Racial Disparities in Foster Care

For decades there has been a focus on the high representation of children of color in the U.S. foster care system. Research has shown that there is a clear disparity in the rates in which children of color are reported and investigated for abuse or neglect, and the rates at which they enter and leave the system. For example, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, African American children made up 34% of children in foster care in 2004 but only 15% of the child population in the United States. In 2013, an estimated 42% of children in foster care were White, 24% were Black, 22% were Hispanic (of any race), and 9% were members of other races or multiracial, with the remaining 3% of ...