They're 15 percent of the child population, but 44 percent of all foster children. In urban areas such as Allegheny County, the percentage is even higher. Here, it's about 75 percent. Poverty and crack, both of which also hit black communities disproportionately, are driving those numbers, most experts say. Crack not only intoxicates, it obliterates maternal instincts.
Babies are particularly vulnerable.
They starve while their mothers trade their toys for crack. They learn no one responds when they cry. By the mid-1990s, nearly half of children removed from their parents were taken because they were ignored or forgotten, not because they were battered or broken. Jasmine was one of the forgotten babies. At 14 months old, she was rushed to Children's Hospital with ulcerated diaper rash and labored breathing.