Major and Classification
Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Faculty Mentor
Jacquelyn Mc Croskey
Department
Dworak-Peck School of Social Work
Research Gateway Project
“Democratic Disparities: A Population Based Examination of Risk Factors for Involvement with Child Welfare Services and Probation”
Project Abstract
Children who are involved with the child welfare system are more likely to become involved with the delinquency system in the future. Previous research indicates that among youth on probation, Black youth, especially Black girls, are overrepresented in dual system involvement. The purpose of this research study is to examine the demographic disparities that exist in dual system involvement and provide information that may aid in policy and program development to reduce the ‘foster care to prison’ pipeline. Linked administrative data including the full universe of Birth 2017 records, Child Welfare Services/Case Management System (CWS/CMS) 2017 records, Juvenile Court Activity Tracking System (JCATS) 2017-2018 records, and Crossover Advocacy and Resource Effort (CARE) 2017-2018 clients were used to conduct a chi-squared analysis. The results illustrated an overrepresentation of Black youths in CWS/CMS (13.66%), JCATS (16.39%), and CARE (36.70%). Greater demographic disparities and inequities were observed as the youth became more involved with different systems. Understanding the demographic disparities within each system involvement is critical to the development of effective service interventions.