view in browser

Racial inequity is a persistent issue within child welfare — one shaped by long-standing historical and structural forces, and reflected in present-day outcomes for children and families. When inequities go unexamined, they influence who enters care, how children experience the system, and what opportunities for stability and belonging are possible.


As Black History Month invites reflection on how history continues to shape today’s systems, this month’s Step Up for Kansas Kids newsletter focuses on understanding those inequities and why addressing them matters. We begin with two new stories from Douglas County CASA that look closely at local data and practice, examining racial disparities among children served and how CASA is working to move from awareness to accountability and action.


We’re also featuring the Kansas Racial Equity Collaborative, an organization helping communities across the state translate historical understanding, real-time data, and cross-system collaboration into more equitable outcomes for children and families. Together, these perspectives highlight why meaningful change requires both honest examination and coordinated, solutions-oriented effort.

Check out the latest news & updates from Step Up:

Looking at the Data: Understanding Racial Disparities in Douglas County’s Child Welfare System

This article examines local data showing how children of color are disproportionately involved in the child welfare system compared to their representation in the community. It explores what those disparities reveal about equity, representation, and responsibility, and how CASA is working to reduce barriers, strengthen partnerships, and support thoughtful, culturally responsive advocacy.

Black History Month: Advancing Equity for Black Children in Douglas County’s Child Welfare System

In this reflection for Black History Month, Douglas County CASA looks beyond the numbers to examine the historical and systemic forces shaping today’s child welfare outcomes. The piece highlights practical strategies — including family-centered decision-making, racial equity tools, and community partnerships — that are helping move the system from awareness toward accountability and action.

Racial Equity Collaborative

The patterns discussed above don’t exist in isolation. They reflect statewide and national systems that shape how families experience child welfare.


The Racial Equity Collaborative (REC), a statewide initiative with the University of Kansas, brings together community members, service providers, and advocates to address these disparities through shared learning, policy and practice changes, and tools that promote more equitable outcomes. By focusing on education, partnership, and real-time data, REC helps Kansas communities identify barriers, build trust, and strengthen systems so families of color can access support earlier and experience greater safety, stability, and belonging.

The following two pieces by Shanelle Dupree, executive director of the Racial Equity Collaborative, offer further insight into how history, community input, and data-informed actions shape efforts for racial equity in Kansas child welfare:


• From Reflection to Action: How Black History Month Is Shaping Racial Equity and Foster Care in Kansas | Black History Month is a lens to understand how the past continues to influence today’s foster care system and why that context matters for change. Dupree discusses the learning journey that led to REC’s formation and highlights SOUL Family, a new permanency option designed to ensure young people leaving foster care maintain lifelong connections and support.
  
• Understanding Before Action: Why History and Data Matter for Racial Equity | Achieving equitable change requires more than good intentions; it needs a clear understanding of how families have been treated historically and what communities experience now. Dupree explains why REC combines historical context with practical, public-facing data tools like the Raising Engagement Data (RED) Dashboard to help communities identify vulnerabilities and take earlier, more effective actions.

This Month's Easy Wins

The Racial Equity Collaborative’s work shows what’s possible when communities pair honest data with collective action, and it offers meaningful ways for all of us to participate:


• Explore the Raising Engagement Data (RED) Dashboard — a public, real-time tool designed to make child welfare and community well-being data practical and accessible for everyday advocates. A Spanish-language version is also available. 
  
• Join the Racial Equity Collaborative’s RED Dashboard training and focus group on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. This session will teach you how to navigate the dashboard, use data for community-level planning and advocacy, and provide feedback to improve the tool. Participants who attend the full session and offer feedback will receive a stipend. 
  
• Get involved with SOUL Family by joining the SOUL Family Collective newsletter. This newsletter offers invitations, updates, and resources as communities work to build lifelong connections and stability for young people leaving foster care. To join, email kharsch@childally.org. 
  
• Sign up for the Racial Equity Collaborative’s periodic newsletter for updates, insights, and opportunities to take action toward equity, justice, and belonging in Kansas’s social service systems.

Additional Information on Racial (In)Equity

• Disproportionality, Disparities, and Inequities in Kansas Child Welfare (Racial Equity Collaborative) | This slide deck from the 2024 Kansas Child Welfare Summit illustrates how racial disproportionality appears at multiple decision points in Kansas’s child welfare system. These include removals, kin placements, placement stability, reunification, and aging out. It also provides definitions and practical prompts to advance racial equity across agencies and courts.
  
• However Kindly Intentioned: Structural Racism and Volunteer CASA Programs (Douglas County CASA) | This is a discussion-friendly summary of a CUNY Law Review article by Amy Mulzer and Tara Urs. It explores how race, poverty, and power dynamics influence volunteer advocacy and court outcomes. The summary offers reflection questions for CASA volunteers and programs to reduce bias and promote equitable practices.
  
• Racial (In)Justice in the U.S. Child Welfare System (Children’s Rights) | This submission to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, dated July 2022, documents how U.S. child welfare policies and practices disproportionately harm Black children. It highlights issues related to poverty-based neglect laws and extensive family surveillance and offers policy recommendations to reduce removals and prioritize family integrity.