Understanding Black-White Disparities in Illinois Child Welfare: A Socioeconomic Explanation

Abstract

This study examined racial and ethnic disparities in child maltreatment reporting, Child Protective Services (CPS) decision-making, re-involvement, and foster care experiences in Illinois. Using tract-level regressions for all 2021 census tracts and individual-level logistic regressions for 153,850 reported children and 6,736 foster care entrants, we assessed key decision points. The Black-White disparity in report rates—nearly twofold unadjusted—was fully explained by neighborhood poverty and single-parent family rates, providing no empirical support for racially biased reporting. Latino children had consistently lower report rates than White children despite higher socioeconomic disadvantage, replicating the “Latino paradox.” Among reported children, Black and other-race children generally had equal or lower odds than White children of substantiation, Intact Family Services (IFS), foster care placement, or re-involvement; Latino children showed slightly higher odds for substantiation and IFS. In foster care, non-White children were more likely to experience frequent placement disruptions and, for Black children, non-kin placements, but had no worse outcomes for distant placement, termination of parental rights, or permanency. Findings indicate disparities are front-loaded at the reporting stage, largely reflecting structural socioeconomic inequities rather than differential CPS treatment, underscoring the need for upstream poverty reduction and family support to advance child welfare equity.