Racial/Ethnic disproportionality in Child Protective Services (CPS) has recently received much attention in research, policy, and political circles. This presentation will review current claims being made about racial/ethnic disproportionality in CPS and will ask the question, “How can Big Data be used to assess the accuracy of these claims?”
We will first examine differences in the rates at which CPS investigates Black, Hispanic, and White children. We will then look at differences in how these groups move through the CPS system, from investigation to substantiation to placement. Throughout the presentation, we will focus on the data sources used to introduce the concept of “Big Data” and how it can be used to support policy and practice.
The Brieland Visiting Scholar series honors the late Donald Brieland, a leader in child welfare and social work and the law, who served as Dean of the School of Social Work from 1975-1981. The series is supported by an endowment created by Dean Brieland and his family to advance scholarly discussion in social work and social welfare. The goal of bringing a guest scholar to our community is to cultivate an exciting intellectual climate and new ways of thinking about critical social work and child welfare issues.
