How Should Clinicians and Health Care Organizations Promote Equity in Child Abuse and Neglect Suspicion, Evaluation, and Reporting?

Abstract

Victims of child abuse and neglect come from every racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic background, yet clinical evaluation, reporting to child protective services, and responses to reports inequitably harm Black children and malign families of color. Racial bias and inequity in suspicion, reporting, and substantiation of abuse and neglect and in services offered and delivered, foster care placement, and criminal prosecution are widely documented. In response, clinicians and health care organizations should promote equity by educating clinicians about racial bias, standardizing evaluation using clinical decision support tools, and working with policy makers to support prevention services. If we decide that it is ethically justifiable for clinicians to err on the side of overreporting, we must ensure fair distribution of associated benefits and harms among all children and families.