Immigrants Travel on the Orphan Trains to Children of Color Lingering in Foster Care

      

          From the English Poor Laws and workhouses to the United States, Charles Brace the founder of the Children’s Aid Society had well meaning intentions when he thought of a new idea to save poor children. From the mid 1800’s to approximately the 1930’s, as many as 200,000 destitute, white immigrant children were taken from the streets of New York or from overcrowed orphanages and brought to Midwestern towns by train in order to find farm families  for the now orphaned children.  Although some children found good homes, others were placed into indentured servant status. Many were victims of severe abuse and/or neglect. Finally all of the children’s ties to their biological families were torn and severed, records were not maintained and their heritage was lost in time. The Orphan Train phenomenon evolved into the development of the formal adoption, foster care laws and child welfare practices in the United States.

       Throughout history it appears that a family’s socioeconomic status has been one of many variables that has impacted and is factored into the decision making process regarding risk for abuse and/or neglect of minor children.  What happened to the African American children during the Orphan Train tragedy timeline?  Of course they were denied any services at all.   However, unbeknownst to this newly freed community of people, being excluded from child welfare services may have been a blessing considering what was about to happen to their community and family structure  in the years to come. Up until the 1930's or so, the African American community cared for their own children whether they were blood related or not.  During the Roosevelt era the Federal government began funding the states to enlarge the child welfare system.

Now that  Federal dollars were being used, the US Constitution needed to be adhered to and states could not discriminate based on…..you got it, Race.

So now the states had to be inclusive of the African American Community and their children when delivering foster care services. In addition, AFDC benefits which were originally legislated for white mothers whose husbands were serving in the military during war time, was built on the foundation of male exclusion in the home in order to be eligible, collect and maintain these government benefits.  AFDC benefits/requirements coupled with the child welfare system's service inclusion of the African American community, resulted in the current disproportionate numbers of children of color, most notably African American and Native American children, lingering in the foster care system.   

Similar to Charles Brace, contemporary child welfare assessment decisions are made based on the caseworkers and social workers sincere and good intentions however, they are based on laws and policies of an institutional structure where racism is embedded in the cemented foundation of this child welfare system.

So how do we derail this runaway train???