Researchers at the University of Toronto's Youth Wellness Lab say they've identified key policies and practices that are contributing to the over-representation of Black children and families in Ontario's child welfare system.
The Mapping Disparities for Black Families report, which is available as a series, includes recommendations for change that offer child welfare policy-makers, frontline workers and leaders a roadmap to meaningfully address the inequitable experiences of Black families in the province.
The report comes on the heels of existing research that found Black families are more than twice as likely as white families to be referred to and investigated by the province's child welfare agencies , with anti-Black racism likely playing a key role .
"We know that anti-Black racism is a crucial part of the picture, but what we didn't know before was how, where and when it happens across the system," says Bryn King, an associate professor in U of T's Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work who is the principal investigator on the research project.
"Our new study is the first that speaks directly to people working in child welfare in Ontario about how they make decisions about Black families."
The report's recommendations include strengthening support for Black families experiencing poverty, revising or replacing current eligibility criteria for child welfare services that discriminate against Black families, investing in more community-based parenting support for Black families and providing training to child welfare supervisors in areas related to anti-Black racism, racial trauma and diverse cultural needs.
King launched the study in 2021 with co-investigator Travonne Edwards, a recent U of T social work PhD graduate who is now an assistant professor in the School of Child and Youth Care at Toronto Metropolitan University. They worked with a team at the Youth Wellness Lab, a research collaborative that engages youth and community partners - in this case, One Vision One Voice , a program funded by the Ontario Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services that's housed at the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies (OACAS) and informed by the Black community.
"This is an understudied area that required urgent attention," says Edwards, who began his career as a child and youth care practitioner in the Greater Toronto Area.
As a practitioner, Edwards says he saw the child welfare system intervene more frequently and intensively in Black families, citing statistics from the 2018 Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect : 14 per cent of investigations involve Black children despite making up just seven per cent of the population - and they are more than twice as likely as white children to be placed in out-of-home care.
Vania Patrick-Drakes, a 2006 graduate of U of T Scarborough and manager of One Vision One Voice, says the Mapping Disparities for Black Families study was launched to bridge a gap in knowledge.
"We needed an understanding of how child welfare service delivery perpetuates disparities for Black families, and we knew from partnering with Travonne and Bryn previously that they were passionate about this subject," she says.
The research team interviewed individuals and conducted focus groups with 79 people employed in - or adjacent to - the child welfare system, including social workers, supervisors, agency leaders, lawyers and more.
"We mapped out the points in the system where influential decisions get made - screening, investigation, service provision, placement and reunification - and then asked people involved in each of these areas about their decision-making processes," says King.
After conducting a preliminary analysis, the research team and One Vision One Voice identified four initial themes for further analysis and consultation with the sector:
- The strong role of rigid eligibility criteria for child welfare intervention on the over-investigation and treatment of Black families
- The over-surveillance of Black families for concerns about physical abuse
- The connection between high rates of poverty in Black families and child welfare intervention
- The powerful effect of supervisors, especially those familiar with anti-Black racism, in shaping the treatment of Black families
The research team then invited the research participants and community-based representatives from child welfare to review the findings, refine the analysis and generate practical solutions to manage the concerns that were identified. For example, many research participants said Black families who experience poverty are susceptible to allegations of neglect, leading to referrals for investigation rather than guidance on resources or connections to community supports.
"One of our key recommendations is really interrogating and slowing down referrals," says Edwards. "This involves speaking to the referral source, assuring that they've done their due diligence and supporting them in exploring external resources that may mitigate the risk or safety concern."
The study participants also described how current child welfare eligibility standards are based on a Eurocentric parenting framework that doesn't account for cultural differences or the strengths and safety within Black families.
Edwards and King are now embarking on a related project, supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, that will bring Black families, communities, One Vision One Voice and researchers from across the GTA together to explore how Black families experience child welfare interventions, with the goal of improving their realities and outcomes.
"We also hope to find out what community supports beyond the child welfare system are helpful and effective in strengthening Black families," Edwards says.
The Mapping Disparities for Black Families project is planning to hold a second round of community consultations on additional study findings such as the screening and over-surveillance of Black families and training for child welfare workers and leaders.
"This is just a first step," says King. "We now have a lot of data about how anti-Black racism is operating on multiple levels of the child welfare system - in policies, structures and individual decisions - and outside the system. But we also have practical suggestions for how to interrupt the practices and decisions that lead to disparities, and we're going to keep sharing and expanding on these strategies."
