Chapin Hall

Strengthening Black Families, Preventing Child Welfare Involvement: A Chapin Hall Literature Review

Black children and families are persistently overrepresented in the U.S. child welfare system, and the harms of unnecessary family separation are well documented. This Chapin Hall literature review synthesizes evidence on culturally responsive interventions, approaches, and programs to strengthen African American families and prevent unnecessary child welfare involvement. A clear theme emerges: Strengthening Black families calls for an array of supports spanning economic, concrete, relational, and cultural needs.

Note: The terms “Black” and “African American” are used interchangeably throughout this report, which aligns with the U.S. Census Bureau’s classification of this population. Using these terms interchangeably also acknowledges that not all individuals who identify as African American also identify as Black, and vice versa. We also acknowledge that other ethnic and cultural identities might not be included within the terminology of Black and African American, such as Afro-Caribbean and Afro-Latine.

What We Did

We conducted a literature review that identified U.S. interventions described in studies since 1978 that center culturally appropriate strategies to prevent child maltreatment and child welfare involvement among Black families. Efforts were made to include articles and reports prioritizing the work and voices of authors of color and diverse research teams. Of roughly 300 records, 54 informed the findings, drawn from rigorous study designs, reports, evaluations, and grey literature.

What We Found

The findings of our review are organized into the following four domains:

• Economic and concrete supports: A body of evidence shows that income supports, housing assistance, eviction prevention, flexible funds to meet concrete needs, and child care reduce risk for maltreatment and child welfare involvement.
• Family engagement and preservation: Collaborative, strengths-based approaches that involve families in decisions help support safety, permanency, and stability for African American families.
• Culturally responsive services: Programs work best when the communities they serve shape and affirm them, and when they are located within these communities rather than requiring families to travel to centralized offices.
• Child welfare practice: Cultural competency training for case workers, analysis of data disaggregated by race and ethnicity, and careful use of predictive risk models show promise for reducing bias and oversurveillance of Black families.

What It Means

This literature review presents a comprehensive array of best practices and promising strategies to enhance the well-being of African American families, promote culturally affirming child welfare practices, and prevent unnecessary family separation. However, further work is needed to examine, refine, and expand these strategies in partnership with the communities and families they are intended to support.

Recommendations include:

• Invest in income supports, flexible funds, housing, and child care as essential prevention strategies and streamline access to public benefits
• Prioritize relational repair and trust building, partnering with trusted community leaders and organizations
• Invest in culturally responsive, community-based supports codesigned with and for Black families
• Strengthen family preservation and kinship practices that look to kin first, expand kinship navigation services and supports, and promote sibling preservation
• Build governance and quality improvement approaches that prioritize equity and elevate lived expertise

Read the literature review