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- Dr. Robert M. Ortega, MSW, Phd
- The University of Michigan
- School of Social Work
- Overrepresentation of Children of Color in Michigan’s Child Welfare
System; How You can Make a Difference
- The Bishop Charles H. Ellis, III Conference Center (Greater Grace)
- Detroit, Michigan
- April 22, 2010
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- Starting where we are – Embracing the complexity of over-representation
in child welfare: Toward Building a Summary Model
- Centering “race and ethnicity” as organizing categories in child welfare
research
- Areas of Convergence and Divergence
- Implications
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- As a function of child welfare decision-making
- As a cultural disconnect and consequence of cultural differences
- As a result of faulty, insufficient and “bad” data, and
misinterpretations
- As a product of social (in)justice
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- Overall, to what extent do children of color converge and diverge in
their child welfare profiles and how do these comparisons help us better
understand issues of overrepresentation?
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- Nationally representative sample of 6,228 maltreated children
- 5,501 child abuse investigations / 727 in out of home care
- Methodology
- Baseline in-person interviews w/ children & primary caregivers and
CW investigators; 12 month follow-up interviews, 18-month in-person
interview & assessment w/ primary caregiver, teacher &
caseworker; 36-month in-person (repeat 12 month assessments)
- Measures
- Multiple measures to assess health, mental health, home, school, parent
involvement, neighborhood, violence exposure, etc.
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- Abuse-type report distributions for overall sample
- Rates of substantiation
- Initial placement – home
- Risks (school engagement, trauma experiences, child health for overall
sample, community risk)
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- Most serious abuse types for substantiated cases (Af Am – physical abuse
(high), sexual abuse (low); Am In
- sex ab / ed negl - high; APIA
negl/ phys negl high; Lat – emo abuse high
- Initial Setting for substantiated cases: White – home; Af Am –
OH-kinship; AI – home w/serv; OH-group; Lat – home w/ no services
- Health / Mental Health Child Risks (e.g., depression (AI – high; Af Am -
low, white - low)
- Community risk, caregiver monitoring, caregiver relationship to child (high
for AI, mixed for APIA); caregiver drug / alcohol dependence (high for
Af Am; alcohol dependence high for Latinos)
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- Research findings in the context
of the four lenses suggest a complex array of effects that must be
differentiated and addressed (focusing on “generalized conditions”)
- The implications for race (and ethnicity) – cultural insensitivity,
race-based assumptions about cause and effect, structural racism,
institutional racism – are that it cannot be a guiding factor in
determining cause however may be important when considering relevant
child welfare responses (focusing on “race / ethnicity condition”)
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- "If you do not wish to be prone to anger, do not feed the habit;
give it nothing which may tend to its increase." Epictetus
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- “… I don’t have a medical child or a school child… or a delinquent
child… or a “child welfare” child… I have a child!!... When are we
going to worry about the welfare of my child and not just child
welfare?”
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- Current efforts in Michigan and across the country recognize the need to
“cross boundaries”
- Consider competing organizational values and implications for
inter-organizational cooperation
- Requires translational work to clarify what separates and unites
organizational efforts
- Challenge rigid boundaries and search for alternatives that reduce
unequal power dynamics
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- "We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are
pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different
colors. But, they all fit nicely into the same box." Unknown
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- Search for “common ground”
- Consider and share ownership of all efforts to promote child and family
well-being especially in the context of intra-organizational struggles
and inter-organizational tensions
- Focus on the most critical “basic needs” that are relevant to all
- Build on promising practices and lessons learned
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- Strangers in a new culture see only what they know. Unknown
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- A cultural humility perspective challenges us to learn from the people
with whom we interact, reserve judgment, and bridge the cultural divide
between our perspectives, in order to facilitate well-being, and promote
improved quality of life. Such a perspective frees the observer from
having to possess expert knowledge in order to maintain knowledge-based
power, control and authority over matters about which diverse
populations are far more knowledgeable.
- Tervalon, M. & Murray-Garcia, J. (1998) Cultural humility versus cultural
competence: A critical distinction in defining physician training
outcomes in multicultural education.
Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 9(2),
117-125.
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- An enduring ability to accurately appraise ones own cultural knowledge,
skills and awareness in terms of strengths and limitations (i.e., Cultural
self- awareness)
- A willingness to allow new ideas and differences to become part of one’s
thoughts, feelings and behaviors (i.e., Cultural openness)
- A capacity to accept ourselves as part of a larger whole; a perspective
that encompasses a wide array of cultural similarities and differences
(i.e., Cultural transcendence)
- (Adapted from Morris, JA, Brotheridge, CM & Urbanski, JC (2005). Bringing
humility to leadership: Antecedents and consequences of leader humility.
Human Relations, p.13331.)
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- Why should we trust in a system that helps us only when we’re in
trouble?
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- Establish a shared vision, mission and intra- and inter-agency
accountability
- Challenge “racial conditions” that drive inequitable decision-making
- Enact changes that are grounded in diverse, “lived” experiences
- Hold the academy to a shared responsibility for producing and
disseminating knowledge that promotes effective child welfare policies
and child well-being.
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- www.quiltart.com
- www.myspace.com
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