By: Sandra T. Azar and Phillip Atiba Goff
Disparities exist in the representation of racial and ethnic
minorities in the child protection services (CPS) system, and they
also exist with respect to how such minority groups make their way
through the various procedures within the system. A closer
examination of foster care placement rates, lengths of stay in
foster care, use of kinship foster care, and service provisions
offers evidence of these disparities. Although other
explanations have been offered, biased decision making on the part
of the professionals involved in both the CPS and the legal system
have been suggested to potentially be at the root of the
problem. To date, efforts to reduce bias have focused on
explicit processes such as the use of actuarial risk assessment
systems by caseworkers and the implementation of procedural and
statutory safeguards on legal decision making. The latter would
include the appointment of lawyers to represent parental and child
interests. Recent scientific advances have shown that human
judgment may also be influenced by implicit processes, not within
an individual’s control or awareness.
This article documents existing evidence of racial and ethnic
disparities in the CPS system. It then outlines evidence of
implicit processes that can produce both changes in the
transactions between professionals and parents and biases in
decision making that may explain some of the disparities found in
the CPS system. Finally, it considers what is currently known
regarding the malleability of such implicit processes and discusses
the implications of the efforts to reduce bias.
Our society is changing in composition and the demographics of
families are rapidly changing with it. Yet the demographics of
professional groups that are the primary actors in social services
and family court systems have not kept pace with these
changes. It is predicted that decision making which is subject
to the errors we have outlined here may become even more frequent
as these demographic changes continue to occur. Science is
needed to guide our efforts in further identifying the nature of
these biases and how they operate. Related to that, guidance is
also needed to change processes, inform training, and decrease the
inequities that may be found within the CPS system, so as to
ultimately be more effective in protecting children.