Analyzing Racial Disparities in the U.S. Foster Care System

Overview

This project processes and visualizes data related to racial disparities in the U.S. foster care system. The analysis integrates data from:

• Children’s Bureau
• National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect
• U.S. Census Bureau

It calculates Disproportionality Indices (DI) and examines patterns of foster care entry, exit, and ongoing care across different racial groups.

Features

• Static and Interactive Visualizations
  • Choropleth maps
  • Stacked bar charts
• Disproportionality Analysis
  • Identifies overrepresentation or underrepresentation of racial groups in foster care
• Interactive Shiny App
  • Enables stakeholders to explore DI metrics across states

Purpose

This project provides evidence-based insights for policymakers and advocates to better understand systemic inequities in child welfare. By leveraging data-driven research, it supports informed decision-making to reduce these disparities.

Data Confidentiality

🚨 Important Notice:
The datasets used in this project contain confidential information and are not included in this repository. Access to the data is restricted, and users must obtain permissions from the original source to reproduce the analysis.

Code and Documentation

• The R code includes detailed annotations to guide users through:
  • Data cleaning
  • Merging datasets
  • Visualization generation
• Ensures transparency and reproducibility for researchers and practitioners.

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