Orlando Sentinel: Racial bias in foster care must be addressed

Providers of community-based foster care in Florida are focusing on racial inequities in the child welfare system and working to create a fairer system of care. A new program called Embrace Diversity, developed by Embrace Families in Orlando, is training child welfare workers to recognize bias in policies and decision-making, and it’s prompting foster care partners to do the same across the country.

Michael Bryant, chief operating officer at Embrace Families, is drawing attention to the problem and the need for Embrace Diversity. In a recent Op-Ed, Bryant spotlights alarming statistics that show Black/African American people are more than twice as likely to be investigated over reports of abuse compared to a white family.

Bryant asks the question that should be at the heart of efforts to eliminate racial bias in child welfare: “As humans, how can we appropriately, compassionately and fairly resolve this issue?”

Read what he proposes in this column in the Orlando Sentinel: Read More