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Addressing Bias, Privilege and Race in Child Welfare

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“However Kindly Intentioned” �Article discussion

In small groups, discuss the following topics:
Why do you believe the author chose to single out CASA versus all the other parties/professionals in the child welfare system?

How is it possible that the dependency system on the whole produces unintended disproportional results (particularly for African American and Native American families) even though none of the individuals/organizations mean to do so?

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Privilege

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Implicit Bias

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Tools for addressing implicit bias

Disproportionality Card

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The Indian Child Welfare Act

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The Indian Child Welfare Act

Ask EVERYONE in the family if they know of any Native American ancestry from the very moment you are appointed to the case.�
If there is any mention of Native American ancestry (ANY “reason to know”), inform the social worker immediately so that s/he can begin working that aspect of the case. �
And keep reminding them to follow up. This is a great example of active efforts vs reasonable efforts at the advocate level (“I told the social worker” vs “I told them and kept following up!”) �
Reasonable efforts versus active efforts.��
ICWA is government to government agreement, not based on race, because. . .

Tribe determines who is eligible for enrollment, and those rules can change over time.
Tribe can intervene at any point in the case; they can also take jurisdiction…it’s up to them.

Virtually all tribes will not terminate parental rights. �
Tribe has placement preference that must be followed. �
If ICWA isn’t followed, disrupted adoptions, even after years have passed… �
If folks are interested in getting more education: ICWA institute we hold every year!

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LGBTQ+

WHAT DOES "LGBTQIA+" STAND FOR EXACTLY?
If you're just learning about sexuality, gender, and all these other things, they can be a little hard to remember. This acronym not only serves as a symbol of our movement for rights, but even as a memory tool for those who need a little help.
L - Lesbian. Lesbian is a term used to refer to homosexual females.�G - Gay. Gay is a term used to refer to homosexuality, a homosexual person, or a homosexual male.�B - Bisexual. Bisexual is when a person is attracted to two sexes/genders.�T - Trans. Trans is an umbrella term for transgender and transsexual people.�Q - Queer/Questioning. Queer is an umbrella term for all of those who are not heterosexual and/or cisgender. Questioning is when a person isn't 100% sure of their sexual orientation and/or gender, and are trying to find their true identity.�I - Intersex. Intersex is when a person has an indeterminate mix of primary and secondary sex characteristics.�A - Asexuality. Asexuality is when a person experiences no (or little, if referring to demisexuality or grey-sexuality) sexual attraction to people.�+ - The "+" symbol simply stands for all of the other sexualities, sexes, and genders that aren't included in these few letters.��SOGIE – Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression

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LGBTQ+

�In Washington State, 1 out of 5 high school seniors identify as something other than straight.
(https://www.askhys.net/FactSheets)
�Nearly 30% of LGBTQ youth had attempted suicide at least once in the prior year. �This compares to 6% of non-LGBTQ youth.*
Across 24 states, the prevalence of not having gone to school because of safety concerns ranged from 3.5% to 7.2% (median: 5.0%) among heterosexual students; from 6.5% to 23.6% (median: 13.8%) among gay, lesbian, and bisexual students*��* https://www.cdc.gov/lgbthealth/youth.htm

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LGBTQ+

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