Child Welfare and Black Families

Racism and Child Protection in Ontario
Child welfare and oppressed, marginalized, and racialized communities
Over-Representation of Black Families and Children in the Child Welfare System
How Has the Child Welfare System Perpetuated and Exacerbated Oppression and Social Control in Racialized Communities
Anti-Black Racism
- How Can Child Protection Workers Practice Anti-Oppressive Ways with Racialized Communities?
Current Practice Methods: Risk and Safety Assessments of Black Children

Black children and families are over-represented in the child welfare system in cities like Toronto.
- Black individuals make up approximately 8% of Toronto's population.
- About 65% of Black children are in the care of the child welfare system (source: The Child Welfare Anti-Oppressive Round Table, 2009).
Reasons for Over-Representation
  - Institutional/systemic racism is embedded within the child welfare system (Bonnie & Pon, 2015).
  - Child protection standards and policies exhibit institutional racism.
    - Example: Ontario Child Protection Standard (OCPS)
    - Example: Ontario Child Protection Tools Manual (OCPTM)

Widespread presence of anti-Black racism in the child welfare system leads to the need for anti-racist practice.
- Anti-racist practice must begin with recognizing the historical context:
- Impact of slavery and ongoing racism faced by Black families.
An anti-racist lens is essential for assessing children's well-being.

Current models for assessing well-being are primarily based on the biomedical model (Bonnie & Pon, 2015).
Well-being should be contextualized within different cultural frameworks.
Negative Indicators of Well-Being
  - Psychological variables:
    - Emotional distress
    - Low self-esteem
    - Chronic stress
    - Anxiety
    - Sense of hopelessness
  - Socio-economic variables:
    - Poor quality of life
    - Poverty
    - Poor housing conditions
    - Homelessness
    - Family breakdown

Current framing of well-being through the biomedical model emphasizes individual perspectives.
This approach ignores broader socio-cultural and political factors.
Social determinants of health are viewed from a micro perspective rather than a systemic one.
Well-being of racialized children, including Black and Indigenous, cannot be disassociated from:
  - Classism (poverty)
  - Racism
  - Sexism
Impact of Racism on Family Health
- Erosion of children's well-being often linked to consistent experiences of racism at both institutional and personal levels.

Current child protection standards (OCPS and OCPTM) address:
- Child abuse and neglect assessments.
Approaches are evaluative and response-driven based on:
- Ontario Child Protection Standards (OCPS)
- Ontario Child Protection Standards Manual (OCPTM)
Shortcomings in Current Standards:
- OCPS and OCPTM do not adequately address racism as a critical factor in assessing well-being and social determinants of health.

Purpose:
  - To promote consistently high-quality and responsive child welfare services across Children's Aid Societies (CASs) in Ontario.
  - Clarifies minimum performance levels for child protection workers, supervisors, and CASs.
  - Creates norms that reflect desired standards of achievement.

Standard 1: Intake - Receiving a referral and determining the appropriate response.
Standard 2: Planning and executing a child protection investigation.
Standard 3: Conducting a safety assessment and developing a safety plan.
Standard 4: Conducting a risk assessment.
Standard 5: Concluding a child protection investigation.
Standard 6: Transferring a case.
Standard 7: Ongoing service case management.
Standard 8: Closing a case.

Eligibility spectrum aids in interpreting reports to CAS.
Helps determine legal requirements for ongoing child welfare intervention.
Provides support for supervisory consultations and reviews by CAS staff.
Establishes frameworks for consistency within intervention responses.
Critique:
- Based on Eurocentric cultural perspectives.
- Establishes whiteness as standard, leading to pathologizing of minority cultures.

OCPS does not adequately incorporate anti-racism or anti-oppressive practices.
These frameworks perpetuate state surveillance and intrusive interventions for Black children and families.
Reports from Black social workers confirm Afro-Caribbean children and families encounter racism, sexism, and classism predominantly enforced by white social workers.

Whiteness maintains dominance and status within the child welfare system, often perceived as racially neutral.
Practices of whiteness continue to contribute to the disproportionate representation of Black families in the child welfare system.
Implementation of anti-racism practices can help mitigate negative impacts and reduce over-representation.

Proposals for intervention:
  - A Critical Well-being Guide should be necessary for all risk and safety assessments concerning children's well-being.
  - A new social contract must be established between Black communities, government, and social service agencies.
  - Encourage social workers to engage in critical narratives, reflection, and practices to confront over-representation issues.

Engage in questions and discussions addressing the topics covered in the material, highlighting missed practices and issues as well as potential solutions.