New research shows Indigenous youth comprise more than a third of the children in Montana’s foster care system, despite making up a far smaller segment of the state’s overall population.
Researchers said addressing the problem is challenging. Data from the National Center for Juvenile Justice show the number of Indigenous youth comprise 30% of the children in foster care, despite making up just 10% of the Montana population.
Deana Around Him, Indigenous children, youth and families researcher for the organization Child Trends and citizen of the Cherokee Nation, said a combination of factors is driving the disparity, but it often comes down to a lack of child oversight.
“Child neglect can lead a family to be engaged with the child welfare system and result in a child being removed from a home,” Around Him explained. “We wonder if that is more of a question about the resources available to families and if the solution should be different than removal.”
Around Him acknowledged solutions have been hard to achieve in Montana but researchers are exploring kinship and other family-based support systems that have shown hints of success in the past. A 10-year data analysis by the Montana Free Press showed Native children are placed in foster care at roughly five times the rate of white children.
The Juvenile Justice data showed Native American children in Montana far outpace any other racial group in the child welfare system. Around Him noted in addition to family-based solutions, making resources available to struggling families is also important so they can make what would seem like easy decisions.
“Getting a job may not be so simple as like ‘yes, take the job'” Around Him asserted. “Because it offers greater income for your family but if taking that job requires you to find child care, and if there’s limited child care available in the community, who are you leaving our child with?”
There has been a national effort in recent years to keep children in their home when it’s safe to do so but despite those efforts, the number of Indigenous children in the Montana foster care system has continued to grow.
