Children and Family Research Center

The Children and Family Research Center (CFRC) began analyzing and reporting on racial disproportionality in the Illinois child welfare system in 2017 as part of their annual B.H. Consent Decree monitoring report. When the recently passed HB2914 mandated the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to document racial disparities in the state’s child welfare system, CFRC was asked to produce the new annual report. Released in December 2022, this first report included data on racial disproportionalities related to both child protection investigations and substitute care placements in the Illinois child welfare system between July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022.

CFRC examined the impact of race on additional indicators, including investigations, substitute care placement types, lengths of stay, and exits to legally permanent families through reunifications, adoptions, and guardianships. CFRC’s examination of Illinois child protection investigations during the reporting period revealed that Black children were overrepresented at every decision point, including whether a call made to the hotline gets investigated. Often, the rates at which Black children were involved with Illinois child welfare system investigations were over twice the rate at which they were represented in the general state population. Examination of substitute care placements also reveal racial disproportionalities in the Illinois child welfare system. When compared to their percentage in the substitute care population, Black children were overrepresented in congregate care placements and had higher rates of medical or behavioral needs that require specially trained foster parents. Additionally, results showed that Black children were overrepresented among children who remained in substitute care for 60 months or more during the reporting period.

Disproportionate representation of Black children in the child welfare system is recognized as a national problem, yet few interventions have been developed and evaluated to address it. CFRC’s report provides systematic data of these disparities in Illinois and concludes that thoughtful, rigorous evaluation of potential interventions should be developed in collaboration with impacted families and organizational staff.

Read the Racial Disproportionality in the Illinois Child Welfare System: FY2022 Report in Response to HB2914 online at: https://go.illinois.edu/FY22_RacialDisproportionalityinCWS

Research Team:

Tamara Fuller, PhD, Satomi Wakita, PhD, Kyle A. Adams III, M.S., Martin Nieto, M.A., Stacey L. Shipe, PhD, Shufen Wang, PhD, Yu-Ling Chiu, PhD