UNTANGLING A HISTORIC ISSUE:
AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE STATE OF ADOPTION
Terri R. Jenkins
BA, California State University, Sacramento, 2008
PROJECT
Submitted in partial satisfaction of
the requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK
at
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO
SPRING
2010
UNTANGLING A HISTORIC ISSUE:
AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE STATE OF ADOPTION
A Project
By
Terri R. Jenkins
Approved by:
________________________________________, Committee Chair
Susan Talamantes Eggman, PhD, MSW
____________________________
Date
ii
Student: Terri R. Jenkins
I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the
University format manual, and that this thesis is suitable for shelving in the
Library and credit is to be awarded for the project.
________________________________, Graduate Coordinator
Teiahsha Bankhead, Ph.D., MSW
Division of Social Work
iii
________________
Date
Abstract
of
UNTANGLING A HISTORIC ISSUE:
AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE STATE OF ADOPTION
by
Terri R. Jenkins
There is historic evidence that many African Americans encounter difficulties when
going the process of becoming foster or adoptive parents. Often many of them are
screened out from the process or they find that the paper work is overwhelming and
intrusive of their personal life. The outcomes of the surveys that were completed were
analyzed though the SPSS computer program. The participants were 37 African
American individuals that voluntary participated in the research. The data collected
found that African Americans find the adoption process (paperwork) to be difficult to
complete as well as intrusive. The research also found that of the African Americans
who either foster or adopted their experience with social workers was not helpful when
going through the process. Many African Americans felt there is a need for social
workers to be more culturally competent when it comes to working with African
American families and children.
_________________________________________Committee Chair
Susan Talamantes Eggman, PhD, MSW
________________________
Date
iv
DEDICATION
I dedicated this Project to GOD first who has given me the strength to pray and work
through my adversities and overcome the obstacles’ that tried to hinder the completion
of this Project. This Project is dedicated to my children Billye, Durann, Michael &
Tiffany, who continue to stand by me, who have encouraged me, and pushed me when I
needed to be pushed.
This project is also dedicated to my beloved husband who told me to apply for graduate
school and who had faith and believed in the fact that I could do it although he is not
here to see me complete my dream of graduate school he will always be in my heart and
thoughts (Love You Curtis).
v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to first thank GOD who gave me the knowledge and strength to make
all of this possible. I would also like to thank all of my participants who took the time
out of their busy lives to spend at least thirty minutes to complete my survey and then
speak with me about their experiences with adoption.
I would like to thank my thesis advisor Dr. Susan Talamantes Eggman for all her
help and encouragement throughout this process for the last two years. I would like to
thank my children Billye, Durann, Michael and Tiffany, my grandchildren Sade,
Aaliyah, Heavenly, Zion and JoSiah for being so understanding when I didn’t have the
time and for supporting me mentally, emotionally and spiritually through all their
prayers.
I would like to also thank my mother (Earline) for being so supportive and praying
for me daily and my sisters Sherri, Stephannie and Kimberly and all my friends for all
of their encouragement and prayers that got me through some very difficult times. I
have truly been blessed to have family and friends that stood by me for two difficult
years
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Dedication..................................................................................................................... v
Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................... vi
List of Tables ................................................................................................................. x
Chapter
1
THE PROBLEM ................................................................................................. 1
Introduction .................................................................................................. 1
Background of the Problem ......................................................................... 3
Statement of the Research Problem ............................................................. 4
Purpose of the Study .................................................................................... 5
Theoretical Framework ................................................................................ 5
Cultural Competence Perspective Framework ............................................ 6
Ecological Perspective ................................................................................. 6
Ethnic-Centered (Afrocentric) ..................................................................... 6
Family System ............................................................................................. 8
Definition of Terms ...................................................................................... 8
Assumptions ............................................................................................... 11
Justifications .............................................................................................. 11
Limitations .................................................................................................. 12
2.
LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................... 13
Introduction ................................................................................................. 13
History of the African American Family .................................................... 14
Role of African American Social Workers in the African American
Community ................................................................................................. 18
Public Child Welfare System and its effects on The
African American Community .................................................................. 21
vii
Overrepresentation of African American Children
in Child Welfare .......................................................................................... 24
The Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 (MEPA) and the
Interethnic Adoption Provision of 1996 ..................................................... 27
Controversy Surrounding Transracial Adoption ......................................... 30
The Need for African American Foster and
Adoptive Homes ......................................................................................... 32
The Implication of Kinship Care for African
American Children in Foster Care .............................................................. 34
Barriers African American Parents Face in Adoption and
Foster Care .................................................................................................. 36
Recruitment of African-Americans to Adoption and Foster
Care Programs ............................................................................................. 37
3.
METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................... 41
Introduction ................................................................................................. 41
Research Design .......................................................................................... 41
Study Population and Sample ..................................................................... 41
Research Question ...................................................................................... 42
Quantitative Approach ................................................................................ 42
Instrument ................................................................................................... 42
Data Analysis .............................................................................................. 43
Protection of Human Subject ...................................................................... 44
4.
DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS ....................................................................... 45
Introduction ................................................................................................. 45
Participants Information .............................................................................. 46
Participants Interested in Being Adoptive or Foster Parents ...................... 48
African American Views on Transracial Adoption and Raising
African American Children ......................................................................... 50
The Participants Experience with Foster Care and Adoption
Agencies and Workers ................................................................................ 54
viii
Summary ..................................................................................................... 61
5.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION ................................................. 63
Introduction ................................................................................................. 63
Review of Findings ..................................................................................... 63
Recommendations ....................................................................................... 64
Practice Related........................................................................................... 64
Future Research .......................................................................................... 65
Limitations .................................................................................................. 65
Implications for Social Work Practice ........................................................ 66
Conclusions ................................................................................................. 66
Appendix A. Consent to Participate in Research ....................................... 69
Appendix B. Research Project Survey ....................................................... 71
References .................................................................................................. 79
ix
LIST OF TABLES
Page
1.
Table A1. Demographics of Study Participants....……………………………..46
2.
Table A2. Demographics of Study Participants....……………………………..47
3.
Table A3. Demographics of Study Participants....……………………………..48
4.
Table B1. Study Participants Response to General Questions on Foster
Care/Adoption ……………………………….……………………………...... 49
5.
Table B2. Study Participants Response to General Questions on Foster
Care/Adoption ……………………………….……………………………...... 50
6.
Table C1. Study Participants Response to Transracial Adoption
and Child Welfare………………………….…………………………………..52
7.
Table C2. Study Participants Response to Transracial Adoption
and Child Welfare………………………….…………………………………..53
8.
Table C3. Study Participants Response to Transracial Adoption
and Child Welfare………………………….…………………………………..54
9.
Table D1. Study Participants Response to Experience with Agencies
and Social Workers ………………….……………………………………….. 56
10.
Table D2. Study Participants Response to Experience with Agencies
and Social Workers ………………….……………………………………….. 57
11.
Table D3. Study Participants Response to Experience with Agencies
and Social Workers ………………….……………………………………….. 58
12.
Table D4. Study Participants Response to Experience with Agencies
and Social Workers ………………….……………………………………….. 59
13.
Table D5. Study Participants Response to Experience with Agencies
and Social Workers ………………….……………………………………….. 60
14.
Table D6. Study Participants Response to Experience with Agencies
and Social Workers ………………….……………………………………….. 61
x
1
Chapter 1
THE PROBLEM
Introduction
This study explores and examines why and how there continues to be a lack of
foster and adoptive parents for African American children who are currently
overrepresented in the child welfare system. This researcher became interested in the
issue after she attended a seminar that looked at the issue of overrepresentation of
children of color especially African American children in the child welfare system not
only in California but across the United States.
Prior to the seminar the only other experience that this researcher had with the
issue of over representation of children of color was through looking at the foster care
and adoption books that various state and non-profit agencies use for families to view
children who are available for adoption. This researcher hopes that this topic may give
some insight and assist Foster Family Agencies and State Adoption Agencies with
addressing the issue on recruitment of African American families into foster care and
adoptions programs.
Little is known about racial disparities in adoption dynamics and pathways for
foster children. Only a handful of studies have been examined variables that could
influence prospective adoptive parents’ willingness to adopt children. But these studies
generally have not focused on parents’ willingness to adopt Black foster children a
disproportionate number of whom are available for adoption (Brooks, 2003)
2
The overrepresentation of children of color especially African-American
children raises many question and concerns for the child welfare system and the
African-American community. Although the child welfare system has tried to find ways
to lower this discrepancy it continues to be a litigious topic. The disproportionate
number of Black children in America’s child welfare system is staggering. Black
families are overrepresented in child maltreatment reports, case openings, and the foster
care population (Roberts, 2002).
The child welfare system in the United States has become a major concern for
African American children and the African American community. According to the
GAO (U.S. Government Accountability Office), not only are African American
children more likely then white children to be placed in foster care, once African
American children are removed from their home, their length of stay in foster care
average nine months longer than those of white children ( McRoy R., 2008).
Prior to WWII African American children were not accepted in the child welfare
system. As stated by Roberts, D., (2002), the child welfare system has always
discriminated against Blacks, but racism looked very different a century ago. Black
families were virtually excluded from openly segregated child welfare services until the
end of World War II. African American children that could not be cared for by their
family became the responsibility of the African American community.
According to McRoy (1997), many adoption agencies find that they have a large
number of approved waiting Caucasian families but a limited supply of approved
3
waiting African American adoptive families. The myth is that African American
families are either not available or are not interested in adopting.
Background of the Problem
The recruitment of African American families for foster care and adoption
continues to be inadequate in the African American community. In many cases,
adoption agencies are not successful in their efforts to recruit African-American
adoptive couples. Many agencies do not initially seek out extended family and
community members in the African American population (Smith, 1999 as cited by Bass
et.al).
The child welfare system in the United States has become a major concern for
children of color especially African American children. These disparities for African
American children are not new and have been reported by a number of researchers and
advocacy groups (McRoy, 2004). For example, Courtney, Barth, Berrick, Brooks,
Needell, and Park (1996), 10 years earlier found that once children enter the foster care
system, there are inequalities in exit rates, length of care, placement stability, and
likelihood of adoption and reunification (McRoy, 2008).
Many may believe that the overrepresentation of African American children in
the child welfare system is due to the lack of concern and parenting by the African
American parents and the community. Children of color particularly African Americans
children have been and are targeted by the child welfare system for the reason that
many of them live below poverty levels and due to the fact that many of the families of
4
color especially African Americans are not being properly assessed by child welfare
workers(Roberts, 2002). Factors such as poverty and the lack of understanding on the
part of agency personnel regarding the disciplinary practices of African American
mothers and fathers have contributed to the overrepresentation of African American
families in the child welfare system (Bradely, 2000; Denby 7 Alford, 1996; Mcroy,
Olgesby, & Grape, 1997 as cited by Bradley et al., 2002).
The disproportionate number of Black children in America’s child welfare
system is staggering. Black families are overrepresented in child maltreatment reports,
case openings, and the foster care population (Roberts, 2002). In the opinion of this
researcher, African American children in the child welfare system have become a
national concern in the African American community.
Statement of the Research Problem
The growing concentrations of minority children in many states’ child
welfare systems come in an era of crisis for many child welfare agencies. Increase in
reports and decrease in budgets (in constant dollars), and relentless public criticism
have sharply limited the ability of child welfare agencies to provide the variety of
quality services needed (Stehno, 1990).
The over representation of African American children in the child welfare
system shows that there is a deficient in the number of African American families in
California and across the country, black children comprise a far larger proportion of the
foster care population then of the overall child population. Black children in California
5
made up 28.2% of the foster care population on July1, 2006 but just 7.2% of the child
population (Needell et al., 2007 as cited by Shaw et al., 2008).
Research data from various studies have indicated that African American
children are less likely to be adopted, have less access to more expensive services such
as group homes, and residential treatment, and are more likely to stay longer in foster
care ( Hogan & Sui, 1998 as cited by Lu et al., 2004).
Purpose of the Study
This study objective is to give insight into the adoption barriers that encumber
African American families from becoming adoptive parents. The implication of the
research is examining the experience of African American families with state and public
adoption agencies. For African American children who are in the child welfare system
they are more likely to be placed and remain in long-term foster care instead of being
adopted.
From the study, the author expects to obtain information she can use to assist
African American families and public agencies.
Theoretical Framework
This research study will utilize four theoretical frameworks, Cultural Competence
Perspective, the Ecological Perspective, the Afrocentric Perspective (Ethnic-Centered)
and the Family Systems. This researcher believes that these four theoretical frameworks
are best suited to give assistance to State, Private and Non-Profit foster family and
adoptions agencies with the recruitment of future African American families that are
6
interested in and hoping to successfully adopt African American children that are
currently in the child welfare system.
This researcher will discuss each of the frameworks and how each framework is
connected.
Cultural Competence Perspective Framework
Cultural Competence is the understanding and approvals of cultural distinctions,
taking into account the beliefs, values, activities, and customs of distinctive population
groups. For African American working with the child welfare system as perspective
adoptive parents it is highly important for the social worker to understand and
acknowledge that African Americans may have a different view of the world around
them then mainstream society.
Ecological Perspective
The Ecological Perspective interplays between the person and his / her environment.
For African Americans their environment has a strong connection to their racial and
ethnic background. For the average African American who they are and their self worth
is an extension of their environment.
Ethnic-Centered (Afrocentric)
The Afrocentric perspective is a culturally based perspective, which presents a
model of resistance, self-esteem, and a skill to resist negative cultural images
(Anderson, 2003).The Afrocentric framework emphases the fact that African Americans
continues to be connected to their African ancestors and most of their ancestors culture.
7
Furthermore this framework highlights the cultural strengths, achievements and the
African Americans way of knowing and understanding the world around them. Covin
(1990) states five measures of the Afrocentricity, which are:
1. People of African descent share common experiences, struggles and origin
2. Present in African culture is a nonmaterial element of resistance to the assault
upon traditional values caused by the intrusion of European legal procedure,
medicines, political processes and religions into African culture.
3. African culture takes the view that an Afrocentric modernization process
would be based upon three traditional values: harmony with nature,
humanness, and rhythm.
4. Afrocentricity involves the development of a theory of an African way of
knowing and interpreting the world.
5. Some form of communication or socialism is an important component for the
way is produced, owned, and distributed. (p.2)
The Afrocentric paradigm affirms that there are universal cultural strengths and
an African worldview that survived the generational devastation caused by the
transalantic slave trade and the oppression that followed (Waiters, 2009). It presents a
worldview that highlights traditional African philosophical assumptions, which
emphasize a holistic, interdependent, and spiritual conception of people and their
environment (Schiele, 2000 as cited by Waiters, 2009)
8
Family System
The African American family system is an intergenerational system that is made
up of blood and non-blood relations. The family system is a combination of shared
history, values and connectedness. According to Morgaine (2001) The components of
family system theory are as follow: the Family system have interrelated elements and
structure, interact in patterns, have boundaries and can be viewed on a continuum from
open to close, function by the composition law and use messages and rules to shape
members.
For the purpose of this research each framework is centered on the ethnicity of
the African American individual community and family.
Definition of Terms
The following terms are utilized throughout this thesis and are significant to the
understanding of the adoption process and African Americans.
Adoption: “A legal process which permanently gives parental rights to adoptive
parents. Adoption means taking a child into your home as a permanent family member.
It means caring for and guiding children through their growing years and giving them
the love and understanding they need to develop their full potential”
(http//www.childsworld.ca.gov/AdoptionFA_359.htm)
African American/Black/Negro: Pertaining to or characteristic of Americans of
African ancestry; "Afro-American culture"; "many black people preferred to be called
African American. (wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn). “Also referred to as Black
9
Americans or Afro-Americans) are citizens or residents of the United States who have
origins in any of the black populations of Africa.[2] In the United States, the terms are
generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American).
Afrocentric: a theory that emerged in the early 1980s in the United States within
the academic context of African-American studies. Afrocentric also refers to the life
experience of African Americans and how they view the world around them
Cultural Competence: refers to an ability to interact effectively with people of
different cultures; obtain education about and seek to understand the nature of social
diversity and oppression with respect to race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex,
sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, political belief,
religion, immigration status, and mental or physical disability.
Family: a group of people who are closely related by birth, marriage, or
adoption; a group of people living together and functioning as a single household,
usually consisting of parents and their children; all the people who are descended from a
common ancestor.
Foster Care/ Foster Parent: “Foster parents provide a supportive and stable
family for children who cannot live with their birth parents until family problems are
resolved. In most cases, foster parents work with social services staff to reunite the child
with birth parents. Foster parents often provide care to many different children”
(http//www.childsworld.ca.gov/FosterPare_350.htm).
10
GAO-Government Accountability Office: Investigative arm of Congress charged
with the auditing and evaluation of Government programs and activities (www.gao.gov)
MEPA/IEP: The Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994/The Interethnic Adoption
Provision of 1996. “Is one of several recent federal initiatives and laws aimed at
removing the barriers to permanency for the hundreds of thousands of children who are
in the child protective system”
(http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/mepa94/mepachp1.htm).
MEPA: The Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994. “Was signed into law in 1994
as part of the Improving America's Schools Act. In April 1995, the Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a detailed Guidance to assist states and
agencies in implementing MEPA and understanding its relationship to the equal
protection and anti-discrimination principles of the United States Constitution and Title
VI of the Civil Rights Act”
(http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/mepa94/mepachp1.htm).
NABSW: National Association of Black Social Workers is a world wide
organization that unites African Americans social worker in the social work community.
“NABSW was established in 1968 to advocate and address important social issues that
impact the health and welfare of the Black community”
(http://www.nabsw.org/mserver/Home.aspx)
Recruit/ Recruitment- 1: the action or process of recruiting 2: the process of
adding new individuals to a population or subpopulation; the utilization of
11
organizational practices to influence the number and types of individuals who are
willing to apply. (www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/recruitment)
Transracial Adoption: The joining of racially different parents and children
through the means of contractual arrangements by law; A transracial/transcultural
adoption is when an adoptive family chooses to adopt a child who is of a different race,
culture, or ethnicity than the adoptive family. “An adoption in which a family of one
race adopts a child/ of another race”
http://glossary.adoption.com/trans+racial-adoptions.html
Assumptions
African American families are not being sought out to become adoptive and
foster care parents. The inadequate recruitment of African American has assisted in the
continuous overrepresentation of African American children in the child welfare
system.
Justification
The African-American family has survived slavery, reconstruction, immigration,
migration and urbanization. Many families have overcome immense poverty. They also
have a strong foundations and connections to their community. Non-profit, private and
State adoptions agency social workers have a responsibility to be cultural competent
when screening families for foster care and adoption.
12
Limitations
The limitations of this study are the results of a Qualitative study, which
consisted of a small sample group of African Americans whom live in San Joaquin
County. San Joaquin County was not chosen because of the number of children that are
waiting for adoptive or foster homes or because of the lack of recruitment of African
American families but because it is the county, where the researcher resides.
13
Chapter 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
The historic perception of adoption for African American children has been
entangled in controversy since the overrepresentation of African American in the child
welfare system since the system was integrated. Children of color are still
overrepresented in the child welfare both nationally and in California. They stay longer
and are offered out-of-home services more often than in-home support services (Clark,
2003).
The sheer number of children needing to be in safe and permanent homes that foster
their well-being is very high. On September 30, 2005, there were 513,000 children in
foster care with 114,000 children waiting for adoption (U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services [USDHHS], 2006b). Adoption is often seen as a viable alternative to
ensure that children who have been permanently placed in foster care will have stable
home of their own. While permanency planning for all children remains the
predominant goal of child welfare services, there is compelling evidence that this goal is
not being met, especially for African-American children (Barth & Berry, 1994, Hoopes,
Alexander, Silver, Ober, & Kirby, 1997, Pecora, Fraser, Nelson, McCroskey, &
Meezan, 1995,).
In this literature review, the researcher will begin with the discussion and
examination of the history of the African American family, the child welfare system as
14
it pertains to African American children, the overrepresentation of children of color
with the focus on African American children. This chapter will also discuss the MEPAIEP laws with regards to their affect on transracial adoption and finally addressing the
barriers African American face when wanting to adopt or do foster care then looking
into finding ways to recruit more African Americans families for foster care and
adoption.
History of the African American Family
African American families have managed to hold onto their existence and
survived the history of slavery in the United States. The family structure not only
consisted of the immediate members of the family but also non-blood members and
members of their community. The extended family system among black Americans has
long been recognized as an important feature of past and current black family life
(Billingsley, 1968; Dubois, 1908; Gutman, 1976; Pearson, Hunter, Ensminger &
Kellam, 1990, Stack, 1974; Wilson, 1986). It should be expected that African
Americans would so strongly value blood ties (Powell, 2008).
We are a people who were created by the tearing of families beginning on
African shores and continuing legally and church-approved, under American skies. It
was a commonplace occurrence for United States slaveholders to sell Black children
away from mothers and siblings and fathers from them all (Powell, 2008).
Historically, the African American family has been the subject of numerous
studies in the attempt to understand its structure (Mosley-Howard & Evans, 2000).
15
Historians have conducted the most ground-breaking research on Black families. For
years the work of Frazier (1939), together with that of Stanley Elkins (1968), had been
accepted as the definitive history of Black families and posited as a causal explanation
of their contemporary condition. Using traditional historical methods based on
plantation records and slave owners testimony, both historians reached the conclusion
that slavery destroyed the Black family and decimated Black culture (Staple, R., 1999).
Many of these studies focused on the perceived pathology or perceived dysfunctional
nature of African American life. The contemporary view, however, of the African
American family differs from this historically deficit-oriented or deficiency-oriented
model and more appropriately focuses on the cultural and indigenous strengths of the
family (Billingsley, 1968, as cited by Billingsley, 1992)
The 1986 CBS television special “The Vanishing Family-Crisis in Black
America” drew the attention of millions of American viewers to the ghetto life of black
American underclass. The special represented a renewed perpetuation of a pathological
image of blacks in America and led to the call by at least one sociologist (Williams,
1986) for a more understanding portrayal of the black American family in terms of its
social context- that is, a predominantly white society. The extent to which a distorted
image of black families is substantively reinforced through research topic varies over
time (Demos, 1990).
More recently, historians who have examined the history of the African
American family have found just the opposite. Although historians such as Frazier and
16
Elkins believed their findings on the history of the African American family to be true
in many ways they were wrong. Several scholars (Billingsley, 1973; Staples, 1971;
Willie, 1976) have noted that a major shortcoming of many studies of the black family
has been that they are conducted by “outsiders” (Demos, 1990).
Although Daniel Patrick Moynihan was an outsider he wrote one of the most
influential and insightful reports on the African American Family. The report is
significant because it continues to be a reference for studies on the Black family, it was
prophetic because Moynihan's predictions about the division of the African American
family and its relationship to inner city poverty. As stated by Moynihan, (1965),That the
Negro American has survived at all is extraordinary--a lesser people might simply have
died out, as indeed others have (Staples, 1999).
The African American family has survived tremendous turmoil throughout its
history in the United States. At any rate, recent evidence has indicated that the postslavery Black family structure was essentially similar to that of White Americans of that
period, 1865 to 1925. About 75 percent of all black families were what one historian
calls “simple nuclear families” (Gutman, 1976, as cited by Staples 1999).
It takes a village to raise a child has always been a cornerstone that kept children
in the African American community. These eight simple words were a way of life for
African American families that extended from their African roots. Mothers of West
Africa did not view mothering as a singular, isolated experience, but rather as a
responsibility shares by the community. The stability if the extended family was one of
17
the most important characteristics of African societies, where shared parenting was
common practices (Hill 1999, Jimenez, 2005, Nobles, 1985, Sudarkasa, 1997).
The permeability boundary of parenting provided children with an extensive
network to rely upon and a strong sense of bonding with the community group
(Jimenez, 2005; staple and Johnson, 1993.). While African American children suffered
from the lack of public and private resources under girding the public child welfare
system, these children benefited from the efforts of members of their own communities.
Family support itself was an important aspect of community surveillance: when kin and
fictive kin are involved with childcare and child socialization, they are present to notice
abuse and offer a safety net to avoid neglect (Jimenez, 2005). Research on family lives
of black Americans indicates that they are involved in extensive informal support
networks. Characterizations of black family life emphasize the presence of
pseudokinship relationships, reciprocal aid, general family responsibility for child care,
household cooperation, and provision of care for aging parent and grandparents
(Shimkin, Shimkin, & Frate, 1978; Taylor, 1990).
The importance of the informal social support network as a source of assistance
to adult blacks in general and elderly blacks in particular has been well documented.
Parents, children, siblings, in-laws, friends, and church members represent important
sources of assistance to backs across the life course (Chatters, Taylor, & Jackson, 1985,
1986; Chatter, Taylor & Neighbor, 1989; McAdoo, 1978; Taylor & Chatter 1986;
Chatter, Taylor & Mays, 1988; Taylor 1990). Ethnographic studies provide a rich body
18
of research on the functioning and dynamics of informal social support networks of
blacks (e.g., Shimkin et al., 1978; Stack, 1974; Taylor, 1990).
The African American family has survived slavery, reconstruction, immigration,
migration and urbanization. Many families have even had to struggle through poverty.
While unquestionably both the urban and rural poor constitute a significant portion of
the black population, their overrepresentation in the literature, concurrent with the
relative neglect of other kinds of black families, has led to a distorted view of black
families in America (Tatum, 1987). While some may believe that all African American
families are alike, it is important to realize that the African American community is
very diverse. In fact, social and economic disparity within the black population is
greater today than ever before and the chasm between the ends of the spectrum is
growing steadily wider (Duncan, S., 2005)
For the last 30 years there have been concerns about the Black family -- where it
is going, and what the implications are for other problems in society. Like many other
cultures in society the African American families face many of the same issues such as
their socioeconomic status and the loss of the culture as many African American
families move into more White communities (Staples, 1999).
Role of African American Social Workers in the African American Community
The role of the African-American social worker in child welfare has always
been important since they bring with them the knowledge of the African-American
community, culture, and family. For example, when an African American practitioner
19
begins an intervention with an African American client, there may be assumptions of
cultural similarity in family background, economic experience, and political ideologies
(Williams & Halgin, 1995 as cited by Fletcher 1997). African Americans, currently this
nation’s largest non-Caucasian population group, have unique historical and
contemporary experiences, despite obvious group heterogeneity. African American
social workers, as do other social workers of color, have an emic perspective, relating to
their intergroup and extragroup status and have emic assumptions about racism and
related matters (Sue, 1990 as cited by Fletcher 1997).
Prior to the child welfare system the role of the African American social worker
was important to their community because it was their main focus to improve not only
the lives of the people they served but to improve their community as well.
According to Carlton-LaNey (1999), African American pioneer social workers of the
Progressive Era (1898-1918) were at once concerned about the private troubles of
individual and the larger public issue that affected them. They also were acutely aware
of their relationship to the community residents they served. African-American social
workers almost always suffered the same problems and issues as the people they served.
Like those in their community, African American social worker believed and carried the
same values and principles. In the article by Carlton-LaNey (1999), as noted the values
and principles fundamental to African-American social work practice were self-help,
mutual aid, race pride, and social debt.
20
The African American social workers of the progressive era followed many of
the same structures as their white counterparts. Janie Porter Barrett was the founder of
Locust Street Settlement in 1890 and it was the first settlement house in the African
American community of Virginia, Carrie Steele founded an orphan home in Atlanta in
1988 and Fredericka Douglass Sprague Perry founded the Colored Big Sister Home for
Girls 1934 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Wilkins, 1995). During the early decades of the
twentieth century, voluntary associations founded by African American women began
to confront the unmet needs of African American children and youths (Wilkins, 1995).
Progressive-Era African American social workers’ community practice was
essentially “race work” which personalized problems to alleviate human suffering and
concurrently organized and developed private organizations to change the system
(Carlton-LaNey, 1999). The complexity and multiplicity of their careers reflected an
obligation to service and a commitment to social betterment (Carlton-LaNey, 1999).
As Barrett [1926;355] noted;
Rendering service, climbing to a higher plan of citizenship, and uplifting
Those farthest down was what the women of the Virginia Federation
had in mind when they started out to establish the Virginia Industrial
School. At that time there was no place except jail for colored girls
who fell into the hands of the law, so there was no question about the
need for such an institution.
In 1991, National Association of Black Social Workers published Preserving
African-American Families: Research and Action Beyond the Rhetoric, which provides
an in-depth analysis of the status of African American children in the child-placement
21
system. Included in the document is a proposal to amend P.L. 95-603, the Indian Child
Welfare Act, to require protections in foster care and adoption placement currently
afforded American Indian children to African American children (NABSW, 1991 as
cited by Curtis, 1996).
In 1996, the National Association of Black Social Workers started “Fist Full of
Families” a National Adoption Campaign. Through this campaign, NABSW has created
a mechanism for the development of “Local Village Councils”. The Local Village
Councils, coordinated by local chapters of NABSW, includes representatives of the
many and varied African American civic, social, and professional organizations that can
be helpful in organizing and supporting adoption initiatives ( Jackson-White et al.,
1997).
Public Child Welfare System and its effects on The African American Community
The history of child protection in America is divisible into three era extending
from colonial time to 1875 and may be referred to as the era before organized child
protection. The second era spans from 1875 to 1962 and witnessed the creation and
growth of organized child protection through nongovernmental child protection
societies. The year 1962 marks the beginning of the third or modern era: the era of
government-sponsored child protection services (Myers, 2008).
During the colonial period in England there were poor laws which allowed for
children to be taken away from their biological parents and placed in apprenticeships
with a family that was considered to have suitable parents until they reached adulthood
22
and their biological parents would never see them again. The early poor laws came over
from England and shaped how colonial community’s states controlled their poor
families. The poor laws provided that children of indigent parents be indentured as
servants to others or sent to the poor house (Jimenez, 2005).
In the United States many of the poor laws of England were continued. As time
went on there became an increasing need to find placement for children whose parents
could no longer care for them due to death, illness or lack of income. Many of these
children were sent to orphanages, work camps and institutions like those for the
mentally ill. By the turn of the 17th century orphanages, workhouses and institutions
were the homes for many of the country’s poor and destitute children. , According to
the Adoption History Project “in 1910, there were well over 1000 orphanages in the
United States (Adoption Project 2005).
The history of the child welfare system as it pertains to the African American
community has only existed for a short time. It is a recognized fact that throughout
history there has always been those who took care of children that were not their own
and this is especially true for the African American community. The unitary view of
legal responsibility that supported private and public child welfare efforts in the
Northeast contrasted with the beliefs in shared responsibility for children in the informal
child welfare system in African American communities (Jimenez, 2005).
Before the spread of nongovernmental child protection societies beginning in
1875, interventions to protect children were sporadic, but intervention occurred.
23
Children were not protected on the scale they are today, but adults were aware of
maltreatment and tried to help (Myers, 2008). The history of informal efforts in African
American communities to insure the protection and well-being of their children
demonstrates that the legal principle underlying the public child welfare system were
not a good fit with African American history and culture (Jimenez, 2005).
For many years, responsibility for child protection was left almost entirely too
private agencies. Great sections of child populations were untouched by them and in
many other places the service rendered were perfunctory and of poor standard (Myers,
2008). Prior to 1945 “fostering “ referred to numerous arrangements in which children
were care for in the homes of others than their own. The point of the term was to
contrast institutional care with family placement. The case for foster care was
articulated by nineteenth-century child savers, including Charles Loring Brace,
publicized by the orphan trains, and advanced by state that experimented with placingout children rather than consigning them to orphanages (Adoption Project 2005).
The adoption and foster care system was not always open to African American
children. According to Billingsley and Giovannoni [1972:213], “the dominant child
welfare institutions of the country openly excluded black children (as cited by White,
Dozier, Oliver & Gardner, 1997). The child welfare system has always discriminated
against Blacks, but its racism looked very different a century ago. Black families were
virtually excluded from openly segregated child welfare systems until the end of World
War II (Roberts, 2002).
24
Overrepresentation of African American Children in Child Welfare
The term “racial disproportional” in the present context, refer to the fact that
some racial or ethnic groups of families and children are represented in various child
welfare services populations (e.g., families reported for child maltreatment or children
living in out-of-home care) at levels that are disproportionate to their numbers in the
overall family or child population (Courtney et al., 2003). Overrepresentation of certain
racial/ethnic groups in the foster care system is one of the most troubling and
challenging issues in child welfare today (Shaw, et al., 2008). By the 1950’s, civil rights
activity was expanding, and social discontent was more evident. During this era, the
number of children of color in the child welfare system increased, while the number of
poor white children decreased (Smith, et al., 2004).
A recent study found that physicians are more likely to reports parents of
African ancestry for abuse or neglect than White parents even when the injuries are the
same. Children of African ancestry are also more likely to receive additional testing and
screening on an effort to detect injury than their White counterparts even when the
symptomatology is the same (Lane, Rubin, Monteith & Christian, 2002, as cited by the
NABSW). In California, Black children have higher rates of maltreatment referrals,
substantiated allegations, and entries into foster care then children belonging to other
racial or ethnic groups (Needell et al., 2002 as cited by Needell et al., 2003).
In 2000, 110 per 1,000 Black children in California have maltreatment referrals,
compared to 44 per 1,000 White and 46 per 1,000 Hispanic children (Needell et al.,
25
2003). Even after controlling for reasons’ for maltreatment, neighborhood poverty, and
age of child, Needell, Brookhart and Lee (2003) found that African American children
in California were more likely than white were to be place in foster care. Also African
American families and children are least likely to receive family maintenance services,
are least likely to be reunified with their families and stay in care longer compared to
children in other groups (USGAO, 2007 as cited by Marts et al., 2008).
African-American children in the Child Welfare System have been a
controversial issue for many years. According to the July 2007, GAO report, “A
significantly greater proportion of African American children are in foster care then
children of other races and ethnicities”. African American children are vastly over
represented within the child welfare system compared to their proportion within the
population as a whole. They also constitute more than half of the children legally free
for adoption, and wait significantly longer than other children for an adoptive placement
(MEPA).
African American children are more likely than other children to be reported as
neglected, to enter out-of-home care and to have a prolonged duration of care, and they
are less likely to secure permanence through adoption (White et al, 1997) On September
30, 2005, there were 513,000 children in foster care, with 114,000 children waiting for
adoption (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [UCDHHS], 2006b). While
40% of waiting children were white and 36% African American, the percentage of
26
waiting children were disproportionate to the racial representation in the child
population (Belanger, K., Copeland, S., and Cheung, M., 2008).
Lawrence-Webb (1997) dates the disproportional of African American in the
child welfare system to the 1950’s and 1960’s when benefits for AFDC were
restructured (Belanger, et al. 2008). There are several contributing factors why African
American families are often systematically considered to be targeted by the child
welfare system. The common denominator in African American families whose
children swell the ranks of foster care is poverty, not abuse as many think. According to
a study published by LeRoy Pelton in 1989 and confirmed by more recent studies, a
family’s lack of income is the single best predictor of child removal and out-of-home
placement (Duncan, 2005).
In order to begin to understand the reason for this phenomenon, one must look
closely at the factors that impact these children and families. By looking at the general
population and examining those risk factors correlated with child welfare system
involvement, one can begin to look more closely, at which children are
disproportionately represented at different points in the system (Derezotes, D. & Hill,
R., 2002). The recent study by the Children’s Defense Fund (2007) reported extremely
alarming results about the experiences of African American foster children. They are
more likely to be retained in school, have lower standardized test scores, more likely to
be absent, tardy, or truant and have higher dropout rates and are less likely to receive
mental health services than other children in foster care (McRoy, 2008).
27
The July 2007 GAO report states, “A higher rate of poverty and challenges in
accessing support services as well as racial bias and difficulties in finding appropriate
permanent homes, were identified in our review as main factors influencing the
proportion of African American children in foster care”. African American children
were more likely to be placed in foster care then White or Hispanic children, and at
each decision point in the child welfare process the disproportion of African American
children grows. Since African American children are overrepresented in care and are
less likely to be adopted, these adverse consequences have an even greater impact in
this population (McRoy, 2008).
The Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 (MEPA) and the Interethnic Adoption of 1996
(IEP)
MEPA was signed into law in 1994 as part of the Improving America’s School
Act. In April 1995, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a detailed
guidance to assist states and agencies in implementing MEPA and understanding its
relationship to the equal protection and anti-discrimination principles of the United
States Constitution and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
When looking at the overrepresentation of minority children in the child welfare
system we must also look at ways this issue is being addressed. The Multiethnic
Placement Act also known as MEPA was designed to address the issue of
overrepresentation of children of color. One of the many principles of MEPA was to
assist with permanent stable homes for children of color. MEPA opened homes for
28
children and allowed them to be placed with families whose ethnicity was different
from the child. According to the MEPA guide, at the heart of this debate is a desire to
promote the best interests of children by ensuring that they have permanent, safe, stable
and loving homes that will meet their individual needs.
Although the ideal of MEPA was based in good faith for finding, a fix for the
problem that many minority children face especially African American children who
are overrepresented in the child welfare system. According to the MEPA -IEP guide,
MEPA-IEP is one of several recent federal initiatives and laws aimed at removing the
barriers to permanency for the hundreds of thousands of children who are in the child
protective system. The specific intentions of MEPA-IEP are to:

decrease the length of time that children wait to be adopted,

facilitate the recruitment and retention of foster and adoptive parents who meet
the distinctive needs of children awaiting placement, and

Eliminate discrimination on the bases of race, color, or national origin of the
child or the prospective parent.
In enacting MEPA, Congress found that there are nearly 500,000 children in
out-of-home care, of whom many tens of thousands are waiting for adoption, and that
children who are eventually adopted wait an average of 2.67 years after they are legally
available for permanent placement. More recent data shows that compared to white
children, African-American and American Indian/Alaskan Native children typically
spend considerably more time in foster care before being adopted ( MEPA guide, 2009).
29
Before MEPA-IEP was established, minority children were placed in same race
home and for African American children this rarely took place. Adoption practice
throughout the country had for several decades generally favored placing children in
racially or ethnically matched families. Transracial placement, which nearly always
refer to placing children of color, especially African-American children, with Caucasian
parents, were considered as a “last resort”, acceptable only under unusual circumstances
( MEPA guide, 2009).
MEPA has made the difference in the lives of many children of color especially
African-American children. Courts have held that a child’s need for a permanent home
may outweigh any considerations based on race or color (MEPA guide, 2009).
The Interethnic Adoption Provisions of 1996 was put into place because many
law makers believed that the MEPA laws were not being properly practiced if practiced
at all by states and agencies. IEP was passed because Congress believed that the
original intent of MEPA was not being followed and that changes were necessary to
remove any ambiguity about whether race, color or national origin could be considered
in making placement decisions for children (MEPA guide, 2009).
The IEP law also removed barriers to transracial adoption for children of color.
These amendments replaced most of the MEPA’s original language with the exception
of two provisions relating to recruitment efforts for foster care and adoptive homes and
the effects of a states failure to carry out their plan for a federal program under the
30
social security Act (Section 554 and 555). In other words there can be financial
penalties for those who are in non-compliance of MEPA-IEP rules and regulations.
Controversy Surrounding Transracial Adoption
Every year 1,000-2,000 African American Children will be adopted by Caucasian
families. In 1990, there were nearly 60,000 non-relative adoptions – 14% of these
adoptions were transracial / transcultural. Over the last 30 years, the practice of
transracial adoption has been steeped in controversy (Alexander & Curtis, 1996; Grow
& Shapiro, 1974; Shireman & Johnson, 1986). Most of the contention has focused on
whether African American children are able to develop healthy racial and cultural
identities within White American families (Curtis, 1996 as cited by Bass et al. 2006).
The establishment of identity is a major developmental task for all adolescents
(Erickson, 1968 as cited by Spencer & Markstrom-Adams, 1990). While identity
development is a complex task for all youth, it is particularly complicated for children
and adolescents belonging to ethnic and racial minority groups in the United Stated
(Spencer, et al., 1990).
Throughout most of the 19th century and beyond, Transracial adoption in the
United States rarely occurred and, as a result of racism institutionalized in law, it was
illegal in many states. During this time, adoption was largely arranged informally and,
to the extent that efforts were made to “match” children with adoptive families, religion
was the most important criterion (Donaldson Adoption Institute, 2008).
31
During the 1970’s, critics of interracial adoption mounted a spirited campaign
against the practice, led by the National Association of Black Social Workers. In 1972,
the association issued a position paper stating:
Black children should be placed only with Black families in foster
care or for adoption. Black children belong, physically,
psychologically and culturally in Black families in order that they
receive the total sense of themselves and develop a sound
Projection of their future. Human beings are products of their
environment and develop their sense of values, attitudes and self
concept within their family structures. Black children in White
homes are cut off from their healthy development of themselves
as black people. [32]
The transracial adoption controversy involved lawyers, the U.S. Congress, foster
parents and prospective adoptive parents for the next three decades (Bradley et al.,
2002). National Association of Black Social Workers has a long history of promoting
the preservation of families of African ancestry, singling out for its position in
transracial adoption nearly thirty years ago, the organization has always maintained the
importance of finding culturally grounded options for children of African ancestry
before giving consideration to placing our children outside of the community (NABSW,
2003).
The association affirms the inviolable position of African American children in
African American families where they belong physically, psychologically, and
culturally in order that they receive the total sense of themselves and develop a sound
projection of their future (Curtis, 1996). Ethnic and racial preferences are indicative of
32
group pride. Race or ethnic pride functions to bolster self-respect and to reinforce the
self-concept (DeVos & Romanucci-Ross, 1982b as cited by Spencer, 1990)
The child Welfare League of America (CWLA) (1987) changed its standards for
adoption practice to emphasize the recruitment of African American adoptive parents
and to place Tran racially only as a last resort (Curtis, 1996). Although same-race
adoption s became a priority, similar standards for foster-care placement were not
necessarily maintained. More than two decades later, NABSW continues to argue for
same-race placement for African American children in foster care and adoption (Curtis,
1996).
The debate on Tran racial adoption is far from over. Counselors are faced with
the task of ameliorating the effects of Tran racial adoption once it has occurred because
race cannot be a consideration in whether it will be allowed. Furthermore, because
states continue to implement laws and regulations passed in compliance with the tenets
of the federal MEPA/IEA and ASFA, it may be years before the ramifications of these
directives are fully realized (Bradley, et al., 2002).
The Need for African American Foster and Adoptive Homes
The need for African American adoptive and foster homes are in high demand
for many reasons but the most obvious is the overrepresentation of African American
children in the child welfare system. When African American children were finally
brought under public child welfare auspices in the mid-20th century, it was the poor
laws that emerged as the most applicable legal principle underlying child welfare
33
practice, since African American children were removed from poor families and placed
in foster care at a higher rate than other children (Billingsley & Giovannoni, 1972;
Jimenez, 2005; Lawrence-Webb, 1997; Roberts, 2002 and Smith & Devore, 2004).
African American families and children are adversely affected by an out-ofhome care system in crisis. Their overrepresentation in a child welfare system that is
overburdened and underfunded increases their risk for negative outcomes even when
there is intervention (Brown et al., 1997). African American children continue to enter
and stay in the child welfare system at an alarming and distressing numbers. In
California and across the country black children comprise a far larger proportion of the
foster care population than of the overall child population (Shaw et al., 2008).
According to the GAO, not only are African American children more likely than
white children to be placed in foster care, once African American children are removed
from their homes, their lengths of stay in foster care average nine months longer than
those of white children (McRoy, 2008). This is not beyond belief and has been
documented by the overrepresentation of African American in the child welfare system.
African American children who come in contact with the child welfare system are
disproportionately represented in foster care, and are less likely than children of other
racial and ethnic groups to move to permanency in a timely way. These children
account for 15 percent of the U.S. child population but, in FY2006, they represented 32
percent of the 510,000 children in foster care (Donaldson, 2008).
34
Additional factor that should be taken into account has been raised by such
organizations as NABSW and the CWLA is that African American parent are best
suited to prepare African American children to overcome the hostility and racism that
African Americans face in their daily lives. In addition to the concerns raised by
NABSW, African American child-rearing experts have affirmed over the last few
decades that African American parents have the difficult role of preparing their children
to succeed in a society that has a history of being hostile and racist toward African
Americans (Bradley, 1998; Robinson & Ginter, 1999 as cited by Bradley et al., 2002).
The Implication of Kinship Care for African American Children in Foster Care
In its broadest sense, kinship care is any living arrangement in which children
live with neither of their parents but instead are cared for by a relative or someone with
whom they have had a prior relationship (Geen, 2002). African American communities
have long been recognized for their tradition of providing kinship or relative care, for
children who are without parental support (Billingsley & Giovannoni, 1972; stack,
1974; Everett, 1991, 1995; Hegar, 1999; as cited by Smith, et al., 2004). The primary
practice assumptions made by advocates for kinship care helps children ease the pain of
losing birth parents because if offers social relationships of extended kin networks and
familial and cultural continuity (Hegar, 1999 as cited by Kang, 2007).
Many social welfare policies and events have contributed to the evolution of
kinship care policy. The first White House conference on Dependent Children was held
in Washington, DC in 1909 and is a cornerstone event in both foster care and kinship
35
care because of its emphasis on the care and safety of children in their own homes or in
a home-like environment (smith et al., 2004). African American extended family
networks also provide children with protection from abuse and neglect from their birth
parents (Brown et al., 2002).
African American children made up approximately 15% of the US child
population in 1995, however, they accounted for almost 30% of the founded allegations
of abuse and neglect, 41% of the child welfare population (Petit & Curtis, 1997 as cited
by Smith, et al., 2004) and approximately 40% of child fatalities associated with child
abuse and neglect (Morton, 1999 as cited by Smith, et al., 2004). Due to strong kin
bonds and high values placed upon children, relatives are often willing or feel obligated
to step in when children are found to be victims of maltreatment (Kang, 2007).
Brown, Cohon, and Wheeler (2002) suggested that prevalent living
arrangements with relatives are not viewed as a stigma in the African American
community. Rather the arrangement seems to provide family stability and consistency
to children. Jarrett (1994) also claimed that African American female-headed families
should not be readily viewed as not intact, since the female-headed families are often
immersed in larger extended family nets with extra residential kin support, usually from
their mothers (Kang, 2007). Kinship care is one avenue that state and foster family
agencies should continue to access for the purpose of reducing the number of children
that are in the child welfare system.
36
Brown et al., (2002) conducted qualitative research to examine the experience of
adolescents in kinship care. Based on interviews with 30 youths, the author concluded
that youths in kinship care enjoy emotional support, close relationships, and family
consistency provided by relative caregivers (Kang, 2007). Out of home care by kin may
not be a panacea for African American children, but it stands on solid historical grounds
as the natural system that developed in African American communities to ensure the
welfare of children (Jimenez, 2005).
For more than two centuries, African American families have supported children
in need by providing informal childcare and foster care, and by welcoming relatives’ or
friends’ children permanently into their families. The tradition of taking in needy or
abandoned nieces, nephews, and grandchildren exists to this day, as evidenced by the
high rate of informal and formal kinship care and adoption (Duncan, 2005).
Barriers African American Parents Face in Adoption and Foster Care
Several reasons and variables that often deter African American couples from
utilizing domestic and international adoptions programs: values, finances, controversy
over Tran racial adoption, significant participation in foster care conversion adoption,
lack of recruitment that targets African American clients, and incompetent cultural
practice (Bass, & Evans, 2006).
A lack of cultural competent practices in agencies that fail to recruit minorities
especially African Americans is one of the main barriers that plague the African
American population. Most foster family agencies do not have pictures and reading
37
material that are geared toward the African American population. In many cases,
adoption agencies are not successful in their efforts to recruit African-American
adoptive couples. Many agencies do not initially seek out extended family and
community members in the African-American population (Smith, 1996 as cited by Bass
& Evens, 2006). Traditional adoption agencies were hard-pressed to find “appropriate”
families for adoption of African American children. This was primarily due to their lack
of experience in providing services to African American families and acting on the
belief that African American families were beset with pathology. They did not
recognize the strengths in African American families and often mistakenly identified
strengths as pathology (Jackson-White, et al., 1997).
Recruiting African Americans to Adoption and Foster Care Programs
Adoption is often seen as a viable alternative to ensure that children who have
been permanently placed in foster care will have stable home of their own (Bradley et
al. 2002). With the overrepresentation of African-American children in the child
welfare system, F FA’s and State Adoption Agencies should try to actively work to find
African Americans that would be willing to be involved in foster care or adoption.
Recruitment efforts need to target the African-American community, or people will not
respond to it (Bass, et al. 2006).
For African American children there needs to be more of an effort by foster
family agencies to seek out families that would be suitable for minority children. The
majority of children in foster care are not white. Have you ever said what the overall
38
numbers are? MEPA-IEP explicitly requires diligent recruitment of families that
reflect the ethnic and racial diversity of these children.
Recruiting racially diverse parent’s especially African American parents and families
into foster care and adopting requires changes.
Many of the research articles that addressed recommendations for recruiting
African American adoptive parents and families stated that there are three main factors
to address when wanting to recruit African Americans. Networking within the African
American community is very important and essential when wanting to appeal to the
population. Communities often include but are not limited to churches, organizations,
publications and community leaders. Various marketing techniques can also be helpful
in the recruitment of adoptive African American families. According to the article by
Bass and Evens, (2006), appealing to a certain group requires more than just knowing
the right people; it requires the ability to advertise effectively. By creating posters,
brochures, and newsletters and distributing them throughout the community by
displaying them in churches, daycares, barber and beauty shops could possibly educate
the need for adoptive and foster parents as well as open the door to creating a network
of possibilities.
The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act, which governs foster care and
adoptions and is aimed at reducing the number of children in foster care, requires full
funding for states to implement services aimed at strengthening and reuniting families
and improving foster care and adoption programs…State and local governments should
39
assume primary financial responsibility for the recruitment and retention of foster and
adoptive parents who are racially and culturally representative of the children awaiting
placement (Curtis, 1996).
African American foster care and adoption agencies have been successful in
placing African American children in foster and adoptive homes. In 1980, Father
George Clements started the first One Church, One Child program. Father Clements,
who recognized the importance of and strength in black church traditions, rallied the
African American religious community to promote adoption one congregation at a time
(Duncan, 2005)
The literature review provides factual evidence that there is a need for African
American foster/adoptive parents and homes. There are more than a few characteristic
of African American families that should be addressed as well as the reason why there
are so few African American homes. One case in point is rethinking of the traditional
family makeup by looking at families other than two-parent heterosexual homes.
There are numerous implications of controversy associated with the subject
matter, such as the controversy surrounding transracial adoption. Foster Care and State
adoption agencies need to become more aggressive in their recruiting methods to gain
the much needed foster and adoptive homes. The importance of this topic is
corroborated by the need to give children in child welfare a happy, stable, and
permanent home which is thought to be one of the goals of the child welfare system.
40
Furthermore much of the literature on African American adoption talks about
the challenges and obstacles African American families face such as being screened out
and overwhelmed with paperwork. The need for African American adoptive home is an
essential to decrease the overrepresentation of African American children.
41
Chapter 3
METHODOLOGY
Introduction:
The research design and the methodology used for this study are described in
this chapter. . The participants, as well as the criteria used to determine the
qualifications to participate in the study are reported, along with a description of the
sample population and the sampling technique. This chapter also includes the
instrumentation used to collect the data and the reporting method. The concluding
section describes the steps taken to protect the human subjects.
Research Design
Since there is little research on the subject of African Americans and Adoption
the researcher will use an exploratory/descriptive design. Exploratory research designs
are used with topics about which very little information is available (Royse, D. 2008).
According to Royse (2008), a descriptive design will allow for a more generalization of
the findings. For the purpose of this research study the researcher will use the
descriptive design to analyze the information received from the survey (Appendix B)
taken by African Americans regarding their interpretation and experience when seeking
to become foster and/or adoptive parents.
Study Population and Sample
The study population consisted of respondents who identify themselves as
African Americans (Black). The population sample used for this research will be a
42
small sample size of 40 African American whom live in or around the San Joaquin
County area and who have experience with the foster care/adoption system.
Research Questions
This study investigates the preceding research question: From an African
American foster/adoptive family perspective how has the foster/adoptive process
hindered, delayed or even stopped the foster/adoption seeking process for them as
perspective foster/adoptive parents.
Quantitative Approach
Quantitative research is used widely in social sciences, this approach is used
when the researcher intends to gain understanding and knowledge of the human
experience. research based on traditional scientific methods, which generates numerical
data and usually seeks to establish causal relationships between two or more variables,
using statistical methods to test the strength and significance of the relationships
(Royse, 2008).
The researcher chose this approach because it allows for the researcher to
examine a predicament that has direct correlation with the overrepresentation of African
American children in the child welfare system.
Instrument
The instrument that used was a survey questionnaire (Appendix B) that
consisted of 51 questions, which are divided into four categories; demographics,
considering becoming a foster/adoptive parent, adoption and foster care process and
43
completion of the adoption process. These questions were designed in reverence as to
how African Americans interpret the adoption process with regards to completing all
the steps necessary to become adoptive parents.
The survey design is known as a cohort, which according to Royse, (2008) is a
group of persons who have some critical or significant experience in common. The
participants of this research project are considered a cohort because they have had a
significant experience (the foster care/adoption process). The questionnaire was
developed by the researcher and includes the following demographic information such
as age, sex marital status, education and income as preliminary information with the
remainder of the questionnaire focusing on the participants experience with completing
the screening for becoming an adoptive parent or family (Appendix B). The questions
will include but are not limited to closed-ended questions, acquiescence, and the Likert
Scale question, that will be answered directly on the questionnaire survey.
Data Analysis
The system that will be used to analysis the information collected is the
computer software known as SPSS. Once the information is gathered it will be
examined by the researcher to find commonalities and reverent themes that is shared
among the participants. This researcher will use content analysis to complete this
process.
44
Protection of Human Subjects
For the protection of human subjects used in this research study, the proper protocol
was appropriately followed. Upon completion of the Human Subject Review Form, it
was submitted and approved by the Division of Social Work Subject review Board
Committee at Sacramento State University in Sacramento California. There was
minimal or no risk to the participants. The participants signed a consent form
(Appendix A) before completing the questionnaire. All consent forms were kept
confidential and locked in a file cabinet and this researcher will be the only one to have
access to the data.
45
Chapter 4
DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS
Introduction
The focus of this study was to examine the historic issue of African Americans
and the state of adoptions. The purpose of this study was to get an understanding of why
the pathway to adoption for African American children who are overrepresented in
child welfare continues to be obstructed. Additionally the researcher wanted to see if
there was a way to help raise the awareness of the plight that African American children
often face once they have entered the foster care system.
The following results were from the 37 African American men and women who
voluntarily participated in the research survey. Twenty-five of the survey participants
were members of a local African American church in Stockton, California and the
remaining participants were referrals from friends and associates that lived in San
Joaquin County. The research survey questionnaires (See Appendix B) was comprised
of 51 questions regarding participants’ information, knowledge of the foster care and
adoption process and the participants experience with foster care and adoption agencies
and workers.
Once the questionnaires were completed, they were analyzed using the computer
program SPSS and the finding results are as follow:
46
Participants Information
According to the surveys completed of the 37 participants that took the survey,
24% (9 participants) were between the ages of 25-29 and 5.4% (2 participants per
group) of the participant’s age group 35-39 and 50-54 were the lowest. 64% (24
participants) were married and 1% (1out of 37) was either a widow or single. The
percentage of females were 59.5 (22 of the 37) and 40.5 (15 of the 37) were males.
When asked about the highest level of education 24.3 were college graduates, 45.9%
had some college education, and 29.7% were high school graduates. Participants were
asked about income, 45.9% were 2-income household, 43.2% were 1-income
households, and the remaining 10.8% did not answer the question. Income levels were
also close (9) 24.3% of the income levels were either 25,000-35,000 or 36,000-45,000.
Table A1
Demographics of Study Participants (N=37)
Table A1
Participants Age
Valid 25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
60-Older
Total
Frequency Percent
9
24.3
4
10.8
2
5.4
4
3
2
5
8
37
10.8
8.1
5.4
13.5
21.6
100.0
Valid
Percent
24.3
10.8
5.4
Cumulative
Percent
24.3
35.1
40.5
10.8
8.1
5.4
13.5
21.6
100.0
51.4
59.5
64.9
78.4
100.0
47
Table A2
Demographics of Study Participants (Continued) (N=37)
Table A2
Marital Status
Valid single (never
married/no partner)
Single (living with a
partner)
Married
Divorced
Widow
Total
Gender
Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent Percent
Percent
8
21.6
21.6
21.6
1
2.7
2.7
24.3
24
3
1
37
64.9
8.1
2.7
100.0
64.9
8.1
2.7
100.0
89.2
97.3
100.0
22
15
59.5
40.5
59.5
40.5
59.5
100.0
37
100.0
100.0
Valid High school
Graduate
Some College
College Graduate
Total
Income Size
11
29.7
29.7
29.7
17
9
37
45.9
24.3
100.0
45.9
24.3
100.0
75.7
100.0
Valid
1-Income
Household
16
43.2
48.5
48.5
2-Income
Household
Total
Missing System
Total
17
45.9
51.5
100.0
33
4
37
89.2
10.8
100.0
100.0
Valid Female
Male
Total
Educational Level
48
Table A3
Demographics of Study Participants (Continued) (N=37)
Table A3
Household Income
Valid Under 25,000
25,000 – 35,000
36,000 - 45, 000
46,000 – 55,000
56,000- 65,000
65,000 – 75,000
Prefer not to
answer
Total
Frequenc
y
5
9
Valid
Cumulative
Percent
Percent
13.5
13.5
24.3
37.8
Percent
13.5
24.3
5
9
5
2
2
13.5
24.3
13.5
5.4
5.4
13.5
24.3
13.5
5.4
5.4
37
100.0
100.0
51.4
75.7
89.2
94.6
100.0
Participants Interested in Being Adoptive or Foster Care Parents
According to the survey questionnaire of the 37 participants, 45.9% of the
chose other as a reason for wanting to foster or adopt a child /children and 2.7% chose
infertility. 64.9% of the participants have not applied to be foster/ adoptive parents. Of
the participants who answered the question 62.2% of the participants stated that they or
a family member have not been in foster care or adopted and 5.4% stated that they did
not know. Out of the four choices about considering, being adoptive parent 64.9% said
that they would consider and 2.7% said that they prefer not to answer or didn’t know.
45.9% of the participants who would either foster or adopt stated that they would
choose a child or children between the ages of 4-7 and 10.8% chose the ages of 12-15.
49
Table B1
Study Participants Response to General Questions on Foster Care/Adoption (N=37)
Table B1
Best describes your reason
Frequenc
Valid
Cumulative
to be a foster and/or
adoptive parent
y
Percent Percent
Percent
Valid
Wanted a child
4
10.8
13.8
13.8
Wanted more
7
18.9
24.1
37.9
children
Infertility
1
2.7
3.4
41.4
Other
17
45.9
58.6
100.0
Total
29
78.4
100.0
Missing System
8
21.6
Total
37
100.0
Have you ever applied to be
a foster/adoptive parent
Valid
Yes
No
13
24
35.1
64.9
35.1
64.9
Total
Have you or anyone in your
family been in foster care or
adopted
37
100.0
100.0
Valid
12
23
2
37
32.4
62.2
5.4
100.0
32.4
62.2
5.4
100.0
32.4
94.6
100.0
24
64.9
64.9
64.9
11
1
1
29.7
2.7
2.7
29.7
2.7
2.7
94.6
97.3
100.0
37
100.0
100.0
Yes
No
Don't Know
Total
Have you ever considered
being an Adoptive Parent
Valid Yes
No
Don't Know
Prefer not to
answer
Total
35.1
100.0
50
Table B2
Study Participants Response to General Questions on Foster Care/Adoption
Continued (N=37)
Table B2
Have you ever
considered being a
Foster Parent
Valid
Cumulative
Percent
Percent
64.9
64.9
Frequency
24
Percent
64.9
No
Don't Know
Prefer not to
answer
Total
What age group would
you consider
11
1
1
29.7
2.7
2.7
29.7
2.7
2.7
37
100.0
100.0
Valid
0-3
4-7
6
17
16.2
45.9
17.1
48.6
17.1
65.7
8-11
12-15
Total
System
8
4
35
2
37
21.6
10.8
94.6
5.4
100.0
22.9
11.4
100.0
88.6
100.0
Valid
Missing
Total
Yes
94.6
97.3
100.0
African American views on Transracial Adoption and raising African American
Children
Transracial adoption continues to be of great concern in the African American
community and many of the community organizations such as the National
Associations of Black Social Workers and the child Welfare League of America have
51
strong beliefs that African American children should be raised by African American
parents whenever possible. The results from the participants who answered the
following survey questions are as follow: 40.5% of the participants strongly agree
that there is an overrepresentation of African American children in child welfare
while 5.4% strongly disagree. Out of the 19 participants 48.6% either strongly agree
or agree that there is a need for the child welfare system and only 2.7% disagree.
40.5% of the participants agree and 21.6 strongly agree with transracial adoption
while 29.7 disagree and 8.1% prefer not to answer. Of the 19 participants, 40.5%
disagree while 2.7% prefer not to answer the question on should only African
American parents raise African American children. While of the 19 participants,
48.6% agree while 5.4% strongly disagree or disagree that it takes a community
to raise a child. Out of the 19 participants 48.6% disagree, while 13.5% agree and
2.7% prefer not to answer the question, African American children will thrive only
in African American communities. Religion is one of the strongest foundations in
the African American community and the of the 19 participants 64.9% strongly
agree, 32.4% agree and 2.7% prefer not to answer the question is religion or
spirituality important and 43.2% either strongly agree or agree that religion and
spirituality are important to foster care and adoption while 2.7 strongly disagree or
prefer not to answer the question.
52
Table C1
Study Participants Response to Transracial Adoption and Child Welfare (N=37)
Table C1
Is there a need for African
American Foster/adopt
parents
Valid Strongly Disagree
Agree
Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent Percent
Percent
2
5.4
5.4
5.4
16
43.2
43.2
48.6
Strongly Agree
19
51.4
51.4
100.0
Total
37
100.0
100.0
African American children
Valid Cumulative
overrepresented
Frequency Percent Percent
Percent
Valid Strongly Disagree
2
5.4
5.4
5.4
Disagree
3
8.1
8.1
13.5
Agree
12
32.4
32.4
45.9
Strongly Agree
15
40.5
40.5
86.5
Prefer not to
5
13.5
13.5
100.0
answer
Total
37
100.0
100.0
A need for the child welfare
system
Valid
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Total
I agree with transracial
adoption
Valid
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Prefer not to
answer
Total
1
18
18
37
2.7
48.6
48.6
100.0
2.7
48.6
48.6
100.0
2.7
51.4
100.0
11
15
8
3
29.7
40.5
21.6
8.1
29.7
40.5
21.6
8.1
29.7
70.3
91.9
100.0
37
100.0
100.0
53
Table C2
Study Participants Response to Transracial Adoption and Child Welfare (N=37)
Table C2
AA Children should be
raised by AA parents
Valid
Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent Percent
Percent
Strongly Disagree
5
13.5
13.5
13.5
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Prefer not to
answer
Total
It takes a community to
raise a child
Valid Strongly Disagree
Disagree
15
9
7
1
40.5
24.3
18.9
2.7
40.5
24.3
18.9
2.7
37
100.0
100.0
2
2
5.4
5.4
5.4
5.4
5.4
10.8
Agree
Strongly Agree
Total
AA children will thrive
only in AA communities
18
15
37
48.6
40.5
100.0
48.6
40.5
100.0
59.5
100.0
Valid
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Prefer not to
answer
Total
54.1
78.4
97.3
100.0
7
18
5
6
18.9
48.6
13.5
16.2
18.9
48.6
13.5
16.2
Cumulative
Percent
18.9
67.6
81.1
97.3
1
2.7
2.7
100.0
37
100.0
100.0
54
Table C3
Study Participants Response to Transracial Adoption and Child Welfare
(Continued) (N=37)
Table C3
Religion and Spirituality
Valid
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to
answer
Total
Religion and Spirituality
important to foster/adopt
Valid Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to
answer
Total
Frequency
12
Valid Cumulative
Percent Percent
Percent
32.4
32.4
32.4
24
64.9
64.9
97.3
1
2.7
2.7
100.0
37
100.0
100.0
1
2.7
2.7
2.7
3
8.1
8.1
10.8
16
16
43.2
43.2
43.2
43.2
54.1
97.3
1
2.7
2.7
100.0
37
100.0
100.0
The Participants Experience with Foster Care and Adoption Agencies and Worker.
Each of the participants had their perspective on the foster care and adoption
experience. Recruitment by many foster care and adoption agencies are done by word
of mouth. The following findings were from the 19 participants who completed this
section of the survey questionnaire. They could only complete this section if they had
ever started and/or completed the process for foster care and/or adoption.
55
Of the total participants, 29.7% selected other as to how they were recruited
and 48.6% did not answer the question. 32.4% of the participants agree that they were
fully explained how the adoption/foster care process and 2.7% either strongly disagree
or strongly agree. 27% of the participants agreed that the agency was sensitive to their
ethnic/cultural background. 24.3% strongly agree, 5.4% either disagree or strongly
disagree and 2.7% prefer not to answer if the paperwork was overwhelming.
24.3% strongly agree while 13.5% disagree and 2.7 prefer not to answer whether or
not some of the questions were intrusive.
35.1% believe that the agency was helpful with the foster care and adoption
process while 2.7 prefer not to answer or strongly disagree/disagree with the question.
29.7% of the participants felt supported by the agencies social worker and 2.7 strongly
agree/disagree or prefer not to answer. 27.0% agree that the home study was too
intrusive and 2.7% strongly disagree or strongly agree. Of the participants that
answered the question 40.5% said yes they completed the home study and 2.7 said no
they did not. 21.6% of the participants stated they agree that some of the questions
were too personal and 5.4% prefer not to answer. 29.7% of the participants agreed
with the outcome of the home study in addition, 2.7 strongly disagree.
56
Table D1
Study Participants Response to Experience with Agencies and Social Workers (N=37)
Table D1
How were you recruited
Valid
Church
You contacted
the Adoption
Agency
You contacted
the Foster Care
agency
Other
Total
System
Missing
Total
Was the adoption/foster
care process fully
explained
Valid
Missing
Total
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Total
System
Frequency
4
3
Valid Cumulative
Percent Percent
Percent
10.8
21.1
21.1
8.1
15.8
36.8
1
2.7
5.3
42.1
11
19
18
37
29.7
51.4
48.6
100.0
57.9
100.0
100.0
1
2.7
5.3
5.3
5
12
1
19
18
37
13.5
32.4
2.7
51.4
48.6
100.0
26.3
63.2
5.3
100.0
31.6
94.7
100.0
57
Table D2
Study Participants Response to Experience with Agencies and Social Workers
(Continued) (N=37)
Table D2
Was the agency sensitive
to your ethnic/cultural
background
Frequency
Valid
Missing
Total
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to
answer
Total
System
Percent
Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
1
2.7
5.3
5.3
5
10
1
13.5
27.0
2.7
26.3
52.6
5.3
31.6
84.2
89.5
2
5.4
10.5
100.0
19
18
37
51.4
48.6
100.0
100.0
2
5.4
10.5
10.5
2
5
9
5.4
13.5
24.3
10.5
26.3
47.4
21.1
47.4
94.7
1
2.7
5.3
100.0
19
18
37
51.4
48.6
100.0
100.0
Do you feel the
paperwork was
overwhelming
Valid
Missing
Total
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to
answer
Total
System
58
Table D3
Study Participants Response to Experience with Agencies and Social Workers
(Continued) (N=37)
Table D3
Do you feel that some of
the questions were
intrusive
Frequency
Valid
Missing
Total
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to
answer
Total
System
Percent
Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
5
4
9
13.5
10.8
24.3
26.3
21.1
47.4
26.3
47.4
94.7
1
2.7
5.3
100.0
19
18
37
51.4
48.6
100.0
100.0
1
2.7
5.3
5.3
3
13
1
8.1
35.1
2.7
15.8
68.4
5.3
21.1
89.5
94.7
1
2.7
5.3
100.0
19
18
37
51.4
48.6
100.0
100.0
Was the agency helpful
with the foster care
adoption process
Valid
Missing
Total
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to
answer
Total
System
59
Table D4
Study Participants Response to Experience with Agencies and Social Workers
(Continued) (N=37)
Table D4
I felt supported by the
agencies SW
Frequency
Valid
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not
to answer
Total
System
Missing
Total
I felt that the home
study was too intrusive
Valid
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Missing
Total
Prefer not
to answer
Total
System
Percent
Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
1
2.7
5.3
5.3
5
11
1
13.5
29.7
2.7
26.3
57.9
5.3
31.6
89.5
94.7
1
2.7
5.3
100.0
19
18
37
51.4
48.6
100.0
100.0
1
2.7
5.3
5.3
4
10
1
10.8
27.0
2.7
21.1
52.6
5.3
26.3
78.9
84.2
3
8.1
15.8
100.0
19
18
37
51.4
48.6
100.0
100.0
60
Table D5
Study Participants Response to Experience with Agencies and Social Workers
(Continued) (N=37)
Table D5
I completed the home
study
Valid
Yes
No
Don't know
Total
System
1
3
19
18
37
2.7
8.1
51.4
48.6
100.0
5.3
15.8
100.0
84.2
100.0
Strongly
Disagree
3
8.1
15.8
15.8
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to
answer
Total
System
3
8
3
8.1
21.6
8.1
15.8
42.1
15.8
31.6
73.7
89.5
2
5.4
10.5
100.0
19
18
37
51.4
48.6
100.0
100.0
Missing
Total
I believe that some of
the questions were to
personal
Valid
Missing
Total
Frequency
15
Valid Cumulative
Percent Percent
Percent
40.5
78.9
78.9
61
Table D6
Study Participants Response to Experience with Agencies and Social Workers
(Continued) (N=37)
Table D6
I agree with the
conclusion of the home
study
Valid
Missing
Total
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Prefer not to
answer
Total
System
Frequenc
y
Percent
1
2.7
Valid
Cumulative
Percent
Percent
5.3
5.3
2
11
5
5.4
29.7
13.5
10.5
57.9
26.3
19
18
37
51.4
48.6
100.0
100.0
15.8
73.7
100.0
Summary
In this chapter, the data was analyzed and discussed in terms of the questions
that were asked in the survey questionnaire. It was found that of the 37 participants
only 19 of them had started and/or completed the foster care and adoption process.
In conclusion, African American adoptive and foster care families have experienced
various obstacles and difficulties when trying to complete the foster care and adoption
process. Through this research survey questionnaire the researcher found that of the
voluntary participants, a high percentage of them agree with transracial adoption and
have strong beliefs in religion and spirituality. There are many things that Foster
Family Agencies and social worker can do to attract more African American foster
62
and adoptive families for instance social workers can become more culturally
competent (having knowledge of the African American experience). They can
also find ways through making contact with community leaders and organizations
to find ways to unite in order to recruit more African Americans.
In chapter 5, the researcher will discuss the summary, recommendations
(practice related & future research) as well as the limitations and implication for social
work practice and finally the conclusion.
63
Chapter 5
RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to summarize the results complied from the
research survey questionnaire. It will provides the conclusion related to the
information on the historic issue of the state of adoption for African American
children and families. This chapter will also provide recommendations as well as
address the limitations of the research study in addition; it will outline the
implications for social work practice and policy followed by the conclusion of
this research project.
Review of Findings
There have been an extensive numbers of research studies done on the
disproportionate number of African American children in the child welfare system.
African American children make up approximately 40% of the child welfare
population and only 15% of the total United States child population. While many
of the African American children that are in the child welfare system are in need of
permanent placements there are not enough foster and adoptive homes available to
them. The descriptive statistics included cross tabulation results, which demonstrated
a correlation between age, marital status, income level and education and how they
viewed the foster care and adoption process. The cross tabulation results found that
African Americans who were under the age of 30 or over the age of 55 and married
64
had applied or considered to be foster and/or adoptive parents. The cross tabulation
results also found that age had a significant correlation with how transracial adoption
was viewed.
Recommendations
Based on the findings of the research survey there are the following
practice and future research related recommendations that can be considered.
Practice Related
A realistic recommendation could be for foster family and state adoption
agencies to become more creative and aggressive with recruitment strategies to
attract more African American individuals and families for foster care and adoption.
According to Bass and Evans (2006), appealing to a certain group requires more than
just knowing the right people; it requires the ability to advertise effectively. By
creating posters, brochures, and newsletters and distributing them throughout the
community by displaying them in churches, daycares, barber and beauty shops could
possibly educate the need for adoptive and foster parents as well as open the door to
creating a network of possibilities.
Another significant and practical recommendation is for agencies and social
workers to become more culturally competent. Cultural sensitivity has been identified
as a key to effective recruitment of adoptive families. The agency must have a solid
relationship with the African American community ( Kapp et al., 2000).
65
Future Research
There is a need for more research that can identify why there continues to be
an overrepresentation of children of color especially African American children in
the child welfare system. As well as research on why African American individuals
and families are not sought after to become foster and adoptive parents to help reduce
the number of African American children that are currently overrepresented in the
child welfare system.
Limitations
The most significant limitation for this research was the limited number of
African American participants that actually have adopted or fostered African American
children that were or are in the child welfare system. The researcher found that she had
limited access to the number of African Americans in the community and had to rely
on gathering the majority of the participants from one specific area. Present was also
the number of the participants that took part in the research survey. The researcher
only obtained 37completed surveys she was hoping to get at least 40 or more
completed.
A second limitation was the fact that most of the participants were member of a
specific church organization in Stockton, California, the remaining few were friends or
acquaintances of friends who volunteered to take the survey questionnaire and they
have had some form of contact with the child welfare system through foster care and
adoption. Of the number of participants that completed the survey, there were
66
only 19 whom were able to complete the entire survey. Additional limitations were
the number of females compare to the number of male participants as well as the
number of participants that know about the overrepresentation of African American
children in the child welfare system.
Implications for Social Work Practice
Cultural competence is extremely important when working with the various
ethnic and racial population and communities. African American have been on the
forefront of informal fostering and adoption of African American children within
their community. While there has been a movement for a more methodical approach
to practice and policy, these connections may be the most significant factor to bring
about change. Based on the results of this study African American families continue
to have a strong connection with religion and spirituality which can be an avenue for
many foster family agencies to use in order to make a connection with the African
American community. Although this survey questionnaire found the participants
had limited knowledge about the disportionality of African American children in
the child welfare it also showed that participants believe there is a need for more
African American foster and adoptive parents.
Conclusions
The results from this research study are important, especially since there has
been a very limited amount of research on the historic aspect of African American
and the state of adoption. The national forums reported and established that there
67
was a serious problem with the disportionality with African American children
in child welfare system. African American children whom are placed in foster care
remain longer than any of their counterparts. While African American children
continue to be overrepresented in child welfare there needs to be a more attention
to be given on recruiting African Americans families.
This project intention was to examine the African American experience
when working with adoption and foster care agencies. Out of the 37 participants
who took the survey questionnaire only 19 of them have actually had actually
completed the entire questionnaire. All participants strongly agreed that religion
and spirituality are important but only 60% believed that it was important to foster
care and adoption. The results of the research project could be beneficial to social
workers and agencies by increasing their knowledge about the African American
community and culture.
In conclusion, the research questionnaire revealed that there needs to be
more awareness in the African American community about the overrepresentation
of African American children in the child welfare system as well as more recruitment
of African American foster and adoptive families by foster care and state adoption
agencies. This study also established to some degree the impact social workers have
on families who are interested in becoming foster care and/or adoption families.
68
APPENDICES
69
APPENDIX A
Consent to Participate in Research
You are invited to participate in a research study that will be conducted
by Terri R. Jenkins a second year MSW student at California State University,
Sacramento. This study will explore African Americans and the State of Adoption.
Procedures:
After reviewing this form and agreeing to participate you will be given a survey
containing multiple choice questions. The survey should take no-longer then thirty
(30) minutes to complete. As a voluntary participant you can at anytime decide to
not answer any specific question, skip questions or stop taking the survey.
Confidentiality:
In order to protect your confidentiality, this consent form and survey are linked
through a code number that is known only to the researcher. You are asked not to
put any identifying information on the survey and to return the consent form and
survey in separate envelopes that have been provided by the researcher.
The consent form and the survey will be filed separately and kept under lock and
key by the researcher whom will be the only person to have full access to both
items. The survey is anonymous and no names will be recorded.
Any papers or publications that result from this research will only contain aggregated
data and will contain no individual identifying information. The survey and consent
form will be kept for no more then two years after the completion of the research.
The estimated completion of research is May 2010 and items will be destroyed no
later then May 2012
Risks:
The researcher believes that there is no risk or at least a possibility of minimal risk
associated with this study unless the questions cause you any type of discomfort or
emotional distress. You are not obligated to answer any question that causes you any
discomfort in any way or that you feel you do not want to answer and you may end
your participation at any time.
70
At the request of the participant the researcher will give information to the
mental health agency and crisis hotlines in the participants’ area where they
may go or call to receive assistance.
Benefits:
The survey may increase the awareness of Adoption among African Americans
and may also assist agencies in finding way to recruit more African Americans to
become Foster and/or Adoptive parents. Also by being a participant in the study
it may raise your awareness surrounding Foster Care and Adoption.
Compensation:
Participants will not receive any kind of fiscal compensation.
I have read the information on the research participation and I understand
that my participation is totally voluntary. My signature or initials indicates that
I have received a copy of the cover letter and I agree to participate in the study.
Signature or Initials:___________________________________
Date: _________
If you have any questions please refer to the cover letter which contains the contact
information for the researcher.
71
APPENDIX B
Research Project Survey
Please circle the answer that is best for you below.
1. I belong to this age group?
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
60-Older
2. My marital status is?
Single (never married, no significant other)
Married
Widow
Single (living with a partner)
Divorced
Other
3. The gender I identify with is?
Male
Female
4. My highest level of education is?
High School graduate
Some College
College Graduate
Other
5. I belong to this income level:
1-Income Household
2-Income household
3 or more income household
Under 25,000
25,000 – 35,000
36,000 - 45, 000
46,000 – 55,000
56,000- 65,000
65,000 – 75,000
76,000 & Higher
Prefer not to answer
72
The following questions are on Adoption and Foster Care:
6. Have you ever thought about being a Foster and/or Adoptive Parent?
Yes
No
Don’t know
Prefer not to answer
7. Which category best describes your reasons to be a Foster and/or
Adoptive parent?
Wanted a child
Wanted more children
Infertility
Other
8. Have you ever received information about being a foster/adoptive parent?
Yes
No
Don’t know
Prefer not to answer
9. Have you ever applied to be a foster/adoptive parent?
Yes
No
Don’t know
Prefer not to answer
10. Have you or anyone in your family been in foster care or adopted?
Yes
No
Don’t know
Prefer not to answer
11. Have you ever considered being an Adoptive Parent?
Yes
No
Don’t know
Prefer not to answer
12. Have you ever considered being a Foster Parent?
Yes
No
Don’t know
Prefer not to answer
13. If you were to consider being a foster and/or adoptive parent what age
group would you consider?
0-3
4-7
8-11
12-15
16 and Older
14. How many child/children would you foster or adopt?
1-2
2-4
4 or more
Prefer not to answer
73
15. Would you consider fostering and/or adopting siblings?
Yes
Don’t know
No
Prefer not to answer
16. What sex of the child would you prefer?
Boy
Girl
Doesn’t matter
Both
17. Would you consider fostering and/or adopting a child with special needs?
Yes
Don’t know
No
Prefer not to answer
18. Would you consider fostering and/or adopting a child with a physical
handicap?
Yes
Don’t know
No
Prefer not to answer
19. Would you consider fostering and/or adopting a child with emotional needs?
Yes
Don’t know
No
Prefer not to answer
20. Would you consider fostering or adopting a child of a different ethnicity then
yours?
Yes
Don’t know
No
Prefer not to answer
21. Do you feel there is a need for more Foster/Adopt parents?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
22. Do you know anything about the Foster Care or Adoption process?
Yes
Don’t know
No
Prefer not to answer
23. Do you feel there is a need for more African American Foster or Adoptive
parents?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
74
24. Do you feel African American Children are over represented in the child welfare
system?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
25. Do you feel there is a need for the Child Welfare System (CPS)
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
26. Do you believe Religion or Spirituality is important?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
27. Do you feel Religion or Spirituality is important when considering being Foster
and/or Adoptive parents?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
28. Do you agree with transracial adoption?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
29. Do you feel African American children should be raised by only African
American parents?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
75
30. Do you feel it takes a community to raise a child?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
31. Do you feel African American children will only thrive in African American
Communities?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
32. Do you believe Racism still exist in the United States?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
Questions about the adoption and foster care process: Answer only if you have ever
started and/or completed the process for either adoption, foster care or both.
33. I was recruited?
Newspaper/Newsletter
Church
You contacted the Foster Care agency
You contacted the Adoption Agency
Other
34. I feel that the Adoption/ Foster Care process was fully and clearly explained?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
35. I felt that the agency was sensitive to my ethnic and cultural background?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
76
36. I felt that the paper work was overwhelming?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
37. I feel that some of the questions were too personal?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
38. I believe that the agency was helpful with the Foster Care and/or Adoption
Process?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
39. I felt supported by the Agencies Social Worker?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
40. I complete the homestudy.
Yes
Don’t know
No
Prefer not to answer
41. I feel that some of the questions in the homestudy were too private to answer?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
42. I agree with the conclusion of the homestudy that was completed on your
family?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
77
43. I felt that the homestudy was too intrusive?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
Answer the following questions only if you have adopted child/children.
44. Was the background of the Adoptive child and the biological family disclosed
and discussed?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
45. I was told about the Adoption Assistance Program (AAP)?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
46. I already knew about the Adoption Assistance Program (AAP)?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
47. I receive Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) monies?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
48. I no longer receive Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) monies?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
49. I have never received Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) monies?
78
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
50. I would consider Adoption again?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
51. I would recommend the agency I used to others?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Prefer not to answer
79
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