To transform child welfare, take race out of the equation | Jessica Pryce

Translator: Polona Ramšak Reviewer: Nika Kotnik

I want you to imagine that you are a Child Protective Services worker.

Predstavljajte si, da ste zaposleni v otroškem skrbstvu.

And you have to respond to a report of child abuse.

Odzvati se morate na prijavo o zlorabi otroka.

You walk into a home, unannounced, unexpected, certainly uninvited.

Stopite v neki dom, nenajavljeni, nepričakovani, zagotovo nepovabljeni.

The first thing you see is a mattress in the middle of the room, on the floor.

Prva stvar, ki jo vidite, je žimnica na tleh na sredini sobe.

Three kids lying on it, asleep.

Na njej spijo trije otroci.

There's a small table nearby with a couple of ashtrays,

V bližini je mizica z nekaj pepelniki

empty beer cans.

in praznimi pločevinkami piva.

Large rat traps are set in the corner,

Velike pasti za podgane so nastavljene v kotu,

not too far from where the kids lie asleep.

nedaleč od prostora, kjer spijo otroci.

So you make a note.

Narediš zaznamek.

A part of your job is walking through the entire home.

Del tvoje službe je obhod po celem domu.

So you start with the kitchen, where there's very little food.

Tako začneš s kuhinjo, kjer je zelo malo hrane.

You notice another mattress in the bedroom, on the floor,

Opaziš še eno žimnico na tleh v spalnici,

that the mother shares with her infant child.

ki si jo mama deli z dojenčkom.

Now, generally, at this point, two things may happen.

Navadno se na tej točki lahko zgodita dve stvari.

The children are deemed unsafe and removed from the home,

Ugotovljeno je, da otroci niso varni, in se jih odstrani od doma

and placed in state custody for a specified period of time.

in da v državni pripor za določeno časovno obdobje.

Or the children remain with their family

Ali pa otroci ostanejo pri svoji družini

and the child welfare system provides help and support.

in sistem socialne varnosti otrok ponudi pomoč in podporo.

When I was a Child Protective Services worker,

Ko sem bila zaposlena v otroškem skrbstvu,

I saw things like this all the time.

sem take stvari videla kar naprej.

Some far better, some far worse.

Mnogo boljše in mnogo slabše.

I asked you to imagine yourself in that home,

Prosila sem, da si predstavljate sebe v takem domu,

because I wonder what crossed your mind.

ker me zanima, kaj vas je prešinilo.

What guides your decisions?

Kaj vodi vaše odločitve?

What's going to impact your opinion of that family?

Kaj bo vplivalo na vaše mnenje o tej družini?

What race, ethnicity, did you think the family was?

Kakšne rase, etnične skupine, mislite, je bila ta družina?

I want you to realize that if those children were white,

Rada bi, da se zavedate, da če bi ti otroci bili beli,

it is more likely that their family stays together after that visit.

bi bilo bolj verjetno, da bo družina po tem prvem obisku ostala skupaj.

Research done at the University of Pennsylvania

Raziskave, izvedene na Univerzi v Pensilvaniji,

found that white families, on average, have access to more help and more support

so odkrile, da imajo bele družine na splošno dostop do več pomoči in podpore

from the child welfare system.

sistema socialne varnosti otrok.

And their cases are less likely to go through a full investigation.

Njihovi primeri bodo manj verjetno šli skozi popolno preiskavo.

But on the other hand, if those kids are black,

Po drugi strani pa, če bi bili ti otroci črni,

they are four times more likely to be removed,

bodo štirikrat bolj verjetno odstranjeni,

they spend longer periods of time in foster care,

več časa bodo preživeli v rejništvu

and it's harder to find them a stable foster placement.

in težje jim bo najti stabilno rejniško nastanitev.

Foster care is meant to be an immediate shelter of protection

Rejništvo naj bi bilo takojšnje zavetje in zaščita

for kids who are at high risk.

za otroke z velikim tveganjem.

But it's also a confusing and traumatic exit from the family.

Je pa tudi odhod iz družine, begajoč in travmatičen.

Research done at the University of Minnesota

Raziskave na univerzi v Minnesoti

found that kids who went through foster care

so odkrile, da so otroci, ki so šli skozi rejništvo,

had more behavioral problems and internalized issues

imeli več vedenjskih problemov in ponotranjenih težav

than kids who remain with their families while receiving help and support.

kot otroci, ki so ostali s svojimi družinami in dobivali pomoč in podporo.

The scenario I mentioned earlier is not uncommon.

Scenarij, ki sem ga prej omenila, ni nenavaden.

A single mother, living in low-income housing

Mati samohranilka, ki živi v socialnem stanovanju

with her four children.

s svojimi štirimi otroki.

And the rats make it almost impossible to keep food,

Zaradi podgan je skoraj nemogoče imeti hrano,

let alone fresh food in the home.

kaj šele svežo hrano.

Does that mother deserve to have her children taken from her?

Ali si ta mati zasluži, da ji odvzamejo otroke?

Emma Ketteringham, a family court attorney,

Emma Ketteringham, družinska odvetnica,

says that if you live in a poor neighborhood,

pravi, da če živiš v revni soseski,

then you better be a perfect parent.

je zate bolje, da si popoln starš.

She says that we place unfair, often unreachable standards

Pravi, da postavljamo nepoštene, pogoste nedosegljive standarde

on parents who are raising their kids with very little money.

staršem, ki vzgajajo svoje otroke z zelo malo denarja.

And their neighborhood and ethnicity

In njihova soseščina in etničnost

impact whether or not their kids are removed.

vplivata na to, če jim bodo otroke odvzeli ali ne.

In the two years I spent on the front lines of child welfare,

V dveh letih na bojni črti otroškega skrbstva

I made high-stakes decisions.

sem prejemala pomembne odločitve.

And I saw firsthand how my personal values impacted my work.

Iz prve roke sem videla, kako moje osebne vrednote vplivajo na moje delo.

Now, as social work faculty at Florida State University,

Zdaj sem zaposlena na Fakulteti za socialno delo na univerzi na Floridi

I lead an institute

in vodim inštitut,

that curates the most innovative and effective child welfare research.

ki izvaja najbolj inovativno in učinkovito raziskavo otroškega skrbstva.

And research tells us that there are twice as many black kids in foster care,

In raziskava kaže, da je v rejniškem sistemu dvakrat več temnopoltih otrok,

twenty-eight percent,

osemindvajset odstotkov,

than there are in the general population, 14 percent.

kot jih je v splošni populaciji, 14 odstotkov.

And although there are several reasons why,

In čeprav obstaja veliko razlogov, zakaj,

I want to discuss one reason today:

bi danes rada govorila o enem:

implicit bias.

o implicitnem predsodku.

Let's start with "implicit."

Pa začnimo z besedo impliciten.

It's subconscious, something you're not aware of.

To pomeni podzavesten, nekaj, česar se ne zavedamo.

Bias -- those stereotypes and attitudes

Predsodek - tisti stereotipi in odnosi,

that we all have about certain groups of people.

ki jih vsi gojimo do določenih skupin.

So, implicit bias is what lurks in the background

Implicitni predsodek je tisto, kar preži v ozadju

of every decision that we make.

vsake naše odločitve.

So how can we fix it?

Kako lahko to popravimo?

I have a promising solution that I want to share.

Imam obetavno rešitev, ki bi jo rada delila z vami.

Now, in almost every state,

Skoraj v vsaki državi

there are high numbers of black kids going into foster care.

je veliko število temnopoltih otrok, ki so nameščeni v rejništvo.

But data revealed that Nassau County,

A podatki kažejo, da je okrožju Nassau,

a community in New York,

skupnosti v New Yorku,

had managed to decrease the number of black kids being removed.

uspelo zmanjšati število odvzetih temnopoltih otrok.

And in 2016, I went into that community with my team

Leta 2016 sem šla v to skupnost s svojo ekipo

and led a research study,

in vodila raziskovalno študijo,

discovering the use of blind removal meetings.

s katero sem odkrila uporabo slepih odstranitvenih srečanj.

This is how it works.

To deluje takole.

A case worker responds to a report of child abuse.

Socialni delavec se odzove na prijavo o otroški zlorabi.

They go out to the home,

Obišče dom,

but before the children are removed,

a preden otroka odvzamejo,

the case worker must come back to the office

mora socialni delavec iti nazaj v pisarno

and present what they found.

in predstaviti svoje najdbe.

But here's the distinction:

Tu je razlika:

When they present to the committee,

ko predstavijo odboru,

they delete names, ethnicity, neighborhood, race,

zbrišejo imena, etničnost, sosesko, raso,

all identifiable information.

vse razpoznavne informacije.

They focus on what happened, family strength, relevant history

Osredotočijo se na to, kaj se je zgodilo, moč družine, relevantno zgodovino

and the parents' ability to protect the child.

in sposobnost staršev, da zaščitijo otroka.

With that information, the committee makes a recommendation,

S temi informacijami odbor predlaga,

never knowing the race of the family.

ne da bi poznal raso družine.

Blind removals have made a drastic impact in that community.

Slepi odvzemi so drastično vplivali na to skupnost.

In 2011, 57 percent of the kids going into foster care were black.

Leta 2011 je bilo 57% otrok, nameščenih v rejništvo, temnopoltih.

But after five years of blind removals, that is down to 21 percent.

Po petih letih slepih odvzemov se je ta številka zmanjšala na 21 %.

(Applause)

(aplavz)

Here's what we learned from talking to some of the case workers.

Tole smo se naučili iz pogovora z drugimi socialnim delavci:

"When a family has a history with the department,

"Ko ima družina zgodovino z našim oddelkom,

many of us hold that history against them,

mnogi od nas kuhajo zamero,

even if they're trying to do things differently."

tudi če poskušamo delati drugače."

"When I see a case from a certain apartment building,

"Ko zagledam primer iz določenega bloka,

neighborhood or zip code,

soseščine ali kraja,

I just automatically think the worst."

avtomatsko pomislim na najslabše."

"Child welfare is very subjective, because it's an emotional field.

"Otroško skrbstvo je zelo subjektivno, ker je to čustveno polje.

There's no one who doesn't have emotions around this work.

Nikogar ni, ki ne bi bil čustven pri tem delu.

And it's very hard to leave all of your stuff at the door

In zelo težko je vse svoje misli pustiti pred vrati,

when you do this work.

ko delaš.

So let's take the subjectivity of race and neighborhood out of it,

Odvzemimo torej subjektivnost rase in soseščine

and you might get different outcomes."

in morda bomo dobili druge rezultate."

Blind removals seem to be bringing us closer

Slepi odvzemi nas očitno vodijo bližje

to solving the problem of implicit bias in foster-care decisions.

k reševanju implicitnih predsodkov v odločitvah o rejništvu.

My next step is figuring out

Moj naslednji korak je ugotoviti,

how to use artificial intelligence and machine learning

kako uporabiti umetno inteligenco in stroje,

to bring this project to scale

da bi se ta projekt razmahnil

and make it more accessible to other states.

in postal lažje dostopen v drugih državah.

I know we can transform child welfare.

Vem, da lahko spremenimo otroško skrbstvo.

We can hold organizations accountable

Od organizacij lahko zahtevamo, da bodo odgovorno

to developing the social consciousness of their employees.

razvijale socialno zavest svojih zaposlenih.

We can hold ourselves accountable

Od sebe lahko zahtevamo,

to making sure our decisions are driven by ethics and safety.

da zagotovimo, da naše odločitve vodita etika in varnost.

Let's imagine a child welfare system that focuses on partnering with parents,

Predstavljajmo si otroško skrbstvo, ki se osredotoča na partnerstvo s starši,

empowering families,

krepi družine

and no longer see poverty as failure.

in revščine več ne vidi kot neuspeh.

Let's work together to build a system

Stopimo skupaj in zgradimo sistem,

that wants to make families stronger instead of pulling them apart.

ki želi družine narediti močnejše, namesto da jih razdvaja.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause) (Cheering)

(aplavz, vzkliki)