The Influence of Race, Income, and Risk on the Substantiation Decision in Child Welfare

June 15, 2011 by Andrew Atwal

Children and Youth Services Review

This study uses data from the Texas child welfare system to identify the factors that contribute to disparities in substantiating allegations of child neglect or abuse. The analyses in the study control for the effect of family income, as well as other factors related to maltreatment in order to better understand whether race plays a role in substantiating allegations.

Findings show that when family income is controlled, race is not a significant factor in the substantiation decision. However, when also controlling for a caseworker’s perception of risk, race emerges as a stronger explanatory factor. This could suggest that there is an important relationship between income, race, and risk assessment.

Results from the study also show the effect of racial bias on decision-making remains an important factor to consider when trying to understand the overrepresentation of African-American children in the child welfare system. African-American children represent 30 percent of all children in foster care, even though they make up just 15 percent of all children in the general population.

Although research has been effective in documenting the disparities in the child welfare system, it has been less effective at being able to document the factors behind them. For instance, some studies have shown that race is a significant factor at various decision-making points, while others have shown that it is not a factor.

The report notes that more than 96 percent of children who are placed in out-of-home care are involved in investigations in which allegations of mistreatment are substantiated.

 

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