Team Decision Making May Improve Equity in the Child Welfare System

Many inequities exist in the child welfare system, at all stages of the child protection process—including reporting, investigation, and placement into foster care. Children of certain racial and ethnic groups are overrepresented in child welfare, relative to their numbers in the general population. In 2020, a higher percentage of children in foster care were Black or African American children and children who identify as more than one race, relative to these children’s percentage among the general population. Because family separation can cause distress and trauma, a disproportionate share of children of color experience these adverse conditions.