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

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

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

我想請各位想像 自己是兒童保護社工。

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

你必須要處理一件兒童受虐案件。

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

你走進一個家中，他們沒被通知， 沒預期你會來，且肯定沒邀請你。

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

你第一眼看到的是房間中央 有一個床墊在地上。

Three kids lying on it, asleep.

三個孩子躺在床墊上熟睡。

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

旁邊有張小桌子， 上面放了幾個煙灰缸，

empty beer cans.

和幾個空啤酒瓶。

Large rat traps are set in the corner,

角落有大型的捕鼠器，

not too far from where the kids lie asleep.

離孩子們睡覺的地方不遠。

So you make a note.

於是你做了筆記。

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

你的一部分職責， 就是要走過整間房子。

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

你從廚房開始，廚房裡的食物很少。

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

你注意到在臥房地上 也有一張床墊，

that the mother shares with her infant child.

是母親和嬰兒共用的。

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

一般來說，在這個時點， 可能會有兩種情況：

The children are deemed unsafe and removed from the home,

孩子會被認為不安全， 被從家中帶走，

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

並被安置到州立機構 照管一段時間。

Or the children remain with their family

或是，孩子們繼續 和家人待在一起，

and the child welfare system provides help and support.

而兒童福利制度 會提供協助和支援。

When I was a Child Protective Services worker,

我以前擔任兒童保護社工時，

I saw things like this all the time.

我常看到這樣的事。

Some far better, some far worse.

有些狀況好很多，有些狀況糟很多。

I asked you to imagine yourself in that home,

我之所以請各位想像 自己身在那個家中，

because I wonder what crossed your mind.

是因為我想知道你們會怎麼想。

What guides your decisions?

你的決策根據是什麼？

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

什麼會影響你對那個家庭的看法？

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

你覺得這個家庭是什麼種族？

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

我希望各位了解， 如果那些孩子是白人，

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

比較有可能在那次造訪之後， 他們一家人仍然會住在一起。

Research done at the University of Pennsylvania

賓州大學的一項研究發現，

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

一般來說，白人家庭 能從兒童福利制度

取得比較多的協助和支援。

from the child welfare system.

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

他們的案件也比較 不會需要接受完整調查。

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,

他們被帶離家庭的 可能性是四倍高，

they spend longer periods of time in foster care,

他們被寄養照顧的時間比較長，

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

也比較難為他們找到 穩定的寄養安置處。

Foster care is meant to be an immediate shelter of protection

寄養照顧的本意，是要提供 立即的保護庇護所

for kids who are at high risk.

給高風險的孩童。

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

但從這個出口離開家庭， 很讓人困惑且會造成創傷。

Research done at the University of Minnesota

明尼蘇達大學的研究發現，

found that kids who went through foster care

有過寄養照顧經歷的兒童，

had more behavioral problems and internalized issues

比起留在原生家庭中 接受幫助與支援的兒童，

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

有更多的行為問題， 且更會將議題內化。

The scenario I mentioned earlier is not uncommon.

我先前提到的情況並不罕見。

A single mother, living in low-income housing

一位單親母親，住在低收入的住房，

with her four children.

帶著四個孩子。

And the rats make it almost impossible to keep food,

因為老鼠猖獗， 保存食物也很困難，

let alone fresh food in the home.

更不用說家中 會有什麼新鮮食物了。

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

這位母親的孩子被帶離 她身邊，是她活該嗎？

Emma Ketteringham, a family court attorney,

家事法庭律師艾瑪凱特林漢說，

says that if you live in a poor neighborhood,

如果你住在貧困的鄰里，

then you better be a perfect parent.

那你最好要當個完美的家長。

She says that we place unfair, often unreachable standards

她說，我們會用不公平 且通常無法達到的標準

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

來看待沒什麼錢來養育孩子的父母。

And their neighborhood and ethnicity

而他們的所住的鄰里和天生的人種

impact whether or not their kids are removed.

會影響到他們的孩子是否會被帶走。

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

我在兒童福利的前線做了兩年，

I made high-stakes decisions.

我做過高風險的決策。

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

我親眼看見我的個人價值觀 如何影響我的工作。

Now, as social work faculty at Florida State University,

現在，身為佛羅里達 州立大學的社工人員，

I lead an institute

我領導一個機構，負責規劃最創新

that curates the most innovative and effective child welfare research.

且最有效的兒童福利研究。

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

研究告訴我們， 接受寄養照顧的黑人孩子

twenty-eight percent,

比例為 28%，

than there are in the general population, 14 percent.

是一般大眾 14% 的兩倍高。

And although there are several reasons why,

雖然背後的原因有好幾個，

I want to discuss one reason today:

今天我只想要討論一個原因：

implicit bias.

隱性偏見。

Let's start with "implicit."

讓我們先從「隱性」談起。

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

它是潛意識的，你不會意識到。

Bias -- those stereotypes and attitudes

偏見——是我們所有人

對於特定族群的刻板印象和態度。

that we all have about certain groups of people.

So, implicit bias is what lurks in the background

隱性偏見潛伏在

我們所做的每一個決策背後。

of every decision that we make.

So how can we fix it?

我們要如何修正呢？

I have a promising solution that I want to share.

我有一個很好的解決方案， 想和大家分享。

Now, in almost every state,

幾乎在每一州，

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

都有很大量的黑人孩子 接受寄養照顧。

But data revealed that Nassau County,

但資料顯示，拿索縣，

a community in New York,

紐約的一個社區，

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

成功地將被帶離家庭的 黑人孩子數目降低。

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

2016 年，我和我的團隊 拜訪了那個社區，

and led a research study,

進行了一項研究，

discovering the use of blind removal meetings.

發現他們使用盲目移除會議 來決定要不要把孩子帶走。

This is how it works.

它的運作方式如下。

A case worker responds to a report of child abuse.

個案處理人員受理兒童受虐的通報後

They go out to the home,

要到家中訪視，

but before the children are removed,

但在孩子被帶離之前，

the case worker must come back to the office

個案處理人員必須先回到辦公室，

and present what they found.

針對其發現做簡報。

But here's the distinction:

但，差別在這裡：

When they present to the committee,

當他們對委員會做簡報時，

they delete names, ethnicity, neighborhood, race,

他們會把姓名、 人種、鄰里、種族等

all identifiable information.

所有可辨識身分的資訊都刪除。

They focus on what happened, family strength, relevant history

他們把焦點放在 發生的狀況、家庭的能力、

相關的過去歷史， 以及家長保護孩童的能力。

and the parents' ability to protect the child.

With that information, the committee makes a recommendation,

有那些資訊， 委員會就會做出建議，

never knowing the race of the family.

自始至終都不知道 個案家庭的種族。

Blind removals have made a drastic impact in that community.

用盲目移除會議來做決策 對該社區有很大的影響。

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

2011 年，接受寄養照顧的 孩子中有 57% 是黑人。

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

但採用盲目移除會議五年後， 百分比降為 21%。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

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

我們和一些個案處理人員 談過之後，得到以下資訊：

"When a family has a history with the department,

「兒童福利局有一個家庭 以前的不良記錄時，

many of us hold that history against them,

我們許多人就會用 那不良記錄來評斷他們，

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

即使他們努力嘗試做出不同。」

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

「當我看到一個案件是 發生在某棟公寓大樓、

neighborhood or zip code,

某個鄰里，或某個郵遞區號時，

I just automatically think the worst."

我會自動往最糟的方向去想。」

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

「兒童福利是非常主觀的， 因為它是個情緒化的領域。

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

每個做這方面工作的人都會有情緒。

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

當你在做這份工作時，

很難放下所有自己的成見。

when you do this work.

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

所以，讓我們來把對於種族 和鄰里的主觀成見從中拿掉，

and you might get different outcomes."

你可能就會得到不同的結果。」

Blind removals seem to be bringing us closer

用盲目移除會議來做寄養照顧決策，

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

似乎讓我們朝解決隱性偏見影響 寄養照顧策略的問題更近了一步。

My next step is figuring out

我的下一步是要想辦法

how to use artificial intelligence and machine learning

使用人工智慧和機器學習

to bring this project to scale

來把這個專案計畫的規模做更大，

and make it more accessible to other states.

讓其他州也更容易參與。

I know we can transform child welfare.

我知道我們可以轉變兒童福利。

We can hold organizations accountable

我們能夠要求組織負起責任，

to developing the social consciousness of their employees.

協助它們的員工發展出社會意識。

We can hold ourselves accountable

我們能要求自己負起責任，

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

確保我們的決策基礎是倫理和安全。

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

讓我們來想像兒童福利體制的焦點

放在與家長合作、賦予家庭能力，

empowering families,

and no longer see poverty as failure.

且不再把貧窮和失敗劃上等號。

Let's work together to build a system

讓我們來同心協力建立一個體制，

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

一個想要讓家庭更強壯， 而不是拆散家庭的體制。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause) (Cheering)

（掌聲）（歡呼）