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When children are removed from their homes because of neglect or abuse, the goal of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is to return them to a loving, safe, stable, and permanent home as soon as possible. Ideally, children are reunified with their parents, but when this cannot be done safely, the alternatives are often adoption or guardianship. Unfortunately, the most recent statistics show that 48.1% of children and youth who entered substitute care in Illinois in 2019 were not placed in a permanent home within three years. The difficulty of placing children in permanent homes is worse for Black children in substitute care. More White children entering substitute care in Illinois in 2019 reached a permanent home within three years (56.6%) than Black children (45.7%).
This webinar shares findings from a recent study that used both interviews and surveys to capture the perceptions of caregivers of Black children and permanency professionals on the role of race in permanency practices. Participants shared how factors like inequitable treatment, implicit bias, deficiencies in cultural competency, and structural racism impact permanency for Black youth in Illinois.
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