Keywords

child welfare, public welfare, American Indian, Native American

Abstract

Historically, American Indians have been disproportionately represented in public child welfare services. This article reports findings from a survey of all public child welfare workers in California (N= 5,741) in 1998. A descriptive profile of American Indian clients (where they reside and who works with them) and American Indian child welfare workers ( n= 1 71) is detailed. Attempts are made to identify counties with a disproportionately high number of American Indians represented on public child welfare caseloads and to estimate the probability that an American Indian worker would have a higher proportion of American Indians on his or her caseload. Results show that American Indian workers are significantly more likely than any other racial/ethnic group to have a high proportion of American Indians on their caseload.

Original Publication Citation

Limb, G., & Perry, R. (2003). Public child welfare and the American Indian: A California profile. Children and Youth Services Review, 25(10), 823-841.