The death of a parent is typically a very traumatic and disturbing experience for adults. For a child, it is even worse, it provokes feelings of despair and abandonment and sometimes leads to self-destructive behavior such as drug use that can continue into adulthood. This has particularly severe consequences when the child is black and therefore more likely to end up in the child welfare system.
recently Report This study by federal researchers offers the most complete picture yet of the sweeping impact of overdose deaths on Black children in Los Angeles and other cities — and what we can do about it.
From 2011 to 2021The report found that more than 321,000 American children lost one of their parents to a drug overdose. The biggest increase was seen in black children The rate of such losses increased during those years The long-running public health crisis in Black AmericaLike much of the United States, Los Angeles has seen a rise in drug overdoses in recent years. Disproportionate losses among city’s black adults,
Black people are significantly more likely to die from drug-related diseases Because of limited access to treatment and resources like naloxone, which can reverse an overdose. When they are parents, the impact on their children is swift and profound. Parental drug use is associated with overdose use Among children,
Although black children make up only 7.4% of the Los Angeles County populationThey were represented by 24% The number of people entering the child welfare system in a recent year. A study found that approximately 47% of black children in California were the subject of an abuse investigation before the age of 18, with substance abuse a contributing factor. 41% of child abuse cases in the state,
The disproportionate number of black children in Los Angeles’ child welfare system has been scrutinized since the late 1980s, when the heroin and crack epidemic in Los Angeles peaked. Drugs, then addressed as a criminal issue through harsh policing and prosecution, sent a generation of young and middle-aged black Angelenos, both users and dealers, to untimely death and incarceration. Many of their children became caught up in the city’s fragmented child welfare system and, often, similarly spiraled into addiction and entanglements with the legal system.
When a child’s parent dies, other family members — the child’s other parent, a grandparent, an aunt or uncle — are the first line of defense to take over responsibility for their care. But children of color, especially those in low-income communities, often end up in the child welfare system.
Why? The child’s surviving family members may not have the resources to make up the difference. But racial bias also leads child welfare workers to remove black children from their families and hinder reunification efforts.
Research has consistently shown that Child welfare workers more easily define Black parents’ behavior as abusive or neglectful Even if it is comparable to the behavior of parents of other races. Child welfare workers also Black families are more likely to perceive their children as less loving and less fixable,
Children who enter the child welfare system due to the death of a parent are already Doubling time in the systemBlack kids stay in the system longer because of bias.
The dual plight of Los Angeles’ opioid epidemic and its child welfare system is dire, but not beyond reform. The first need is to revamp the city’s racially biased child removal process. Los Angeles officials are piloting a “blind removal” approach that follows an investigation and decision-making process that does not include demographic details such as a child’s race. It’s a step in the right direction.
However, UCLA study of pilots The program revealed that racial disparities persist, showing how deep-seated child welfare bias is. For blind removal to be effective in eliminating racial disparities, it must be complemented by greater transparency, expanded Civilian Review Board and training in implicit bias.
Second, we need a better understanding of the consequences of placing Black children in the child welfare system. Generally, Black children in this system are highly stigmatized, especially when they come from families with a history of drug abuse. This contributes to making them Less likely to be adoptedThe trauma of losing a parent also means they are more likely to experience depression and anxiety.
These experiences often translate into social isolation, poor educational outcomes, limited employment prospects, and incarceration. Officials must work to identify these patterns early and provide resources such as mental health care to stem this harmful flow.
Finally, policymakers should continue to explore the benefits of a guaranteed basic income to provide a cushion for personal and professional growth. Another California pilot program Providing a guaranteed basic income to people who age out of foster care at age 21 or olderThe state should lower the eligibility age to 18 to address housing and employment challenges Black youth face as they reach adulthood. Researchers at Stanford And other organizations have found that such policies support better health, housing security, and employment prospects.
Tackling the growing overdose epidemic in Los Angeles’s black communities requires attention not just to the immediate risks to drug users, but also to the childhood experiences that often lead them to take drugs. One of our most powerful tools for preventing future overdoses is to take better care of the children most affected by today’s harms.
Jerrell Ezell is an assistant professor of community health sciences at UC Berkeley who studies the racial politics of substance use.
