Civil Rights Committee Highlights Widespread Discrimination Against Black Families In New York’s Child Welfare System

New York’s child welfare policies on mandatory reporting, investigation, and removal practices cause substantial immediate and long-term discrimination against Black families and their communities. Black families are overrepresented at every stage of the state’s child welfare process, according to a review of the state’s child welfare system by the New York Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

The committee noted that its analysis found evidence of systemic racism in the state’s child welfare system, and that the state’s practices prioritize cultural practices often embodied in White families over cultural practices . . .