To transform child welfare, take race out of the equation
-
0:01 - 0:05I want you to imagine that you are
a Child Protective Services worker. -
0:06 - 0:08And you have to respond
to a report of child abuse. -
0:09 - 0:14You walk into a home, unannounced,
unexpected, certainly uninvited. -
0:15 - 0:19The first thing you see is a mattress
in the middle of the room, on the floor. -
0:19 - 0:21Three kids lying on it, asleep.
-
0:22 - 0:26There's a small table nearby
with a couple of ashtrays, -
0:26 - 0:27empty beer cans.
-
0:28 - 0:31Large rat traps are set in the corner,
-
0:31 - 0:34not too far from where
the kids lie asleep. -
0:34 - 0:35So you make a note.
-
0:37 - 0:40A part of your job is walking
through the entire home. -
0:40 - 0:43So you start with the kitchen,
where there's very little food. -
0:44 - 0:48You notice another mattress
in the bedroom, on the floor, -
0:48 - 0:50that the mother shares
with her infant child. -
0:52 - 0:56Now, generally, at this point,
two things may happen. -
0:57 - 1:00The children are deemed unsafe
and removed from the home, -
1:00 - 1:04and placed in state custody
for a specified period of time. -
1:05 - 1:08Or the children remain with their family
-
1:08 - 1:12and the child welfare system
provides help and support. -
1:14 - 1:16When I was a Child
Protective Services worker, -
1:16 - 1:18I saw things like this all the time.
-
1:18 - 1:21Some far better, some far worse.
-
1:22 - 1:24I asked you to imagine
yourself in that home, -
1:24 - 1:26because I wonder what crossed your mind.
-
1:26 - 1:28What guides your decisions?
-
1:29 - 1:32What's going to impact
your opinion of that family? -
1:33 - 1:36What race, ethnicity,
did you think the family was? -
1:38 - 1:41I want you to realize
that if those children were white, -
1:41 - 1:45it is more likely that their family
stays together after that visit. -
1:47 - 1:49Research done at
the University of Pennsylvania -
1:49 - 1:54found that white families, on average,
have access to more help and more support -
1:54 - 1:55from the child welfare system.
-
1:56 - 2:00And their cases are less likely
to go through a full investigation. -
2:02 - 2:05But on the other hand,
if those kids are black, -
2:06 - 2:09they are four times
more likely to be removed, -
2:09 - 2:12they spend longer periods
of time in foster care, -
2:12 - 2:15and it's harder to find them
a stable foster placement. -
2:17 - 2:20Foster care is meant to be
an immediate shelter of protection -
2:20 - 2:22for kids who are at high risk.
-
2:22 - 2:26But it's also a confusing
and traumatic exit from the family. -
2:27 - 2:29Research done at
the University of Minnesota -
2:29 - 2:32found that kids
who went through foster care -
2:32 - 2:35had more behavioral problems
and internalized issues -
2:35 - 2:39than kids who remain with their families
while receiving help and support. -
2:41 - 2:43The scenario I mentioned earlier
is not uncommon. -
2:43 - 2:46A single mother,
living in low-income housing -
2:46 - 2:47with her four children.
-
2:48 - 2:50And the rats make it
almost impossible to keep food, -
2:50 - 2:53let alone fresh food in the home.
-
2:54 - 2:57Does that mother deserve
to have her children taken from her? -
2:59 - 3:01Emma Ketteringham,
a family court attorney, -
3:01 - 3:04says that if you live
in a poor neighborhood, -
3:04 - 3:06then you better be a perfect parent.
-
3:07 - 3:11She says that we place unfair,
often unreachable standards -
3:11 - 3:14on parents who are raising their kids
with very little money. -
3:14 - 3:17And their neighborhood and ethnicity
-
3:17 - 3:20impact whether or not
their kids are removed. -
3:22 - 3:25In the two years I spent
on the front lines of child welfare, -
3:25 - 3:26I made high-stakes decisions.
-
3:26 - 3:30And I saw firsthand
how my personal values impacted my work. -
3:31 - 3:35Now, as social work faculty
at Florida State University, -
3:35 - 3:36I lead an institute
-
3:36 - 3:40that curates the most innovative
and effective child welfare research. -
3:40 - 3:45And research tells us that there are
twice as many black kids in foster care, -
3:45 - 3:47twenty-eight percent,
-
3:47 - 3:51than there are in the general
population, 14 percent. -
3:52 - 3:54And although there are
several reasons why, -
3:54 - 3:56I want to discuss one reason today:
-
3:56 - 3:57implicit bias.
-
3:59 - 4:00Let's start with "implicit."
-
4:00 - 4:03It's subconscious,
something you're not aware of. -
4:05 - 4:07Bias -- those stereotypes and attitudes
-
4:07 - 4:10that we all have
about certain groups of people. -
4:10 - 4:13So, implicit bias is what lurks
in the background -
4:13 - 4:15of every decision that we make.
-
4:17 - 4:18So how can we fix it?
-
4:19 - 4:22I have a promising solution
that I want to share. -
4:23 - 4:24Now, in almost every state,
-
4:24 - 4:27there are high numbers of black kids
going into foster care. -
4:28 - 4:31But data revealed that Nassau County,
-
4:31 - 4:33a community in New York,
-
4:33 - 4:36had managed to decrease
the number of black kids being removed. -
4:37 - 4:42And in 2016, I went
into that community with my team -
4:42 - 4:44and led a research study,
-
4:44 - 4:47discovering the use
of blind removal meetings. -
4:48 - 4:49This is how it works.
-
4:50 - 4:53A case worker responds
to a report of child abuse. -
4:53 - 4:55They go out to the home,
-
4:55 - 4:57but before the children are removed,
-
4:57 - 4:59the case worker
must come back to the office -
4:59 - 5:01and present what they found.
-
5:01 - 5:03But here's the distinction:
-
5:03 - 5:05When they present to the committee,
-
5:05 - 5:09they delete names, ethnicity,
neighborhood, race, -
5:09 - 5:11all identifiable information.
-
5:11 - 5:17They focus on what happened,
family strength, relevant history -
5:17 - 5:20and the parents' ability
to protect the child. -
5:21 - 5:24With that information,
the committee makes a recommendation, -
5:24 - 5:27never knowing the race of the family.
-
5:28 - 5:32Blind removals have made
a drastic impact in that community. -
5:32 - 5:37In 2011, 57 percent of the kids
going into foster care were black. -
5:38 - 5:42But after five years of blind removals,
that is down to 21 percent. -
5:43 - 5:49(Applause)
-
5:49 - 5:52Here's what we learned
from talking to some of the case workers. -
5:53 - 5:56"When a family has a history
with the department, -
5:56 - 5:59many of us hold that history against them,
-
5:59 - 6:01even if they're trying
to do things differently." -
6:02 - 6:05"When I see a case from a certain
apartment building, -
6:05 - 6:07neighborhood or zip code,
-
6:07 - 6:09I just automatically think the worst."
-
6:10 - 6:14"Child welfare is very subjective,
because it's an emotional field. -
6:14 - 6:17There's no one who doesn't have
emotions around this work. -
6:17 - 6:20And it's very hard to leave
all of your stuff at the door -
6:20 - 6:21when you do this work.
-
6:21 - 6:26So let's take the subjectivity
of race and neighborhood out of it, -
6:27 - 6:29and you might get different outcomes."
-
6:31 - 6:33Blind removals seem to be
bringing us closer -
6:34 - 6:38to solving the problem of implicit bias
in foster-care decisions. -
6:38 - 6:41My next step is figuring out
-
6:41 - 6:44how to use artificial intelligence
and machine learning -
6:44 - 6:46to bring this project to scale
-
6:46 - 6:48and make it more accessible
to other states. -
6:49 - 6:51I know we can transform child welfare.
-
6:52 - 6:54We can hold organizations accountable
-
6:54 - 6:57to developing the social consciousness
of their employees. -
6:57 - 6:59We can hold ourselves accountable
-
6:59 - 7:03to making sure our decisions
are driven by ethics and safety. -
7:03 - 7:09Let's imagine a child welfare system
that focuses on partnering with parents, -
7:09 - 7:11empowering families,
-
7:11 - 7:14and no longer see poverty as failure.
-
7:15 - 7:17Let's work together to build a system
-
7:17 - 7:21that wants to make families stronger
instead of pulling them apart. -
7:23 - 7:24Thank you.
-
7:24 - 7:28(Applause) (Cheering)
- Title:
- To transform child welfare, take race out of the equation
- Speaker:
- Jessica Pryce
- Description:
-
In this eye-opening talk about the impact of race and neighborhood on foster-care decisions, social worker Jessica Pryce shares a promising solution to help child welfare agencies make bias-free assessments about when to remove children from their families. “Let's work together to build a system that wants to make families stronger instead of pulling them apart,” Pryce says.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 07:41
Maria Ruzsane Cseresnyes commented on English subtitles for To transform child welfare, take race out of the equation | ||
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for To transform child welfare, take race out of the equation | ||
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for To transform child welfare, take race out of the equation | ||
Brian Greene approved English subtitles for To transform child welfare, take race out of the equation | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for To transform child welfare, take race out of the equation | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for To transform child welfare, take race out of the equation | ||
Krystian Aparta accepted English subtitles for To transform child welfare, take race out of the equation | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for To transform child welfare, take race out of the equation |
Maria Ruzsane Cseresnyes
3:40 "And research tells us that there are twice as many black kids in foster care, twenty-eight percent,
than there are in the general, population, 14 percent."
I can't believe that it is true. Some mistakes must be there. 14 percent, that is a very big number.