CW 4389 Poverty, Race and Ethnicity Contexts, Child Maltreatment and the Child Welfare Response

This course will examine the historical and current role that poverty, race, and ethnicity play in family violence, in general, and child maltreatment, in particular, the research about how these contexts affect families, the parent-child relationship, and discipline as well as the research on the effects of poverty and racial oppression on child maltreatment. This will be followed by a history of the child welfare system in the US and how society has responded over the past 100 years to child maltreatment through the lens of poverty, race and ethnicity. Research on the impact of child welfare policies and practices on women, the poor, and people of color will be shared.

Implications of all of this knowledge for today’s practice of child welfare will be explored in depth including:

1. strategies for reducing disproportionality and disparities in the child welfare response to families in Native Americans, African Americans and Hispanic communities,
2. effective, evidence informed child welfare practices that can help systems shift the paradigm in positive directions and
3. enhance engagement of families served by child welfare systems so that positive outcomes for children and families can be achieved.

The Learning Objectives include

• Learn about the historical role that poverty, race, and ethnicity play in family violence, in general, and child maltreatment, in particular.
• Learn about current research findings linking poverty, prejudice and discrimination to family formation, parental relationships, parent-child relationships, and child maltreatment.
• Research on the impact of child welfare policies and practices on women, the poor, and people of color will be shared.
• Implications of all of this knowledge for today’s practice of child welfare will be explored in depth including:
  • The difference between explicit and implicit bias.
  • How implicit bias is measured: Implicit Association Test
  • How implicit bias can affect decisions.
  • Learn to recognize some behaviors that may suggest bias or differential treatment.
  • Learn the impact of implicit bias on social interactions particularly in Child Welfare but also in the Justice System and Education
  • Learn some techniques that help de-bias perceptions and improve interactions.
• Learn about other strategies for reducing disproportionality and disparities in the child welfare response to families in Native Americans, African Americans and Hispanic communities
• Learn effective, evidence informed child welfare practices that can help systems shift the paradigm in positive directions and enhance engagement of families served by child welfare systems so that positive outcomes for children and families can be achieved.

Intended Audience

for all CWS IV and above (supervisors and above)