Although much is written about racial disparity in maltreatment rates and admission to out-of-home care, the phenomenon is still not well understood. Defining problems is a critical action step because so much of what happens next is dependent on how well the problem is defined in the first instance. A great deal of important work has already been done. Nevertheless, a great deal more effort needs to be spent addressing a handful of fundamental research questions (and their policy and practice implications) before we can reasonably expect to make progress on such a deep and important problem. This report explores the issue of disparity and the reasons for investing more in understanding it.