Support BIPOC youth

How we can support BIPOC youth

Black, Indigenous, and youth of color (BIPOC) are overrepresented in the foster care system and face barriers to permanency that are unique to their experience. They need adults who will prioritize the importance of their race and culture and give them opportunities for self-advocacy.

Talk about cultural connections

Every youth deserves to stay closely connected to their cultural community and to know their community of origin. BIPOC youth in foster care often experience additional layers of loss and trauma when their race and culture aren't preserved or prioritized. Give youth the chance to express what cultural connection and support could look like for them in a future home. Not every youth may have words to put to these feelings yet, or desire to talk about them with you, and that’s ok. Some may have strong feelings about only being placed with a family that matches their ethnicity or culture. No matter what, youth deserve to engage in this discussion and evaluate a family’s fit based on what is most important to them.

Let youth share in their own words

A youth’s race and culture are fundamental to who they are. Adolescence is a stage of life when youth are growing rapidly in their understanding of their identities. As their caseworker, you can offer youth a platform to share about the importance of their racial identity and/or cultural needs in a home—and let their desires help guide the search for a permanent home. This could be done in one-on-one conversation together, or by allowing youth to write or record a statement to be shared with any future home being considered. If a youth has questions about their identity and culture, connect them with people or resources that satisfy their desire to learn. Not every youth will gravitate towards these opportunities but it’s important to regularly offer them as youth develop their sense of self. 

Brittney shares her perspective on how workers can support engagement for BIPOC youth.

Understand their experience

Every youth in foster care is unique and living their own story. For BIPOC youth, their experience can be generalized by the bias of adults, who struggle to see them as individuals. Building new relationships with BIPOC youth should always begin with a blank slate. Take the time to get to know them and better understand their unique experience, so any biases or assumptions are less likely to cloud your interactions. Not every youth articulates their identity in the same way or has the same openness about it with adults. Even if you have experience working with BIPOC youth, every youth is going to need or prioritize different things in their future home. Recognize that a youth’s racial and cultural identity is core to who they are, but they need adults to know them as individuals.

Recognize the systemic barriers youth face

Any engagement with BIPOC youth has to be grounded in the reality that they are overrepresented in the foster care system and face unique barriers to permanency. BIPOC youth are less likely to exit foster care to a permanent family setting, with black youth in particular averaging longer stays in care and finding adoptive families less often than their non-BIPOC peers, according to a recent analysis published in the Journal of Public Welfare. Furthermore, the discriminatory history of U.S. government programs, including the child welfare system, can weigh heavily on both youth and families and cause reasonable distrust in both the system and the adults working in it. Youth need the adults around them to educate themselves on these disparities and bring that perspective to the work of finding permanency together. Pursuing equity for BIPOC youth requires prioritizing strategies and efforts that actively work to undo the status quo.