Cultural Dislocation and Alienation Experienced by Black Children in Transracial Placements: Community Level Risk and Protective Factors from the Perspectives of Their Caregivers

Transracial foster placements often disrupt Black children's cultural socialization, impacting their cultural-racial identity development. Through this study we explored what resources are most needed to support healthy cultural-racial identity development among Black youth in substitute care, especially those in transracial placements. We applied a socio-ecological perspective to the risk and resilience framework to understand risks and protective factors for the cultural-racial identity development of Black children in care. Participants were 17 white and 15 Black caregivers of at least one Black child aged 5–17 in substitute care in central Illinois. One in-depth interview was conducted with each caregiver. A priori and emergent codes were used to double-code all interview data, and consensus was obtained on all applied codes. Within the community level, caregivers highlighted five risk factors and two protective factors that impact cultural-racial identity development for Black children in care. Risks include cultural-racial isolation in predominantly white communities, barriers to providing culturally appropriate hair and skin care, and cultural alienation in transracial placements. Highlighted protective factors are community resources for cultural socialization for Black children in transracial placements and community resources that support the cultural competency of transracial caregivers. Positive cultural-racial socialization for Black children and youth requires careful consideration of the community context of the foster home and caregiver access to, and engagement in, culturally affirming resources for Black racial identity development. Further research is needed to explore the long-term impacts of cultural socialization efforts on Black youth in transracial placements.