Kentucky’s black and Hispanic children are being left behind by the state’s foster care system when it comes to placement with families, according to a new report.

It’s one finding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which released Tuesday its “Keeping Kids in Families: Trends in U.S. Foster Care Placement” report. The report offers a 10-year snapshot of national trends in U.S. foster care placement between 2007 and 2017.

“Every kid needs a family and we need to be creative in doing that,” said Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, who sees the findings as an opportunity for Kentucky to invest in supports for foster parents and caregivers.

According to the report “states across the country are driving the trend of placing a higher percentage of children in families” rather than in group homes and institutions compared to 2007.

However, at the same time, more than a third of young people age 13 and older in child welfare systems lived in group placements in 2017, “the same proportion as 10 years ago,” the report said. In 2017, only 58 percent of older foster youth lived in families, compared to 95 percent of children 12 and under, the report said.

Children of color were also left behind on progress made in placing more foster children with families, with the report noting that “while systems placed a greater percentage of children from all racial and ethnic groups in families compared with 2007, they made more progress in doing so for white children.”

Historically, child welfare agencies are least likely to place African-American children in a family, a trend that did not change despite the overall rise in family placements during the last decade, the report said.

For example, the share of African-American and Latino children placed in families increased by only three percentage points, and only by one percentage point for Asian-American children. For white children, that figure rose six percentage points from 81 percent to 87 percent.

In Kentucky, there were a reported 8,089 children in the state’s child welfare system in 2017. Between 2007 and 2017, the percentage of children placed in families improved by only one percentage point, from 80 to 81 percent.

Kentucky had the lowest rate among states in use of relative foster care, and over the 10-year period, the use of group homes or institutions rose by 12 percent for youth older than 12 years old. By 2017, more than a third of teens in foster care were in group settings.

While the use of group homes and institutions has fallen over time in the state for non-Hispanic white children, that’s not the case for non-Hispanic black, non-Hispanic multiracial or Hispanic children.

Both non-Hispanic black and non-Hispanic multiracial children were more likely than their white peers to be in group placements.

The data in the report exclude the many children raised by relatives who are not licensed foster parents.

Research shows that young people who spend most of their time in child welfare in group placements or those whose last placement was in a group setting are least likely to ever become part of a permanent family, the report said. Placing children with relatives or close friends when they cannot live with their own families is also ideal for minimizing trauma and keeping siblings together.

“This lack of support leads to a greater likelihood of arrest, homelessness, unemployment and early parenthood,” according to the report.

– The full report is available online at www.aecf.org/resources/keeping-kids-in-families.