African American and white child welfare workers' attitudes towards policies involving race and sexual orientation

Abstract

This article reports findings from a study of attitudes of 259 African American and White child welfare workers. They were asked about their views of the role of race in child welfare decisions and about the appropriateness of placement of children with gay and lesbian and single foster/adoptive parents. African American child welfare workers were more likely that White workers to believe that race should be considered both in general and in placement decisions. Both African American and White conservative leaning workers are more likely to disagree with the placement of children in gay/lesbian households. African American workers were more likely to agree with a placement of children in a single parent family.