Health service access across racial/ethnic groups of children in the child welfare system

Objective: This study examined health service access among children of different racial/ethnic groups in the child welfare system in an attempt to identify and explain disparities. Methods: Data were from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW). N for descriptive statistics = 2,505. N for multiple regression model = 537. Measures reflected child health services need, access, and enabling factors. Chi-square and t tests were used to compare across racial/ethnic groups. A logistic regression model further explored the greatest disparity identified, that between non-Latino/a Black and White children in caseworker-reported access to counseling. Results: In general, caseworker reports of health care service receipt did not differ across racial/ethnic groups. However, Latino/a children had better reported access to vision services than non-Latino/a White children, and counseling access was lower for non-Latino/a Black children than non-Latino/a White children. Caseworkers' self-reported efforts to facilitate service access did not vary by race/ethnicity for any type of health care. In the multiple regression model, both private health insurance and a lack of insurance were negatively associated with counseling access, while a history of sexual abuse, adolescence, and greater caseworker effort to secure services were positively associated with access. Race was just barely nonsignificant after controlling for other factors expected to affect access. Conclusions: One possible reason why Black children are less likely to be identified as needing counseling is the fact that they are less likely than White children to have reports of sexual abuse, which strongly predicts counseling access. Practice implications: First, child welfare practice may be more equitable than many believe, with generally comparable health service access reported across children's racial/ethnic groups. Second, caseworkers may be under-identifying need for counseling services among Black children, although this might reflect less frequent reports of sexual abuse for Black children. Third, both privately insured and uninsured children were less likely to receive needed mental health counseling than those with public insurance. This suggests that policy makers should focus on increasing the numbers of children enrolled in public health insurance programs such as Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).