Child Maltreatment Reporting by Educational Personnel: Implications for Racial Disproportionality in the Child Welfare System

krase, kathryn suzanne;

African American children are disproportionally overrepresented in the U.S. child protection system. Because educational personnel are a significant source of reports of suspected child maltreatment across the country and in all states, the present study examines the impact
of these reports on racial disproportionality and disparity at the national, state, and local levels, with an examination of New York State specifically. Geographic information systems technology is used to report differences in county-level experiences through maps. This
study’s findings highlight that racial disproportionality and disparity in reporting by educational personnel exist at the national level and significantly differ within a state. These findings demand that efforts to address racially disproportionate and disparate reporting should
be tailored to local experiences, and highlight the importance of involvement of school personnel, including school social workers, in these efforts.