Working Paper: NBER ID: w31490
Authors: E. Jason Baron; Joseph J. Doyle Jr.; Natalia Emanuel; Peter Hull; Joseph P. Ryan
Abstract: We develop empirical tools for studying discrimination in multi-phase systems, and apply them to the setting of foster care placement by child protective services. Leveraging the quasi-random assignment of two sets of decision-makers—initial hotline call screeners and subsequent investigators—we study how unwarranted racial disparities arise and propagate through this system. Using a sample of over 200,000 maltreatment allegations, we find that calls involving Black children are 55% more likely to result in foster care placement than calls involving white children with the same potential for future maltreatment in the home. Call screeners account for up to 19% of this unwarranted disparity, with the remainder due to investigators. Unwarranted disparity is concentrated in cases with potential for future maltreatment, suggesting that white children may be harmed by “under-placement” in high-risk situations.
Keywords: racial discrimination; child protection; foster care; maltreatment; quasi-experimental analysis
JEL Codes: C26; I31; J13; J15
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| race (J15) | placement decisions made by CPS investigators (J68) |
| maltreatment potential (I12) | placement decisions made by CPS investigators (J68) |
| decisions of white investigators (K40) | racial disparity in foster care placements (I24) |
| maltreatment potential (I12) | placement rates of black and white children (J79) |
| screeners and investigators (L84) | unwarranted disparities in foster care placements (I24) |
| leniency towards white parents by white investigators (I24) | underplacement of white children in high-risk situations (I24) |