Advocates debate racism in foster care

Disparities in treatment of Black children appear to start before birth, reports show. Black children are consistently overrepresented in foster care.

LAWRENCE — State systems are like egg-breakers, Sharla Smith said, using the imagery to ask whether governmental and social systems help or harm families of color. 

“When you think about what systems are doing, are they cracking the egg from the outside, which ends life and ability and resources and opportunities for Black people, or are they cracking it from the inside, which then begins life?” Smith asked.

Smith, director and founder of the Kansas Birth Equity Network, participated in a Wednesday meeting of the Kansas Racial Equity Collaborative. The collaborative is a statewide initiative geared toward spreading awareness of disparities in child welfare and advocating for equity. 

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