Monday, July 30, 2007
Tweet[IWS] GAO: AFRICAN AMERICAN CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE [30 July 2007]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
GAO-07-816
AFRICAN AMERICAN CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE [30 July 2007]
Additional HHS Assistance Needed to Help States Reduce the Proportion in Care
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/110/GAO%20rpt%20Af%20Am%20and%20Foster%20Care.pdf
[full-text, 87 pages]
What GAO Found
A higher rate of poverty is among several factors contributing to the higher proportion of African American children entering and remaining in foster care. Families living in poverty have greater difficulty accessing housing, mental health, and other services needed to keep families stable and children safely at home. Bias or cultural misunderstandings and distrust between child welfare decision makers and the families they serve are also viewed as contributing to children's removal from their homes into foster care. African American children also stay in foster care longer because of difficulties in recruiting adoptive parents and a greater reliance on relatives to provide foster care who may be unwilling to terminate the parental rights of the child's parentas required in adoptionor who need the financial subsidy they receive while the child is in foster care.
Most states we surveyed reported using strategies intended to address these issues, such as involving families in decisions, building community supports, and broadening the search for relatives to care for children. HHS provides information and technical assistance, but states reported that they had limited capacity to analyze data and formulate strategies, and states we visited told us they relied on assistance from universities or others.
States reported that the ability to use federal funding for family support services was helpful in keeping African American children safely at home and that federal subsidies for adoptive parents helped move children out of foster care. However, they also expressed concerns about the inability to use federal child welfare funds to provide subsidies to legal guardians. As an alternative to adoption, subsidized guardianship is considered particularly promising for helping African American children exit from foster care. States were also concerned about the lack of flexibility to use federal foster care funds to provide services for families, although states can use other federal funds for this purpose if they consider it a priority.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, July 30, 2007
Contact: J. Jioni Palmer or Matthew Beck (202) 225-8933
McDermott Contact: Mike DeCesare (202) 225-3106
Rangel and McDermott Highlight Need to Reduce the High Number of African American Children in Foster Care
New Report Shows Significant Over-Representation of African American Children in Foster Care System
WASHINGTON, D.C.Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel released a report today from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) which shows that African American children are twice as likely to enter foster care than White children, even though children of all races are equally as likely to suffer from abuse and neglect. The report also found that Black children remain in foster care longer than other children.
"Every foster child dreams of a permanent home. For far too many African American children, this is a dream deferred," Rangel said in response to the GAO report. "We need to work to reduce barriers to permanency for all foster children, but such an effort is particularly necessary for Black children. The GAO report highlights several reforms that might make a positive difference, including providing federal assistance for relatives providing permanent homes for foster children."
The GAO report found that a variety of factors contribute to the disproportionate number of African American children in foster care, including poverty (which often reduces access to supportive services for families), racial bias in the reporting of neglect and abuse, and limited permanent placement options.
"A child's need for a permanent home is not dictated by the color of his or her skin. And yet this report clearly confirms that African American children are much more likely to be stuck in foster care limbo than other children," said Representative Jim McDermott, the Chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, which has jurisdiction over the foster care system. "We should evaluate GAO's suggested remedies and then build a consensus for action."
The report specifically recommended that Congress amend federal law to provide federal reimbursement for legal guardianship, similar to that currently provided for adoption. Such guardianship payments would go to relatives who want to permanently care for a child but may find it difficult to adopt because they do not want to formally terminate the parental rights of their kin. According to the GAO, African American children are more likely to be placed with relatives while in foster care than White children.
To read a copy of the GAO report, < http://waysandmeans.congressnewsletter.net/mail/util.cfm?mailaction=clickthru&gpiv=1999939975.12164.59&gen=1&mailing_linkid=4975 > click here.
To learn more about what the Ways and Means Committee is doing about foster care issues, < http://waysandmeans.congressnewsletter.net/mail/util.cfm?mailaction=clickthru&gpiv=1999939975.12164.59&gen=1&mailing_linkid=4976 > click here.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
GAO-07-816
AFRICAN AMERICAN CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE [30 July 2007]
Additional HHS Assistance Needed to Help States Reduce the Proportion in Care
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/110/GAO%20rpt%20Af%20Am%20and%20Foster%20Care.pdf
[full-text, 87 pages]
What GAO Found
A higher rate of poverty is among several factors contributing to the higher proportion of African American children entering and remaining in foster care. Families living in poverty have greater difficulty accessing housing, mental health, and other services needed to keep families stable and children safely at home. Bias or cultural misunderstandings and distrust between child welfare decision makers and the families they serve are also viewed as contributing to children's removal from their homes into foster care. African American children also stay in foster care longer because of difficulties in recruiting adoptive parents and a greater reliance on relatives to provide foster care who may be unwilling to terminate the parental rights of the child's parentas required in adoptionor who need the financial subsidy they receive while the child is in foster care.
Most states we surveyed reported using strategies intended to address these issues, such as involving families in decisions, building community supports, and broadening the search for relatives to care for children. HHS provides information and technical assistance, but states reported that they had limited capacity to analyze data and formulate strategies, and states we visited told us they relied on assistance from universities or others.
States reported that the ability to use federal funding for family support services was helpful in keeping African American children safely at home and that federal subsidies for adoptive parents helped move children out of foster care. However, they also expressed concerns about the inability to use federal child welfare funds to provide subsidies to legal guardians. As an alternative to adoption, subsidized guardianship is considered particularly promising for helping African American children exit from foster care. States were also concerned about the lack of flexibility to use federal foster care funds to provide services for families, although states can use other federal funds for this purpose if they consider it a priority.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, July 30, 2007
Contact: J. Jioni Palmer or Matthew Beck (202) 225-8933
McDermott Contact: Mike DeCesare (202) 225-3106
Rangel and McDermott Highlight Need to Reduce the High Number of African American Children in Foster Care
New Report Shows Significant Over-Representation of African American Children in Foster Care System
WASHINGTON, D.C.Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel released a report today from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) which shows that African American children are twice as likely to enter foster care than White children, even though children of all races are equally as likely to suffer from abuse and neglect. The report also found that Black children remain in foster care longer than other children.
"Every foster child dreams of a permanent home. For far too many African American children, this is a dream deferred," Rangel said in response to the GAO report. "We need to work to reduce barriers to permanency for all foster children, but such an effort is particularly necessary for Black children. The GAO report highlights several reforms that might make a positive difference, including providing federal assistance for relatives providing permanent homes for foster children."
The GAO report found that a variety of factors contribute to the disproportionate number of African American children in foster care, including poverty (which often reduces access to supportive services for families), racial bias in the reporting of neglect and abuse, and limited permanent placement options.
"A child's need for a permanent home is not dictated by the color of his or her skin. And yet this report clearly confirms that African American children are much more likely to be stuck in foster care limbo than other children," said Representative Jim McDermott, the Chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, which has jurisdiction over the foster care system. "We should evaluate GAO's suggested remedies and then build a consensus for action."
The report specifically recommended that Congress amend federal law to provide federal reimbursement for legal guardianship, similar to that currently provided for adoption. Such guardianship payments would go to relatives who want to permanently care for a child but may find it difficult to adopt because they do not want to formally terminate the parental rights of their kin. According to the GAO, African American children are more likely to be placed with relatives while in foster care than White children.
To read a copy of the GAO report, < http://waysandmeans.congressnewsletter.net/mail/util.cfm?mailaction=clickthru&gpiv=1999939975.12164.59&gen=1&mailing_linkid=4975 > click here.
To learn more about what the Ways and Means Committee is doing about foster care issues, < http://waysandmeans.congressnewsletter.net/mail/util.cfm?mailaction=clickthru&gpiv=1999939975.12164.59&gen=1&mailing_linkid=4976 > click here.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 12:27 PM
