Colorado also uses what experts consider the worst form of substitute
care – group homes and institutions – at a rate 33% above the national average,
while using the least harmful form of foster care, kinship foster care, at a
rate 30% below the national average, according to the National Coalition
for Child Protection Reform.
NCCPR found that Colorado counties take away Hispanic children at a rate 20%
above their rate in the state child population.
They take Native American children at a rate 50% above their rate in the
general population (a figure that can vary from year to year due to the
relatively low number of Native American children in Colorado.) And they take
away Black children at a rate nearly triple their rate in the state
child population.
In addition to the report, NCCPR released a Colorado Rate-of-Removal
Index comparing the propensity of Colorado’s largest counties to take away
children.
“The name Colorado uses for its child welfare database is sadly
appropriate for the system itself,” said NCCPR Executive Director Richard
Wexler. “When it comes to child welfare,
Colorado trails.”
Wexler was joined by Maleeka Jihad, founder of Colorado’s leading family
advocacy organization, the MJCF Coalition.
