African American Children in Foster Care: HHS and Congressional Actions Could Help Reduce Proportion in Care
Published: 2008-07-31T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: A significantly greater proportion of African American children are in foster care than children of other races and ethnicities relative to their share of the general population. Given this situation, GAO was asked to analyze the (1) major factors influencing their proportion in foster care, (2) strategies states and localities have implemented that appear promising, and (3) ways in which federal policies may have influenced the proportion of African American children in foster care. This testimony is based on a GAO report issued in July 2007 (GAO-07-816), which included a nationwide survey; a review of research and policies; state site visits; analyses of child welfare data; and interviews with researchers, HHS officials, and other experts. It includes updates where possible.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: According to our survey results, key factors contributing to the proportion of African American children in foster care included a higher rate of poverty, challenges in accessing support services, racial bias and distrust, and difficulties in finding appropriate adoptive homes. Families living in poverty have greater difficulty accessing housing, mental health, and other support 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 also contribute 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, the lack of services for parents trying to reunify with their children, and a greater reliance on relatives to provide foster care who may be unwilling to terminate the parental rights of the child's parent--as required in adoption--or who need the financial subsidy they receive while the child is in foster care. Most states we surveyed reported using various strategies intended to address these issues, such as building community supports, providing cultural competency training for caseworkers, and broadening the search for relatives to care for children. Researchers and officials also stressed the importance of analyzing data to address the proportion of African American children in care in order to better understand the issue and devise strategies to address it. HHS provides information and technical assistance, but states reported that they had limited capacity to analyze their own data and formulate strategies to address disproportionality. According to our survey, states viewed some federal policies, such as those that promote adoption, as helpful for reducing the proportion of African American children in foster care. However, they also expressed concerns regarding policies that limit the use of federal funds to provide preventive services and support legal guardianship arrangements. As an alternative to adoption, subsidized guardianship is considered particularly promising for helping African American children exit from foster care.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: I am pleased to be here today to discuss our work on African American  children and the extent to which they are disproportionately represented  in foster care relative to their share of the general population. Nationwide,  about 510,000 children were in foster care at the end of fiscal year 2006, a  significant proportion of them African American children. African  American children were about three times as likely to be placed in foster  care compared with White children in 2006, and African American children  remained in foster care about 9 months longer as well. This  disproportionality occurs despite the fact that national studies have shown  that children suffer from abuse and neglect at the same rates regardless of  their race or ethnicity. Although states vary considerably, data from  nearly all states show some overrepresentation of African American  children in foster care.
As you know, about 60 percent of children who enter foster care do so in  response to reports of child abuse or neglect that are provided to a state’s  child welfare system by doctors, teachers, police officers, and others.  Child welfare staff make decisions about whether a child can or cannot  remain safely at home with their families, which are then presented before  a judge who corroborates or overturns the decision. If a child enters foster  care, child welfare staff develop case plans, approved by the courts,  outlining the actions that parents must take before a child can be returned  home. If the courts decide that children cannot be safely returned home,  caseworkers establish other goals for them, such as adoption or legal  guardianship. Although states have the primary responsibility for  establishing the structures and programs of their child welfare services,  federal policies establish a framework within which states make their  programmatic and fiscal decisions. The Department of Health and Human  Services (HHS) is the principal federal agency that provides federal  oversight of states’ child welfare systems.
My remarks today will focus on the following issues with regard to the  proportion of African American children in foster care:  (1)The major factors that have been identified as influencing the  proportion of African American children entering and remaining in foster  care;  (2)the strategies that states and localities have implemented that appear  promising in addressing African American children’s overrepresentation in  foster care; and  (3)the ways in which key federal child welfare policies may have  influenced African American children’s representation in foster care.
This testimony is based on findings from our July 2007 report on this  subject, which we developed using multiple methodologies, including a  nationwide Web-based survey of state child welfare administrators, site  visits to multiple states and counties, and interviews with child welfare  researchers and HHS officials. For our 2007 report, we also analyzed HHS  data on foster care and adoption, conducted a review of research on racial  disproportionality in foster care, and analyzed federal legislation and  policies. For this testimony, we updated some information based on foster  care and adoption data sources, but HHS did not provide us with any  updates on its activities in time for this testimony. We conducted our work  between June 2006 and July 2007 and updated as possible in July 2008 in  accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those  standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient,  appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and  conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence  obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions  based on our audit objectives.
subsections: section_title: Background
paragraphs: African American children were more likely to be placed in foster care  than White or Hispanic children in 2006, and at each decision point in the  child welfare process the disproportionality of African American children  grows. Nationally, although African American children made up less than  15 percent of the overall child population in the 2000 Census, they  represented 26 percent of the children who entered foster care during  fiscal year 2006 and 32 percent of the children remaining in foster care at  the end of that year (see fig. 1).
There are various options for placing children in temporary and  permanent homes through the child welfare system. Temporary options  include foster care with relatives or nonrelatives—whether licensed or  unlicensed—and group residential settings. According to HHS,  approximately one-fourth of the children in out-of-home care are living  with relatives, and this proportion is higher for Hispanic and African  American families. For permanent placements, children can be reunified  with their parents, or if reunification is not considered possible, children  can be adopted or live with a legal guardian. Although both adoption and  guardianship are considered permanent placement options under federal  law, an important difference is that adoption entails terminating parental  rights, while guardianship does not. Another difference is that some  adoptions may be subsidized with federal funds.
Federal funds account for approximately half of states’ total reported  spending for child welfare services, with the rest of funding coming from  states and localities. In fiscal year 2004, total federal spending on child  welfare was estimated to be $11.7 billion based on analysis of data from  more than 40 states. Titles IV-E and IV-B of the Social Security Act are the  principal sources of federal funds dedicated for child welfare activities.  Title IV-E supports payments to foster families, subsidies for families who  provide adoptive homes to children who states identify as having special  needs that make placement difficult, and related administrative costs on  behalf of children who meet federal eligibility criteria. Title IV-E payments  for foster care maintenance are open-ended entitlements. Title IV-B  authorizes funds to states for broad child welfare purposes, including child  protection, family preservation, and adoption services; these funds are  appropriated annually. Federal block grants, such as the Temporary  Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Social Services Block Grant  (SSBG), provide additional sources of funds that states can use for child  welfare purposes. States have discretion to provide direct social services  for various populations, including child welfare families, the elderly, and  people with disabilities.
In 1994, the Congress authorized the use of demonstration waivers to  encourage innovative and effective child welfare practices. These waivers,  typically authorized for 5 years, allowed states to use Title IV-E funds to  provide services and supports other than foster care maintenance  payments. For example, four states had completed demonstrations that  involved subsidized guardianships, and, as of May 2007, seven states had  active guardianship demonstrations and one state had not yet  implemented its guardianship demonstration. Demonstration waivers must  remain cost-neutral to the federal government, and they must undergo  rigorous program evaluation to determine their effectiveness.
section_title: States Report Poverty and Difficulty in Finding Permanent Homes Are among Major Factors Influencing African Americans Entry and Length of Stay
paragraphs: A complex set of interrelated factors influence the disproportionate  number of African American children who enter foster care, as well as  their longer lengths of stay. Major factors affecting children’s entry into  foster care included African American families’ higher rates of poverty,  difficulties in accessing support services, and racial bias or cultural  misunderstanding among child welfare decision makers, as well as  families’ distrust of the child welfare system. Factors often cited as  affecting African American children’s length of stay in foster care included  the lack of appropriate adoptive homes for children, parents’ lack of  access to support services needed for reunification with their children,  and a greater use of kinship care among African American families. (See  fig. 2.)
In our survey, 33 of the 48 states from which we received responses  reported that high rates of poverty in African American communities and  issues related to living in poverty may increase the proportion of African  American children entering foster care compared to that of children of  other races and ethnicities. Across the nation, African American families  were nearly four times more likely to live in poverty than White families,  according to U.S. Census data. Since foster care programs primarily serve  children from low-income families, this could account for some of the  disproportionate number of African American children in the foster care  system. In addition, child welfare directors in 25 states reported that the  greater number of African American single-parent households contributed  to African American children’s entry into foster care. According to the  most recent National Incidence Study, children of single parents, who are  also more likely than married couples to be poor, had a 77 to 87 percent  greater risk of harm than children from two-parent families. Across the  nation, 34 percent of African American family households with children  under 18 years of age were headed by single females compared to 9  percent for Whites and 19 percent for Hispanics, according to U.S. Census  data.
Moreover, families living in impoverished neighborhoods often do not  have access to the kinds of supports and services that can prevent  problems in the home from leading to abuse or neglect, according to states  we surveyed and other research. Such supports and services include  affordable and adequate housing; substance abuse treatment; access to  family services such as parenting skills workshops and counseling; and  adequate legal representation. Also, there is some evidence that African  American families, in particular, are not offered the same amount of  support services when they are brought to the attention of the child  welfare system.
Coupled with African American parents’ greater distrust of the child  welfare system, racial bias or cultural misunderstanding among decision  makers also emerged in our survey as major factors contributing to the  disproportionate number of African American children entering foster  care. According to state child welfare officials and some researchers we  interviewed, African American families’ distrust of the child welfare  system stems from their perception that the system is unresponsive to  their needs and racially biased against them. This perception can shape  the families’ dynamics in their initial contacts with mandated reporters,  caseworkers, and judges, which can increase the risk the child will be  removed from the home. In our survey, state child welfare directors also  reported that they considered racial bias or cultural misunderstanding on  the part of those reporting abuse or neglect---such as teachers, medical  professionals, or police officers, as well as among caseworkers---as factors  in the disproportionate representation of African American children  entering foster care. In support of this view, some studies have found that  medical professionals are more likely to report low-income or minority  children to child protective services. Although research on racial bias or  race as a predictor for entry into foster care is not always consistent, a  recent review of the current research concluded that race is an important  factor that affects the decision to place children into foster care.
Among factors cited as affecting African American children’s longer  lengths of stay in foster care, officials from 29 states cited an insufficient  number of appropriate adoptive homes as a key factor. African American  children constituted nearly half of the children legally available for  adoption in 2004, and they waited significantly longer than other children  for an adoptive placement. Factors that make finding adoptive families for  African American children challenging include the difficulty many states  have in recruiting adoptive families of the same race and ethnicity as the  children waiting for adoption and the unwillingness of some families to  adopt a child of another race. In addition, states we surveyed reported that  African American children waiting to be adopted were older, and  prospective adoptive parents are more inclined to adopt younger  children. (See fig. 3.)
Additionally, the belief that African American children are more likely to  be diagnosed as having medical and other special needs, which may  contribute to their longer lengths of stay in foster care, was reported by  state officials. In fact, African American children in foster care in 2004  were only slightly more likely to have been diagnosed as having medical  conditions or other disabilities (28 percent) than White children in foster  care (26 percent), according to HHS data. However, 23 percent of African  American children who were adopted out of foster care had a medical  condition or disability, compared to 31 percent of White children in the  same category.
Some of the same factors that states view as contributing to African  American children’s entry also contribute to their difficulties in exiting  foster care and being reunified with their families. In our survey, nearly  half of the states considered the lack of affordable housing, distrust of the  child welfare system, and lack of substance abuse treatment as factors  contributing to African American children’s longer lengths of stay. The  lack of such supports and other services in many poor African American  neighborhoods contributes to children’s longer stays in foster care  because services can influence a parent’s ability to reunify with their child  in a timely manner, according to our survey, interviews, and research.
States also reported that the use of kinship care was a factor contributing  to longer lengths of stay in foster care for African American children.  African American children are more likely than White and Asian children  to enter into the care of relatives, which is associated with longer lengths  of stay. Relatives may be unwilling to adopt the child because it would  require termination of their relative’s parental rights or because they might  lose needed financial support they receive as foster parents. However,  despite the longer lengths of stay, child welfare researchers and officials  we interviewed consider these placements to be positive options for  African American children because they are less stressful to the child and  maintain familial ties.
section_title: States Reported Implementing Strategies Considered Promising for Addressing Disproportionality but Also Reported Needing More Technical Assistance
paragraphs: Researchers and child welfare administrators we interviewed stressed that  no single strategy could fully address disproportionality in foster care,  partly because so many interrelated factors contribute to it. According to  our survey, the strategies that states implemented tended to focus on  addressing racial and cultural bias in decision making, families’ problems  in accessing support services, and agencies’ challenges in finding  permanent homes so that children can exit foster care more quickly. In  addition, data collection and analysis were considered essential for  identifying problems and devising strategies to address them, but states  reported needing additional assistance in this area.
To help mitigate bias and cultural misunderstanding among decision  makers, states reported implementing a range of strategies, such as  including family members in case planning; providing training to  strengthen caseworkers’ competency in working with families from  various cultures; reaching out to ensure that public officials are not  inappropriately referring families for abuse and neglect through mandated  reporting; and implementing the use of certain tools to help caseworkers  make more systematic decisions regarding the level of a child’s risk. (See  fig. 4.) According to an evaluation in Texas, for example, for African  American families who participated in case planning that included family  group decision making, 32 percent of the children returned home—more  than twice as many as in families who received traditional services.
To improve families’ access to services, states reported collaborating with  neighborhood-based support organizations, establishing interagency  agreements to improve access to these services, and implementing an  alternative approach to the assessment process that emphasizes helping  families obtain needed supports and services, instead of removing children  from their families. For example, in Los Angeles County, child welfare  officials went door to door in minority neighborhoods to find service  providers beyond those with whom they historically contracted. This  collaboration helped build trust between the community and the child  welfare agency and increased families’ use of the services provided.
For African American children who cannot ultimately be reunified with  their parents, states also reported devising strategies to increase the  number of permanent homes available to them. To increase the options for  African American children, 46 states reported making diligent searches for  fathers and other paternal kin who can care for these children—not a  routine practice until recently. Additionally, a federal law passed in 1994  and amended in 1996 require states to diligently recruit potential foster  and adoptive families that reflect the ethnic and racial diversity of children  in the state who need foster and adoptive homes. Likely in response to  these laws, states have adopted various strategies to recruit greater  numbers of African American adoptive parents, such as contracting with  faith-based organizations and convening adoption support teams.  However, despite these efforts, the number of African American children  adopted by African American parents has not increased in recent years. In  addition, HHS’s 2001 to 2004 review found that only 21 of 52 states were  sufficiently recruiting minority families, and one report found that the  recruitment of minority families was one of the greatest challenges for  nearly all states.
Using subsidized guardianship as an alternative to adoption may hold  particular promise for reducing disproportionality, and more than half of  the states surveyed reported using this strategy. African American  children are more likely than White children to be placed with relatives for  foster care, which is generally a longer-term placement, and these relative  caregivers are also more likely than nonrelative foster parents to be low- income. They may be unwilling to adopt because they may find it difficult  financially to forego foster care payments or because adoption entails  terminating the parental rights of their kin. However, subsidized  guardianship programs provide financial support for foster parents (often  relatives) who agree to become legally responsible for children but are  unable or willing to adopt. When Illinois and California implemented two  of the largest of such programs, they subsequently saw an increase in  permanent placements for all children. After instituting their subsidized  guardianship programs, more than 40 percent of children who were in  long-term relative foster care in both states found permanency. In Illinois,  this decrease also coincided with a reduction in disproportionate numbers  of African American children in foster care.
In addition to these types of strategies, child welfare administrators and  researchers told us that data collection, analysis, and dissemination are  needed to inform attempts to address disproportionality. These data can  include not only disproportionality rates but also information that  identifies the extent to which disproportionality occurs among different  age groups, at different stages in the child welfare process, and in different  locations. For example, a California researcher used state data to show  that African American infants enter foster care at a much higher rate than  infants of other races or ethnicities and that this disproportionality grows  as children get older because African American children are also less  likely to exit foster care. Such data analyses help states and localities  devise strategies to address the issue and can also be useful for building  consensus among community leaders and policymakers for action.  However, some state and local agencies have limited capacity to do this. In  responding to our survey, 25 states reported that receiving technical  assistance from HHS in calculating disproportionality rates and tracking it  over time would be useful. California state child welfare officials told us  that without the aid of a university researcher, they would not have the  ability to help counties that lack the capacity to collect and analyze their  data. Despite the importance of data analysis, 18 states reported that they  were not regularly analyzing or using data in their efforts to address  disproportionality.
HHS has made technical assistance and information on disproportionality  available to states at conferences and through various HHS Web sites. In  addition, the agency is compiling an inventory of tools and best practices  for addressing disproportionality. Despite these efforts, states report that  they need further information and technical assistance to strengthen their  current efforts in addressing disproportionality. Accordingly, in our July  2007 report, we recommended that HHS take certain actions to further  assist states in understanding and addressing the nature and extent of  racial disproportionality in their child welfare systems. In its comments,  HHS noted that our recommendation was consistent with its efforts to  provide technical assistance to states for addressing disproportionality,  but the department did not address the specific actions we recommended.  We continue to believe that it is important for HHS to take these actions to  help states address this complex issue.
section_title: States Reported That More Flexibility to Use Federal Funds for Prevention Services and Subsidized Guardianship Could Help Reduce Disproportionality
paragraphs: While states viewed some federal policies as helpful for reducing the  proportion of African American children in foster care, they also  expressed concerns regarding policies that limit the use of federal funds to  provide preventive services and support legal guardianship arrangements.  As an alternative to adoption, states considered subsidized guardianship  as particularly helpful in enabling African American children to exit foster  care but noted that while they can use federal child welfare funds to pay  subsidies to adoptive parents, they cannot do so for guardians.
At least half the states we surveyed noted that the structure of federal  child welfare funding may contribute to disproportionality by favoring  foster care placements over services to prevent the removal of children  from their homes in the first place. Of particular concern to 28 states in  our survey were the caps on funding for preventive and family support  services under Title IV-B, and 25 states expressed concern about their  inability to use foster care funds under Title IV-E for purposes other than  making payments to foster care families. A recent GAO report similarly  found that preventive and family support services were the services most  in need of greater federal, state, or local resources. According to  California and Minnesota officials, because the majority of federal child  welfare funds are used for foster care payments instead of preventive  services, federal funding policies did not align with states’ efforts to  reduce the number of children entering foster care by serving at-risk  children safely in their homes. However, states do have the freedom to use  other federal funds, particularly TANF block grants, to provide preventive  and supportive services to families, and 23 states reported that the ability  to use these funds contributes to a reduction in the proportion of African  American children in foster care. States face competing priorities for the  use of their TANF block grant funds, and not all states use them for child  welfare activities.
Once children are removed, states reported that federal policies promoting  adoption were generally helpful; however, states’ views were mixed on  certain requirements specifically intended to eliminate race-related  barriers to adoption. Policies that promote adoption of African American  children were generally viewed as helpful, such as allowing states to  classify African American children as having “special needs,” which allows  them to provide subsidies to adoptive parents, according to our survey  results. However, views of other requirements were mixed. Although 22  states reported that the federal policies requiring states to diligently  recruit ethnically and racially diverse adoptive families would help reduce  disproportionality, 9 states reported the federal requirements had no  effect, and 15 states reported that they were unable to tell.
States continue to face challenges in recruiting adoptive families---such as  a shortage of willing and qualified parents, especially for older African  American children, or a lack of resources for recruiting initiatives---and  more than half of states are not meeting HHS performance goals in this  area. Over the last 5 years, African American children and Native  American children have consistently experienced lower rates of adoption  than children of other races and ethnicities, and since 2000, adoption rates  have reached a plateau, according to HHS data and other research.
As an alternative to adoption, many child welfare officials and researchers  we interviewed considered subsidizing legal guardianship a particularly  important way to help African American children exit foster care.  However, there are no federal subsidies for guardianship similar to those  available for adoption, which constrains states’ ability to place children in  these arrangements. Seven states have a federal demonstration waiver,  which allows them to use Title IV-E funds for subsidized guardianship.  All  states did so in a cost-neutral manner, as required by the waivers. In  California and Illinois, subsidizing these legal guardianships has been  found to reduce the number of children in foster care, including African  American children. In addition, guardianship and adoption both have been  found to provide comparable levels of stability for children and show  similar outcomes in terms of emotional and physical health, according to  an evaluation of Illinois’s guardianship program. Because of the challenges  states face finding adoptive homes for many African American children  and because legal guardianship may offer a more suitable alternative for  families who want to permanently care for related children without  necessarily adopting them, we recommended, in our 2007 draft report, that  HHS pursue specific measures to allow adoption assistance payments to  be used for subsidizing legal guardianship. In its comments, HHS disagreed  with our recommendation, stating that its proposal for restructuring child  welfare funding, known as the Child Welfare Program Option, would give  states the option to do this. However, HHS has presented this option in its  budget proposal each year since 2004, but no legislation has been offered  to date to authorize it. Moreover, even if enacted, it is unknown how many  states would choose to implement this funding structure. Because the  viability of HHS’s proposal is uncertain, in our final July 2007 report, we  suggested that Congress consider amending current law to allow adoption  assistance payments to be used for legal guardianship. To date, the House  of Representatives has passed a bill with a provision to allow states to use  federal funds to subsidize legal guardianship for relatives, and the Senate  has introduced a bill with a similar provision.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. I would be pleased to respond  to any questions you or other Members of the Subcommittee may have.
section_title: GAO Contacts and Acknowledgments
paragraphs: For further information about this testimony, please contact me at (202)  512-7215 or brownke@gao.gov. Individuals making key contributions to  this testimony include Kim Siegal, Theresa Lo, Deborah A. Signer, Gale  Harris, and Charlie Willson.
section_title: Related GAO Products
paragraphs: Disconnected Youth: Federal Action Could Address Some of the  Challenges Faced by Local Programs That Reconnect Youth to Education  and Employment. GAO-08-313. Washington, D.C.: February 28, 2008.
African American Children in Foster Care: Additional HHS Assistance  Needed to Help States Reduce the Proportion in Care. GAO-07-816.  Washington, D.C.: July 11, 2007.
Child Welfare: Improving Social Service program, Training, and  Technical Assistance Information Would Help Address Long-standing  Service-level and Workforce Challenges. GAO-07-75. Washington, D.C.:  October 6, 2006.
Child and Family Services Reviews: Better Use of Data and Improved  Guidance Could Enhance HHS’s Oversight of State Performance. GAO- 04-333. Washington, D.C.: April 20, 2004.
HHS Actions Could Improve Coordination of Services and Monitoring of  States’ Independent Living Programs. GAO-05-25. Washington, D.C.:  November 18, 2004.
Child Welfare: Enhanced Federal Oversight of Title IV-B Could Provide  States Additional Information to Improve Services. GAO-03-956.  Washington, D.C.: September 12, 2003.
Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice: Federal Agencies Could Play a  Stronger Role in Helping States Reduce the Number of Children Placed  Solely to Obtain Mental Health Service. GAO-03-397. Washington, D.C.:  April 23, 2003 (reissued on August 11, 2003).
Foster Care: Recent Legislation Helps States Focus on Finding  Permanent Homes for Children, but Long-Standing Barriers Remain.  GAO-02-585. Washington, D.C.: June 28, 2002.
Foster Care: Kinship Care Quality and Permanency Issues. GAO-99-32.  Washington, D.C.: May 6, 1999.
Foster Care Implementation of the Multiethnic Placement Act Poses  Difficult Challenges. GAO-98-204. Washington, D.C.: September 14, 1998.
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