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Black children make up 15 percent of the U.S. population but account for 41 percent of children in foster care

Black children in the Houston area are three times more likely to be removed from their homes and placed in the foster care system than children in white or Hispanic families, according to data obtained by the Houston Chronicle. Statewide, blacks are more than twice as likely to end up in the child welfare system, though experts say national data show that black parents are no more likely to abuse their children. "These numbers are staggering," said counselor Greg Baines, who belongs to a group that has picketed Child Protective Services and family courts demanding answers. "The system is a predator, and it preys upon those individuals who can least defend themselves." CPS officials are hard-pressed to explain the disproportionate numbers, though they have begun looking for answers. "We're looking at the data, and we are trying to assess what it is saying to us," said Joyce James, the state's assistant commissioner for CPS. "We know we have an over-representation of African-American children already in our system, and we are trying to determine why that is and what we can do." Last year, blacks statewide made up 12.6 percent of the youth population but 26 percent of the children removed from their homes by CPS. In the Houston area, blacks were 17.9 percent of the population and 40.2 percent of those taken into CPS custody. About three-fourths of the children were placed in foster care; the rest went with approved relatives under state supervision. According to the Casey Family Programs in Seattle, all but a few states have a disproportionate number of blacks in foster care. According to the foundation, black children make up 15 percent of the U.S. population but account for 41 percent of children in foster care. [more]