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

翻译人员: Ziyun Liao 校对人员: Cissy Yun

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

我想请各位把自己想象成 儿童保护协会的工作人员，

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

你现在要调查一起虐童案。

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

你走进一个家，事先未通知其家人， 让人毫无防备。

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

首先映入眼帘的是，房间正中央 的地板上，放着一张床褥，

Three kids lying on it, asleep.

上面躺着三个小孩，熟睡着。

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

附近是一张小桌子， 放着几个烟灰缸，

empty beer cans.

空啤酒罐，

Large rat traps are set in the corner,

角落还安置着几个巨大的捕鼠夹，

not too far from where the kids lie asleep.

就在离孩子们睡觉不远处。

So you make a note.

所以你记下了这一切。

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

你工作的一部分，是走遍整个房子。

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

你从厨房开始， 发现食物了了无几，

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

你还注意到卧室地板上的 另一张床褥，

that the mother shares with her infant child.

是母亲和她的婴孩睡觉的地方。

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

这时，一般会有两种情况发生。

The children are deemed unsafe and removed from the home,

孩子们的生存条件被视为受到威胁， 所以不得不送去寄养所，

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

在特定的一段时间内， 由州政府代为监护。

Or the children remain with their family

或孩子继续与家人待在一起，

and the child welfare system provides help and support.

但会收到儿童福利处的帮助和支持。

When I was a Child Protective Services worker,

我还在儿童保护服务处工作的时候，

I saw things like this all the time.

这类事件层出不穷。

Some far better, some far worse.

情况有时候可能好得多， 有时候差得多。

I asked you to imagine yourself in that home,

我让各位想象自己身临其境，

because I wonder what crossed your mind.

是因为我想知道， 大家当时会想什么。

What guides your decisions?

是什么引导大家做出决定？

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

是什么影响大家对那个家庭的看法？

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

各位觉得这家人属于什么种族， 民族?

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

我想让大家知道， 如果那些孩子是白人的话，

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

在那次家访后， 他们与家人待在一起的几率会更高。

Research done at the University of Pennsylvania

根据宾夕法尼亚大学的 一项研究调查，

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

白人家庭总体而言，会从儿童福利体系中

得到帮助和支持更多。

from the child welfare system.

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

而且他们的案件也不太需要 经过全方位调查。

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

但另一方面，如果那些孩子是黑人，

they are four times more likely to be removed,

他们送去寄养所的几率是 白人孩子的四倍之高，

they spend longer periods of time in foster care,

而这些孩子待在寄养所的时间 也更长，

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

也更难找到一个稳定的寄养的地方。

Foster care is meant to be an immediate shelter of protection

寄养服务本来是为严重受到威胁的

for kids who are at high risk.

孩子们提供紧急住所。

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

但就这样将孩子从父母身边带走， 不仅令人困惑，还会造成巨大痛苦。

Research done at the University of Minnesota

根据明尼苏达大学的一项调查显示，

found that kids who went through foster care

曾有过寄养经历的孩子，

had more behavioral problems and internalized issues

比那些继续和父母亲待在一起， 接受后续帮助和支持的孩子们，

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

更容易有行为问题和性格问题。

The scenario I mentioned earlier is not uncommon.

我先前提到的情境屡见不鲜。

A single mother, living in low-income housing

一个单身母亲，和她的四个孩子，

with her four children.

生活在一个低收入人群的房子里，

And the rats make it almost impossible to keep food,

鼠患让食物尚且难以保存，

let alone fresh food in the home.

更不用说要在家里找到新鲜的食物了。

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

但难道仅凭这一点， 母亲就该跟她的孩子骨肉分离吗？

Emma Ketteringham, a family court attorney,

Emma Ketteringham 是一名家庭事务律师，

says that if you live in a poor neighborhood,

她说如果你住在一个贫穷的街区，

then you better be a perfect parent.

那么你最好成为一个完美的父母亲，

She says that we place unfair, often unreachable standards

她说，我们的社会对于那些 低收入的父母而言，

有着一系列不公平且 难以达到的抚养孩子的标准。

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

And their neighborhood and ethnicity

而他们的所住的街区和所属的民族，

impact whether or not their kids are removed.

直接影响到他们的孩子是否 会被送去寄养所。

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

我在儿童福利的前线上工作了两年，

I made high-stakes decisions.

我做的决定都是高风险的。

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

我切身体会过我的个人价值观 是如何影响我工作的。

Now, as social work faculty at Florida State University,

现在，作为弗洛里达州大学里 社会工作系的一名教师，

I lead an institute

我领导的学院，

that curates the most innovative and effective child welfare research.

进行的是最创新最有成效的 儿童福利研究。

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

研究结果显示，寄养所里的黑人儿童 是其它种族儿童的两倍，

twenty-eight percent,

有28%这么多。

than there are in the general population, 14 percent.

而其它种族的儿童也就才14%。

And although there are several reasons why,

虽然其中有着许多原因，

I want to discuss one reason today:

但我今天只想谈论一个理由：

implicit bias.

隐性偏见。

Let's start with "implicit."

让我们从“隐性”开始说起，

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

它是潜意识的，你察觉不到的。

Bias -- those stereotypes and attitudes

而偏见 -- 就是对于特定人群的

that we all have about certain groups of people.

刻板印象和态度，这是我们都有的。

So, implicit bias is what lurks in the background

所以，隐性偏见指的就是潜藏在

of every decision that we make.

我们做出的每一个决定的背景因素。

So how can we fix it?

那我们该如何解决这个问题呢？

I have a promising solution that I want to share.

我有一个很有前景的解决方案， 想和大家分享。

Now, in almost every state,

现在，几乎每一个州，

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

都有着不胜其数的黑人儿童 被送进了寄养所。

But data revealed that Nassau County,

但数据显示，拿骚县，

a community in New York,

纽约的一个县城，

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

已经成功减少了许多将黑人儿童 送去寄养所的案例了。

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

2016年，我和我的团队走进拿骚县，

and led a research study,

领导一项调查研究，

discovering the use of blind removal meetings.

看看隐去孩童个人信息后 再进行寄养汇报的成效如何。

This is how it works.

这个汇报是这样进行的：

A case worker responds to a report of child abuse.

社会工作者受命调查一起虐童案件，

They go out to the home,

他们前往受访家庭，

but before the children are removed,

但是在决定让孩子搬去寄养所前，

the case worker must come back to the office

这名社会工作者必须先回到办公室，

and present what they found.

汇报他们的调查结果。

But here's the distinction:

但与以往不同的是，

When they present to the committee,

当工作人员向组委会汇报结果时，

they delete names, ethnicity, neighborhood, race,

他们隐去了受访家庭的姓名， 民族，所住街区，种族，

all identifiable information.

以及所有能透露身份的信息。

They focus on what happened, family strength, relevant history

他们把重点放在事件的经历， 家庭的优势，相关的历史，

and the parents' ability to protect the child.

和父母保护孩子的能力上。

With that information, the committee makes a recommendation,

在听完汇报后， 组委会将提出一项建议，

never knowing the race of the family.

他们至始至终不会知道 受访家庭的种族。

Blind removals have made a drastic impact in that community.

这项举措对拿骚县造成了 巨大的影响。

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

2011年的时候，有57%被送进 寄养所的都是黑人儿童，

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

但在隐去孩童的个人信息后， 这个数据降到了21%。

(Applause)

（掌声）

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

通过与社会工作者的对话， 我们了解到，

"When a family has a history with the department,

“一个家庭如果曾经 在社会工作部门留下不良记录后，

many of us hold that history against them,

我们大部分社会工作者 就会以此否定这个家庭做出的努力，

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

即便他们已经在尽力改变了。”

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

“当我只要看到这个案件发生在 某个特定的公寓，

neighborhood or zip code,

街区，或邮编，

I just automatically think the worst."

我就会不由自主往最坏的方面想。”

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

“儿童福利是一项非常主观的工作， 因为这个领域牵动着我们的情绪，

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

从事这项工作的人， 没有一个是可以没有任何情绪的。

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

在你执行工作之前，

也很难让你将所有的情绪留在门外。

when you do this work.

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

所以，让我们将种族和社区这些 主观因素排除在外，

and you might get different outcomes."

你所得出的结果也许会有所不同。

Blind removals seem to be bringing us closer

隐去孩童的个人信息，似乎将我们 更紧密的联系在一起，

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

去解决这个影响着寄养决定的 隐性偏见的问题，

My next step is figuring out

下一步，我要找出办法，

how to use artificial intelligence and machine learning

使用人工智能和机器学习

to bring this project to scale

让这个方法更加容易

and make it more accessible to other states.

大规模的运用到别的州上。

I know we can transform child welfare.

我知道，我们是有能力变革 儿童福利体系的。

We can hold organizations accountable

我们要让相关的机构负起责任，

to developing the social consciousness of their employees.

对他们的社会工作人员 进行社会意识培训。

We can hold ourselves accountable

我们应该让自己承担起相应的责任，

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

确保我们每个决定 都符合道德规范，为安全着想。

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

让我们想象一下这样一个美好的 儿童福利体系：致力于与父母合作，

empowering families,

给家庭赋权，

and no longer see poverty as failure.

不再视贫穷为失败。

Let's work together to build a system

让我们一起建立一个

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

让家庭更加团结，而不是让其 支离破碎的儿童福利体系吧！

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause) (Cheering)

（掌声）（欢呼）