Ethnic/racial matching of clients and social workers in public child welfare

Although considerable debate exists throughout the human-service literature regarding the potential benefits and limitations associated with ethnic/racial matching of clients and workers, there are few studies that examine the prevalence of this practice with large representative samples. This study...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Children and youth services review 2004-10, Vol.26 (10), p.965-979
Main Authors: Perry, Robin, Limb, Gordon E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
California
Child welfare
Child Welfare Services
Client Characteristics
Client Relations
Ethnic Groups
Ethnic minorities
Same race
Social worker-Client relationships
Social Workers
USA
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Summary:Although considerable debate exists throughout the human-service literature regarding the potential benefits and limitations associated with ethnic/racial matching of clients and workers, there are few studies that examine the prevalence of this practice with large representative samples. This study utilizes a secondary analysis of data collected from 4813 public-child-welfare workers throughout California. Using census data to control for county-specific population demographics, American-Indian, Hispanic/Latino(a), Caucasian, and Asian-American child-welfare workers are more than two times more likely to have caseloads with a high percentage of clients who match their race/ethnicity than workers self-identified as another race/ethnicity. African-American workers are 1.28 times more likely than other workers to have a caseload with a high proportion of African Americans. Findings suggest that the observed difference in likelihood of ethnic/racial matching with African-American workers compared with other ethnic groups is explained by an over representation of African Americans on public-child-welfare caseloads and/or under-representation of African Americans as public-child-welfare staff.
ISSN:0190-7409
1873-7765
DOI:10.1016/j.childyouth.2004.05.001