Re: recruitment of minority foster/adoptive parents

[bill higgins <bill_higginsus@xxxxxxxxx>]

Who said race doesn't matter?  You are assuming that
matching placements by race "ameliorates trauma."  Is
this actually true?  I don't think this has been
established in the literature. Please correct me if
you think otherwise. 

Bill


--- vernon carter <vbrooks@nh.ultranet.com> wrote:
> It is fascinating to me, how we all bring our own
> understanding /perspective
> to a reading. Shirley Wilder is the name of the
> child who could not receive
> appropriate services from CPS in NYC. What I got
> from an article by Rosner &
> Markovitz, (1997) is that the NYC CPS system is and
> has been since its
> inception rife with racism. Any efforts that could
> ameliorate the trauma
> that children of color experience when they are
> removed from their homes
> would be a move in the right direction. This idea
> that race doesn't matter,
> frankly offends me.
> 
> I know that R.P. Barth feels that efforts to find
> minority foster homes is
> not that answer for children of color who are
> lingering in foster care. But
> Jonson-Reid and Barth (2000) also feel that African
> American children are
> best left in foster care rather than return them to
> abusive and neglect
> situations. Unfortunately, it has to be pointed out
> that 68% of all children
> in care are there because of neglect and not abuse
> (Takayama & Wolfe, 1998).
> 
> We are a society that is racially polarized. Some
> communities are as
> segregated today, as they were 80 years ago. In the
> cities of New York and
> Chicago, African American and Caucasians live in
> communities that are no
> more integrated today than they were in the 1920s -
> when African Americans
> began immigrating from the South in large numbers
> (Christian Science
> Monitor, March 14, 2001).
> 
> Here are two articles you might find to be helpful.
> 
> Fagan. P. (1995). Why serious welfare reform must
> include serious adoption
> reform. The Heritage Foundation Backgrounder No.
> 1045. [Online]. Available:
>
http://www.frc.org/heritage/library/categories/healthwel/bg1045.html
> 
> Briggs, H. (October 1994) Promoting adoptions by
> foster parents through an
> inner-city organization. Research On Social Work
> Practice, 4, (4), 497-509.
> 
> Vernon Brooks Carter, MSW (former CPSW worker)
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <dw432@columbia.edu>
> To: Child Maltreatment Researchers
> <CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu>
> Sent: Monday, June 03, 2002 3:36 PM
> Subject: Re: recruitment of minority foster/adoptive
> parents
> 
> 
> > Arnie--
> >      Interestingly, this policy (of placing like
> kids with like
> > parents) is nothing new. I just finished a book
> "The Lost Children of
> > Wilder: the epic struggle to change foster care"
> written by NYT
> > writer Nina Bernstein that gives a moving synopsis
> of failed policies
> > in the US foster care system (especially here in
> NYC). Why not focus
> > more on quality control of caring, nurturing
> parents (which has been
> > shown to all important to child development)
> instead of emphasizing
> > racial/cultural/religious orientation?
> > --Doug Waite, MD
> >
> > Quoting "PRITCHARD, ARNIE"
> <ARNIE.PRITCHARD@po.state.ct.us>:
> >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > The Connecticut Department of Children and
> Families is
> > > planning an
> > > evaluation of its efforts to comply with the
> "pool provision"
> > > of the
> > > Multi-ethnic Placement Act of 1994 (MEPA).  The
> pool provision
> > > requires any
> > > child placement agency receiving federal funds
> to make
> > > diligent efforts to
> > > recruit a pool of foster and adoptive parents
> who are
> > > ethnically similar to
> > > the children whom the agency is trying to place.
> In practice,
> > > this means
> > > efforts to recruit and retain foster and
> adoptive parents from
> > > ethnic
> > > minorities, especially African-Americans and
> Hispanic/Latinos.
> > >
> > > We would like to know of any studies either of
> 1)efforts to
> > > recruit minority
> > > foster/adoptive parents in general
> 2)specifically, studies of
> > > efforts to
> > > comply with the pool provisions of MEPA.
> > >
> > > Thank you for your attention.
> > >
> > > Arnie Pritchard
> > > Quality Assurance
> > Division
> > > Connecticut DCF
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > Doug Waite, MD
> > New York City
> >
> 


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