our public systems to ensure equitable treatment and outcomes for the current diverse populations that are served?

3. KEY QUESTIONS (cont.) • What are the policies, practices and cultural stereotypes that perpetuate the current disparities reflected in the data from your respective systems?

4. Acknowledgement The journey toward discussing, understanding and undoing/dismantling structural racism will be difficult at times requiring: • courage with a sense of humility; • patience with a sense of urgency; • compassion rooted in a sense of what is just; • commitment with a sense of reserve; and • creativity with an appreciation for routine.

5. Terminology Disproportionality • Over-or-under-representation of minority children under age 18 in foster care compared to their representation in the general population. Disparity • Disparate or inequitable treatment, services and outcomes for minority children as compared to those provided and experienced by similarly situated Caucasian children.

6. Terminology (cont.) Racial Equity A social outcome measure that occurs when the distribution of society’s resources, opportunities, and burdens are not predictable by race (Aspen Roundtable). Structural Racism The many factors that work to produce and maintain racial hierarchies and inequities in America today which includes: • National history, values, political economy and culture; and • Public policies, institutional practices and cultural stereotypes (Aspen Roundtable).

7. Identifying Factors Contributing To Racial Disproportionality And Disparity In Child Welfare Three Themes: • Correlation between poverty and maltreatment • Individual/family level dysfunction • Structural racism: race does matter

8. Theme # 1:Correlation Between Poverty and Maltreatment 1. Highest risk exists among families with low income, single parents, parents not in labor force with large numbers of children; 2. All three waves of NIS found no significant differences between rates of maltreatment between African Americans and Caucasians; • African Americans were expected to have higher rates of abuse and neglect since have higher levels of risk factors; • When various risk factors were controlled (education and income) Caucasians maltreated at higher rates; and 3. Some studies suggest that disproportionality is more about the disadvantaged characteristics of communities.

9. Theme # 2: Individual/family level Issues Examples Related to Child Welfare: • Proliferation in rates of substance abuse and use of crack cocaine; • Increase in rates of HIV/AIDS; and • Increase in overall incarceration rates, particularly impacting women/mothers.

10. Theme # 3: Structural Racism - Race Does Matter Contributing Factors: • Concentrated poverty in racially segregated neighborhoods combined with cultural stereotypes; • Vague definition of neglect; • Broad discretion on the part of CPS workers; and • Lack of adequate training on the relevance of cultural differences and the impact of structural racism.

11. Theme # 3: Structural Racism - Race Does Matter (cont.) Child Welfare Examples: • Accidental injuries more likely reported as maltreatment if family/child is African American or Latino; • Newborns tested positive for cocaine more likely removed if mothers are African American; • African American families routinely offered parenting skills and substance abuse services, while Caucasian families received more housing services; • CASA’s spend less time with African American children than with other children; and • African American and Latino children receive fewer or poorer mental health services.

12. Theme# 3 (cont): Structural Racism: Race Does Matter Examples of Racial Disparities Outside of Child Welfare: • Housing segregation and concentrated poverty- neighborhoods for people of color more likely to be poor than predominately white neighborhoods; • Juvenile justice disparities- African American youth comprise 17% of the youth population, but represent 27% of all drug violation arrests, and 48% of the youth detained for a drug offense. For weapon offenses whites and African Americans were reported for similar rates of carrying guns (5.5% Whites and 6.5% African American), yet African Americansrepresent 32% of all weapons arrests at a rate twice that of whites; and • Disparities in health services- according to Institute of Medicine (IOM) report requested by Congress in 1999, U.S. racial and ethnic minorities are less likely to receive even routine medical procedures and more likely to experience a lower quality of services than Whites.

13. When a structural racism framework is notused to identify factors contributing to disparities the issue of race is diminished: Poverty Individual family behaviors Race

14. The Importance of Race (cont.) When a structural racism framework is used to identify factors contributing to disparities the importance of race is expanded: Individual family behaviors Poverty Race

15. What Does the National Data Show? Existing data suggest that disproportionate numbers of children of color: • receive fewer child welfare services that would allow them to remain with their families. As a result too many are: • removed unnecessarily from their homes; • left to languish in foster care; and • are denied the support and family connections they need to transition successfully to adulthood.

16. What Does The National Data Show? In almost every state, children of color are disproportionately represented in the child welfare system: • African Americans overrepresented in 46 states; • Native American children overrepresented in 24 states; and • Latinos overrepresented in 6 states.

17. SIX KEY DECISION POINTS IN CHILD WELFARE • Calling the Hotline • Accepting Reports child abuse and neglect • Investigating allegations of child abuse and neglect • Substantiating child abuse and neglect • Placing children and young adults into foster care • Exiting from foster care which includes aging out and reunification • Re-entry into “the system”

18. Racial Disparities DataExample: CaliforniaEthnicity and the Path through the Child Welfare System

19. What Are The Pathways Toward Improvement? Strength-Based Approach: convening multiple systems is an opportunity to: • Integrate the intake and assessment process in de-centralized locations; • Improve access and usage for families of color plagued by multiple problems and receiving help from multiple systems; • Provide of integrated continuum of care beyond the initial point of intervention; • Track family and system outcomes to make timely corrections and improvements; • Develop integrated implementation strategies with other stakeholders that focus on those structures that perpetuate embedded disadvantage such as poverty, housing segregation and employment; and • Improve outcomes for all children, families and communities.

20. Community Building Values & Practices: Adding A Structural Racism Lens

21. Building A Pathway Toward Improvement Applying a structural racism/racial equity lens to your Strategic Plan means: • Making it explicit in your mission to dismantle the structural barriers (policies, practices and cultural stereotypes) that perpetuate disparities for the consumers of your services. • Making it an explicit goal to ensure racial equity in the treatment, services, and outcomes for children and families of color. • Developing and implementing a set of integrated policies, programs and practices that increase the likelihood of achieving racial equity. • Developing a set of measurable benchmarks with expectations to measure and track progress along the way.

22. Applying A Structural Racism Theory Of Change (SRTOC): Definition The SRTOC is a step-by-step guide designed to help community groups: • Depict the necessary interim and early outcomes required to reduce racial disparities in neighborhoods, systems and regions; • Set long-term change targetsand identify early and intermediate preconditions that are logically associated with those targets; • “Unpack” a change process and identify systemic and institutional barriers that must be addressed.

23. Applying A Structural Racism Theory Of Change: Steps Step 1: • Define the long-term change that you hope to achieve, including measurable outcomes;

24. Applying A Structural Racism Theory Of Change: Steps (Cont.) Step 2: • Identify the preconditions that are necessary and sufficient to achieve the desired long-term change;

25. Applying A Structural Racism Theory Of Change: Steps (Cont.) Step 3: • Identify the specific public policies, institutional practices and cultural representations that are barriers to the existence of the preconditions identified;

26. Applying A Structural Racism Theory Of Change: Steps (cont.) Step 4: • Design action strategies for changing policies, practices and cultural representations, including stakeholders for strategic coalition building; and

27. Applying A Structural Racism Theory Of Change: Steps (cont.) Step 5: • Assess your capacity to implement the action strategies.

28. What Is the Casey-CSSP Alliance for Racial Equity in Child Welfare? An Alliance of five family foundations and organizations affiliated with Jim Casey, founder of the United Parcel Service (UPS), along with the Center for the Study of Social Policy. Working to ensure that all children and families of color receive fair treatment and support from the child welfare system – helping all children, regardless of race, to become independent and productive community members throughout the United States.

29. Henry J. Casey 1849-1902 Annie E. Sheehan 1867-1962 (1907) Seattle, WA • Annie E. Casey Foundation • Grant Making (1948) • Casey Family Services (1976) • The Casey Center (2001) • Casey Family Programs • Direct Services (1966) • Systems Improvement (2003) • Marguerite Casey Foundation • Grant Making (2001) The Casey Family Connections James E. 1888-1983 Henry J. (Harry) 1890-1992 George A. 1893-1957 Marguerite 1900-1987 The Casey Family Connections • Jim Casey • Youth Opportunities Initiative • Grantmaking (2001) 10/27/04

30. What Is the Casey-CSSP Alliance for Racial Equity in Child Welfare? History March 2004, the five family foundations and the Center for the Study of Social Policy held a meeting to learn: • what was being done to address disproportionality and disparity; • identify how we could work together; and • join leaders and experts in this field to add our voices to their rich history.

31. What Is the Casey-CSSP Alliance for Racial Equity in Child Welfare (cont.)? • March 2005, Alliance developed a theory of change, established work groups and reached consensus on a budget. • July 2005, majority of Alliance members attend an Undoing Racism Workshop in New Orleans. • September 2005, reconvene to ensure integration of efforts across the five work groups.

32. Mission & Primary Goal Mission • To create a child welfare system that is free of structural racism and that benefits all children, families and communities. Long-Term Goal • By 2015, to significantly reduce racial and ethnic disproportionality and disparity in jurisdictions that agree to partner with the Alliance. Commitment • To leverage resources, expertise and experience with others who share our goal to ensure that: • All children and families in the child welfare system – regardless of race – receive the kind of opportunities and support they need.

33. Alliance Theory of Change Structural Racism Theory of Change • Positing that six dimensions will work interdependently to achieve the long-term change goal of the Alliance. • Each of the dimensionsisnecessary but no one dimension can achieve the long-term goal on its own. • Convening additional partners to further develop and implement the comprehensive strategy.

34. Work Groups and Dimensions 1. Legislation, Policy Change and Finance Reform: • Recommending changes in policy and practices at the local, state and national level to ensure racially equitable outcomes. 2. Research, Evaluation and Data-Based Decision Making: • Identifying and tracking promising practices and evidence-based solutions through data, research and evaluation. • Youth/Alumni, Parent and Community Partnerships and Development: • Engaging parents, youth, and children of color as true partners to advocate for better policy, practices and to find solutions that build upon their cultural strengths.

35. Work Groups and Dimensions (cont.) 4. Public Will and Communications: • Reaching out to leaders who can increase public awareness about the causes of the problem and to help find solutions . 5. Human Service Workforce Development: • Supporting child welfare agencies by providing tools, technical assistance and “promising practices” information that help improve outcomes for all children, youth and families . 6. Practice Change (site-based implementation): • Improving policies and practices at the key decision-making points in the case flow of children through the child welfare system.

36. How To Reach Us • Please contact: Khatib Waheed, Senior Fellow Center for the Study of Social Policy Khatib.waheed@cssp.org 314-383-1010 or 202-371-1565