Contextualizing radical care in Black youth's psychosocial development

This article aims to elucidate the barriers to mental health care for Black youth by providing the perspectives of youth, caregivers, and service providers. Given the significance of service provision, analysis is focused on accessing the mental health care system at the organizational and practitioner levels. The present study explored the barriers and facilitators to mental health care for Black children and youth in Canada. The results of this article draw from a larger study that aimed to explore the barriers and facilitators to mental health care for Black children and youth in Canada. A reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify themes, which were analysed through a critical race theory lens. Participants noted numerous challenges related to accessing care, many of which they attributed to anti-Black racism (ABR). At the practitioner level, stigma and racism from providers, a lack of cultural awareness, and non-Black workers unable to assist Black youth were major themes. At the organizational level, three core themes emerged: Organizations not committing to cultural responsiveness, a lack of Black professionals, and a lack of agencies specifically for Black youth. To increase access to care, organizations must address ABR by making actionable commitments to anti-racist efforts, increasing culturally responsive programming, and addressing ABR for Black employees. Practitioners need to take a flexible, individualised care approach that rejects assumptions and stereotypes and allows clients to lead with their experiences. This study is among the first to explore ABR and access to mental health care for Black youth in Canada. Research suggests that Black youth in Canada are at greater risk of developing mental illness than their counterparts, and access to safe and effective mental health care is necessary to address these challenges. This article provides an overview of current obstacles to providing care to Black youth. Barriers at the organizational and practitioner levels related to anti-Black racism hindered adequate access to care which requires actionable commitments to rectify.

When home reminds me of jail: The carceral nature of out-of-home care for Black youth in Ontario’s child welfare system

ABSTRACT: This essay considers the historical and current relationship between the child welfare system and Black families and its effect on the lives of Black children, with a focus on the minimal attention that is given to their racial, ethnic, and cultural needs once placed in foster care. It explores the importance of understanding how Black foster youth navigate the experiences of racial socialization and ethnic identity. This essay specifically focuses on Black girls and through a sociohistorical overview of the importance of Black hair in America, I address the connection between socialization and hair and haircare perceptions and experiences of Black foster girls. Based on critical analysis of research that highlights the potential for unfavorable outcomes, I address the level of responsibility that the child welfare system has to Black youth and emphasize that prioritizing the cultural needs of Black youth is paramount to the development of a healthy sense of self. Finally, I call for the child welfare system to consider multiple perspectives and engage in multiple dialogues when considering how to best support Black youth in care and provide supportive conditions for them to thrive.

Black youth have consistently reported that when they are transitioning from out-of-home care (OOHC) into independence, they are not supported or included in decision-making, and they feel isolated and vulnerable as they face an uncertain future. Previous research has documented the ways in which Black youths’ experiences in care are characterized by unpredictability and loss, but then care ends—and they continue to struggle. For Black youth in care, this transition can be exceptionally difficult as they are contending with the additional strain of doing so within the child welfare system and larger social context characterized by a loss of community and the persistence of anti-Black racism. Presently, there are no empirical studies in Ontario that investigate Black youth’s narratives transitioning from OOHC; this manuscript seeks to fill this gap in knowledge. Employing Adultification and Anti-Black Racism Theory as theoretical frameworks, this qualitative study investigated the narratives of 27 Black youth with lived experiences navigating OOHC in Ontario’s child welfare system. This study utilized narrative inquiry as a methodological approach. Three main narratives were identified: (1) the need for finances and a financial literacy; (2) narratives of aging out and (3) the challenges of navigating funding. To better support Black youth in their transition out of care and in independent living, recommendations for policy and practice include earlier transitional support, ensuring youth have a practical understanding of financial literacy, and educating youth about resources and their rights.

There is evidence to suggest that Black children and youth in Canada face disproportionate challenges in accessing mental healthcare. Thus, the objective of this scoping review was to map current literature on the barriers and facilitators to care for Black youth in Canada. Both academic articles and gray literature published between January 2005 until May 2019 were reviewed. Six databases were searched for relevant academic articles: CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed, EBSCOhost, Social Science Citation Index, and Applied Social Sciences Index & s. Gray literature was sourced from community recommendations and Google. Thirty-three (33) sources met the inclusion criteria. Data were coded and analyzed using a thematic analysis framework. Barriers to care for Black youth were identified and occurred at multiple levels of society including systemic (i.e., wait times, poor access to practitioners, geographical challenges and financial barriers to care), practitioner-related (i.e., racism and discrimination from providers, the inability to provide culturally competent care and a lack of organizational support) and personal and community-related barriers (i.e., internalized stigma and stigma from community). Support from family and friends, as well as a good relationship with providers, were noted as facilitators. The findings of this review suggest that Black children and youth face many barriers to accessing the Canadian mental healthcare system despite its purported universality. An increase in funding, expansion of the universal healthcare system to include mental health, and concerted effort on delivering culturally competent care are requisite to facilitate access to care for this population. Further research should focus on Black youth, be rooted in community-based research, and explore intersecting identities in the context of mental illness.

Little evidence is available to provide context for understanding the experiences of parents and youth from historically marginalized groups as they age into adulthood, especially in regard to the transition experiences of Black autistic transition-age youth and their family members. This commentary builds upon recent publications that inform intersectional understandings of Black autistic experiences in America, and outlines research recommendations to better address the specific needs of Black autistic transition-age youth. Given the noted deficits in transition research and the transition process in regard to the experiences of Black autistic youth, we provide recommendations for improving autism transition research. We propose changes that are necessary to achieve equitable research processes, which could inform the design of targeted interventions to improve transition experiences for Black autistic youth.

The child welfare system has a responsibility for maintaining young people’s safety and permanency when they are taken from their guardians. Many young people living in out-of-home care (OOHC) experience placement instability, which can negatively impact their development. The overrepresentation of Black families in the child welfare system has also been a longstanding issue across North America, where Black families are more likely to be involved with the child welfare system, receive poorer quality of placements, remain in care longer, and are less likely to reunify with their families. Given the known negative impacts of placement instability and the disparities experienced by Black families, these concerns may be more urgent for Black youth in care. This article shares the findings from a qualitative narrative analysis conducted on 27 interviews with Black Caribbean youth who have lived experiences navigating OOHC in Ontario’s child welfare system. Utilizing Critical Race Theory and Anti-Black Racism Theory as theoretical frameworks, three main narratives were identified: (1) difficult behaviors during placement transitions; (2) disposability; and (3) a pursuit of safety and belonging. These narratives capture the phenomenon of Black youth navigating placement instability in OOHC. Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed.

This paper examines the utility of youth participatory action research (YPAR) and critical media literacy as strategies to promote the sociopolitical development (SPD) of Black youth. We use the case example of Our Voices, an afterschool program implemented with Black high school students in which participants analyzed the representation of Black characters in television and developed action to resist historical stereotypes. We situate Our Voices in SPD theory to demonstrate how approaches from YPAR and critical media literacy can be used to promote Black youth’s analysis of racial issues, agency in making social change, and sociopolitical action. We also highlight the utility of YPAR and critical media literacy programs as opportunity structures for youth to receive resources and mentorship as they engage as advocates in their community. We conclude with lessons learned from the implementation of Our Voices and with recommendations for research and practice with Black youth.

This study explores Black Canadian youth’s relationship with religion and the impact religion has on their mental health and wellbeing. In addition, we probed promising practices for religious leaders and service providers who want to improve Black youth’s access to care. The results of this article draw from a larger study that aimed to explore the barriers and facilitators to mental healthcare for Black youth in Ontario, Canada. 128 (n = 66 youth, n = 35 service providers, n = 27 family and community members; 91% Black, 24% people of colour, 67% white) participants from six regions across Ontario were engaged in 23 qualitative focus groups held virtually between March 2020 and August 2021. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Three themes emerged from the data: The stigma and taboo nature of mental illness, the influence of religion and mental health and suggestions to improve care for Black youth. Mental illness is stigmatized in specific ways in Black communities and intergenerational differences exist in how mental illness is conceptualized. In addition, Black Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and other diverse or marginalized sexual orientations and gender identities (2SLGBTQ+) youth face additional difficulties in relation to stigma. Religion and religious affiliation stigmatized mental illness yet, both were considered important for inclusion in traditional mental health supports. To improve access to care for Black youth, there is a need for community-practitioner partnerships, incorporating religion into traditional mental healthcare, and increasing mental health awareness in religious and community spaces. This study is among the first to explore the impact of religion on Black youth’s mental health, findings can contribute to increased access to affirming and responsive care for this population.

Background:Black youth are overrepresented in the foster care system, and research is needed to reveal the impact of their overmedication (Cénat et al., 2021; Dettlaff & Boyd, 2020; Godoy et al., 2022; Lee et al., 2015; Montgomery, 2022; Williams-Butler, 2023).Objective:This article examines misdiagnoses, overprescribed psychotropics, and off-label medication use to address behavioral concerns (American Civil Liberties Union Maryland v. Maryland, 2023; Cullins & Moore, 2020; Fadus et al., 2020; Mizock & Harkins, 2011) and investigate the contribution of implicit bias to find equitable and nondiscriminatory solutions.Methods:A systematic literature review was conducted to identify themes surrounding racial disparities within the child welfare system. Articles that were published within the last five years were prioritized, except for those with unique findings or a specific lens of inquiry. Foundational references such as relevant legislation were also used to support the research questions.Findings:The literature reveals significant and clear disparities in the treatment of Black youth within the child welfare system. Black foster care youth are often medicated at disproportionately high rates.Conclusions:The findings suggest that more culturally intelligent interventions are necessary to ensure Black foster care youth receive adequate and appropriate assessment and treatment.

In this academic counternarrative, we examine how Black students and adults get positioned by, and come to resist, discourses that favor dominant linguistic and cultural practices. We ask, How do Black youth and adults resist the gaze of whiteness, or dominant discourses, in schools and communities, and what are pedagogical implications of such resistances? We address these questions by discussing three contemporary examples of injustices experienced by Rachel Jeantel, Amariyanna Copeny, and Black youth who continue the activism of Colin Kaepernik. Thereafter, we analyze data from three research vignettes of Black teachers and Youth of Color who produce counternarratives through storying. In our conclusion, we advocate for a pedagogical agenda in literacy studies grounded in cultural equality and linguistic, racial, and social justice for Black people and other People of Color. We situate this work as an academic counternarrative—an analysis of young people’s unapologetic affirmation of Black humanity, brilliance, and power.

Recent job market trends show growth in attainment of educational opportunities for Black adults (Bureau of Labor Statistics; BLS, 2018). While this would typically be associated with higher levels of earning, there are still existing pay disparities for Black workers and other racial groups (BLS, 2018, Gould, 2020). Many researchers in vocational psychology have looked at the career journeys of marginalized individuals (e.g., Duffy, Blustein, Diemer, & Autin, 2016; Fouad & Kantamneni, 2013; Gottfredson, 1996; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994, 2000). The purpose of this study is to contribute the voices and advocacy of Black youth, a group of individuals directly involved by disparities in career outcomes. Participatory action research (PAR; Maguire, 1987; McIntyre, 2000) endeavors to collaborate with participants for solutions and take mutually agree upon action. The study was conducted over ten months and at this time, youth have begun to make observations about their context as being an important part of career decisions (Background as a Factor), how each school system has differing access to resources and policies (Separate and Kind of Equal-ish) and speaking to the school board committee about class curriculum and possible new resources (Making Their Impact). The current study provides a glimpse into how a more interactive research methodology may help create meaningful changes as the psychology field endeavors to strengthen career attainment for all students, including talented Black youth. Research and policy implications are discussed.

Background/Context Immigrants are described as somewhat fixed in their geographical locations and activities in the world, having made a permanent move from their nation of origin to a new homeland. In contrast, transnational people are defined as those who live their lives across two or more nations and hold strong, multiple attachments to their nation-states. Frameworks of race are often centered in studies of the language and literacy practices of immigrant youth while transnational theories are typically prioritized in studies of transnational youths’ language and literacy practices. Research Questions/Participants This article explores extant research on the language and literacy practices and experiences of Black immigrant and Black transnational youth of Caribbean origin for whom the U.S. is a home. The purpose is to uncover similarities, differences, and nuances that may exist between the language and literacy practices and experiences of these populations. Research Design The extant research was analyzed through theoretical concepts such as micro-cultures, ethnoracial assignment and ethnoracial identity, raciolinguistics, and language and literacy as social practices. Findings Literacies prominent for both Black immigrant and Black transnational youth include reading, writing, the performing arts, and digital literacies. Analysis found that Black immigrant and Black transnational youth, through their language and literacy practices, undertake significant work in deconstructing Blackness as a monolithic racial category. The youths’ motivations for language and literacy use and transformation are conceptualized as efforts to make visible multiple ethnoracial identities and micro-cultural practices within an overarching racial category of Blackness. Analysis further found that Black immigrant and Black transnational youths’ experiences with racial, cultural, and linguistic discrimination lead many to subsume their original linguistic and literacy practices beneath the language and literacy practices of dominant ethnoracial groups in their new nations. In the case of Black transnationals, analysis found that they hold thick bonds to their countries of origin and new nations. Further, some transnationals have opportunities to spend extended time and employ their culturally influenced languages and literacies to a fuller degree in nations that hold appreciative perspectives on these repertoires. Such circumstances appear to promote Black transnationals’ abilities to continue developing and valuing their unique ethnoracial identities and ethnoculturally diverse language and literacy practices. Analysis further found that the multiple language and literacy practices of many Black immigrant youth are motivated by their longings to belong to diverse communities and connect to multicultural groups. However, these desires of youths’ were not oriented solely toward their new nation-states. Rather many Black immigrant youth actively seek out connection and consolidation of their homelands of origin and their new nations through language, literacy, and cultural practices. Analysis confirmed that this is a primary motivation for language and literacy development and use in transnational youth. Conclusion This article challenges the binary categories of immigrant and transnational using the cases of Black youth of Caribbean origin and their language and literacy practices. Its findings call for a more dynamic reconceptualization of the relationships among racial, immigrant, and transnational youth identities, literacies, and languages. Given the similarity of goals in the identity, language, and literacy practices of Black immigrant and Black transnational youth, this analysis argues that literacy research knowledge about Black immigrant youth can be enhanced by applying transnational as well as racial frameworks. Likewise, the article proposes that given the similarities of language and literacy goals, practices, and experiences, including racial and ethnic discrimination, shared by Black immigrant and Black transnational youth, future literacy research can undertake more explicit investigations of transnational youth's experiences through racial frameworks. The article suggests that knowledge of this kind can support scholars and educators in theorizing and designing educational spaces and curricula that enable all youth, notwithstanding their self- or other-assigned racial or sociopolitical categorization as native-born, immigrant, or transnational, to actualize while critically analyzing, the full range and diversity of their identities, languages, and literacies.

ABSTRACTSocial context plays a significant role in adolescent identity development, particularly for youth lacking traditional systems of support. Using ecological and symbolic interactionism perspectives, this study qualitatively explored the psychosocial identity development of Black gay, bisexual, or transgendered youth participating in the House Ball Community (HBC). The HBC is a diverse network of family-like structures called ‘houses’, as well as a glamorous social outlet via pageant-like ‘balls’ in which participants compete. A series of focus groups were conducted with youth and leaders from the HBC (n = 37; age range = 17–24). Via cross-case and comparative analyses, specific motivating factors related to entry into and continued involvement in the community were identified. Factors related to entry into the community included lack of safe spaces, opportunities for acceptance, means of subsistence, and allure of the scene. Factors related to continued involvement included resilience and coping skills development, sexual identity acceptance and pride, prevalence of risky behaviour, and risk of exploitation. Discussion of these factors provides insight on how self-constructed, supplementary social contexts may provide both unique supports and risks to members, allowing for more focused and well-informed interventions and policies to enhance healthy development in such communities while mitigating risk.

PurposeHistorically, literacy education and research have been dominated by white supremacist narratives that marginalize and deficitize the literate practices of Black students. As anti-Blackness proliferates in US schools, Black youth suffer social, psychological, intellectual, and physical traumas. Despite relentless attacks of anti-Blackness, Black youth fight valiantly through a range of creative outlets, including multimodal compositions, that enable them to move beyond negative stereotypes, maintain their creativity, and manifest the present and future lives they desire and so deeply deserve.Design/methodology/approachThis study aims to answer the question “How do Black students' multimodal renderings demonstrate creativity and love in ways that disrupt anti-Blackness?” The authors critically examine four multimodal compositions created by Black elementary and middle school students to understand how Black youth author a more racially just society and envision self-determined, joyful futures. The authors take up Black Livingness as a theoretical framework and use visual methodologies to analyze themes of Black life, love and hope in the young people’s multimodal renderings.FindingsThe findings suggest that Black youth creatively compose multimodal renderings that are humanizing, allowing their thoughts, feelings and experiences to guide their critiques of the present world and envision new personal and societal futures. The authors conclude with a theorization of a Black Livingness Pedagogy that centers care for Black youth.Originality/valueRecognizing that “the creation and use of images [is] a practice of decolonizing methodology” (Brown, 2013, loc. 2323), the authors examine Black student-created multimodal compositional practices to understand how Black youth author a more racially just society and envision self-determined, joyful futures.