Faculty note: Prof. Akakpo publication

Associate Professor Akakpo (Social Work and Global Studies) and Assistant Professor and Associate Dean Adrianne Fletcher (Case Western Reserve University, Mandel School of Social Work) have published a jointly authored article “We Can Do Better: Mitigating Negatively Racialized Attitudes in Child Welfare through Self-awareness Training.” in the Child Welfare League Journal.  The study focuses on social worker attitudes toward caregiver race, which is a known influence in the removal of children who are African American from their biological home into foster care, and on how attitudes about race can be altered through the educational, self-awareness experience called Knowing Your Lens-Cultural Humility Awareness Training (KY-CHAT). This focus is significant because children who are African American continue to be removed from their homes at rates disproportionate to their percentage in the population. The importance of the article was highlighted by editor “Black and Brown Children’s and Familied Live Matter: Addressing racial bias and oppressive policies and practice in the U.S. Child welfare system.”