Anti-Black racism in Ontario child welfare
Like other Canadian institutions, child welfare has evolved within a historical context of anti-Black racism.
Anti-Black racism has been woven into the fabric of child welfare. The result is oppressive policies, biased discretionary practice, and a lack of appropriate and culturally safe service responses by child welfare professionals when working with African Canadian children, youth, and families – all of which contributes to long-standing disproportionalities and disparities for African Canadian communities.
In the child welfare context, disproportionality is commonly understood as the overrepresentation of certain groups in child welfare relative to their proportion in the general population. In 2018, a report by the Ontario Human Rights Commission found the proportion of African Canadian children admitted into care to be 2.2 times higher than their proportion in the child population.
In the child welfare context, disparity refers to how certain groups experience child welfare relative to other groups. Disparities can manifest in various ways, including within decision-making stages as more intrusive forms of interventions; higher rates of disproportionality; less access to appropriate services; and poorer outcomes. Issues in Ontario reflect the issues raised by African Americans throughout the United States, with children more likely to be referred to a Children's Aid Society by educators, police, and medical professionals; more likely to be removed from their homes; less likely to be returned to their families; and more likely to grow up in foster care without being adopted or finding another permanent home. According to an information sheet based on OIS-2013 data, in comparison to white children, African Canadian children in Ontario are 40% more likely to be investigated, 18% more likely to be substantiated, 8% more likely to be transferred to ongoing services, and 13% more likely to be placed in out-of-home care during the investigation.
Resources
- Understanding the Over-Representation of Black Children in Ontario Child Welfare Services [2022]These analyses present data from the Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect 2018 (OIS-2018). The report describes maltreatment-related investigations conducted in Ontario in 2018 that involved Black children and compares these investigations to those involving white children. The report was prepared by the OIS-2018 Research Team at the request of One Vision One Voice.
- One Vision One Voice: Changing the Ontario child welfare system to better serve African Canadians – Practice framework part 1 [2016]Part one of a practice framework which calls for sweeping reforms to the Ontario child welfare system to address systemic racism and to reduce the overrepresentation of African Canadian children in care. Part one includes a literature review looking at the systemic forces that bring families of African descent into contact with child welfare
- HairStory: Rooted – A firm foundation for the future of Black youth in Ontario's systems of care [2019]This report traces the evolution of the HairStory initiative and the working partnership between the Ontario Child Advocate and Black/African Canadian youth in Ontario’s systems of care. The bulk of the report is a summary of the recommendations made by over 130 youth to improve systems – including child welfare, mental health, and youth justice – and to make services more relevant and effective for Black youth in all their diversity
- Interrupted childhoods: Over-representation of Indigenous and Black children in Ontario child welfare [2018]This report from the Ontario Human Rights Commission outlines findings from a public interest inquiry which found that there are significant inconsistences and gaps in the race-based data collected by Children's Aid Societies, and that Indigenous and African Canadian children are overrepresented in Ontario's child welfare system
- Under suspicion: Concerns about child welfare [2017]Overview of child welfare–specific findings from the Ontario Human Rights Commission's research into racial profiling in Ontario
- Child maltreatment-related service decisions by ethno-racial categories in Ontario in 2013 [2015]This information sheet uses data from the 2013 Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect to examine ethno-racial disproportionality and disparities in child welfare investigation and service decisions
- Race matters in the child welfare system [2015]Infographic summarizing some of the research into racial disproportionality and disparities in the child welfare system
- Factors associated with racial differences in child welfare investigative decision-making in Ontario, Canada [2018]Webinar recording from PART. Note: login required to access PART resources; however, a summary of the research is freely available from the Canadian Child Welfare Research Portal here
- Addressing disproportionality, disparity and discrimination in child welfare [2015]Publication from the Children's Aid Society of Toronto reporting on data related to Black African Caribbean Canadian families and children
- White privilege in child welfare: What racism looks like [2020]Article about white supremacy and anti-Black raicsm in child welfare and the need to deconstruct child welfare
- Pathways and prevention of African-Canadian disproportionalities and disparities in the child welfare system [2015]Position paper from the Black Community Action Network of Peel
- Black Boys Across the African Diaspora: Child Welfare Considerations and Practice Implications [2021]This PARTicle explores research related to Black boys involved in the child welfare system. This report will review concepts relevant to anti-racism work, critical race theoretical lenses and community engagement led by the African diaspora within the Canadian context. Note: Membership and login to PART is required.
