In this episode we talk with Dr. Bryce Johnson, an administrator with Hampton City Schools in Hampton, VA, Edwin and Arial Jones, pastors at The Bridge Church and advocates for racial reconciliation in the Coastal Virginia area, and Aaron and Monique Ransom, veteran foster parents and fellow podcasters at the Fostering Hope Podcast.
When looking at census documents for our nation's foster care system, there is one glaring piece of data that is impossible to overlook: Black children are over-represented and Black foster parents are under-represented.
Black individuals in America comprise approximately 15% of the entire population, yet in foster care, more than 50% of the children are Black. There are significant contributors to this disparity: systemic problems, educational, training, and informational gaps, fatherlessness, criminal rehabilitation practices, etc. And as varied as the causes, a variety of approaches is needed to help re-balance the ratio to more accurately reflect society.