A Longitudinal Jurisdictional Study of Black Children Reported to Child Protection Services in Quebec, Canada

The authors examine the rates of disparity in the overrepresentation faced by Black children, especially Black Anglophone children in Montreal, receiving child protection services in Quebec. They used secondary longitudinal clinical-administrative data provided by a child protection agency in Quebec for a subsample of Black, White, and other visible minority children over a ten-year span. The authors calculate rates per 1000, a population disparity index (PDI), and a decision-based index (DDI) to determine representation by ethno-racial group across decision-points within the child protection system. Their results reveal that while representing nine percent of the general population in 2011, Black children represented twenty-four percent of children receiving child protection services for the corresponding year. They found that when compared to White children, Black children’s protection reports were five times more likely to be screened in, substantiated, and brought to court. Black children were also five times more likely than White children to enter out-of-home placement. In contrast, they found that other visible minority child protection reports were approximately two times more likely to be screened in than White children protection reports, after which, other visible minority rates of disparity gradually decreased across decision points. The authors conclude that these findings demonstrate the need for a jurisdictional analysis when conducting research on service disparities and support an argument for disproportionate need as a factor affecting disparate outcomes.

Children and Youth Services Review

Vol. 116

13 pages

September 2020

en