Opening the Door: A Survey of the Cultural Competence of Foster Care Preventive Services to Asian and Latino Families in New York City (1999)

The Committee for Hispanic Children and Families (CHCF) and the Coalition tor Asian American Children and Families (CACF) are committed to ensuring that Latino and Asian families in New York City have access to the support and services they need to thrive. As the city’s child welfare system restructures services to emphasize neighborhood-based services, CHCF and CACF are concerned with the ability of foster care preventive service agencies to effectively reach culturally and ethnically diverse populations.

CHCF and CACF designed this survey to see if preventive services were taking measurable steps toward matching service provisions to the needs of Latinos and Asians. All agencies which contract with the Administration for Children’s services (ACS) to provide preventive services received a survey. Our findings suggest gaps in preventive services for Latino and Asian American children and families, and a low level cultural competence among providers.