Racial disparity in Minnesota's child protection system

Erik P Johnson1, Sonja Clark, Matthew Donald

  • 1Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-3091, USA. erikpaul@onvoymail.com

Child Welfare
|October 24, 2007
PubMed

Minnesota has been recognized by several studies as a state with a significant amount of racial disparity in its child protection system. This study, using 2001 data from Minnesota's Social Services Information Service, was conducted to determine at which of the six decision points in Minnesota's child welfare system racial disparities are statistically significant. The authors employ a nested model to examine a child's journey through the Minnesota child protection system. Using binary logistic regression, they are able to determine the odds that a child belonging to a particular racial or ethnic group would progress to the next decision point.

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