Perceptions of Professionals of Anti-Black Racism of Crossover Youth in Congregate Care

This article explores the perceptions of family policing (child welfare) and juvenile legal (juvenile justice) systems professionals on Black crossover youth in out-of-home placements and explores how interventions in these systems intersect and align with carceral practices. Through the lens of anti-carceral theory, the article pulls together the interplay of anti-Black racism, carceral logic, and carceral expansion in how professionals view system realities of Black crossover youth forcibly separated from their families. Interviews with twelve child welfare, juvenile legal, and court professionals were conducted to understand their perceptions of factors leading to the crossover trajectory, out-of-home placement and other service interventions for crossover youth, and racial disproportionality of Black adolescents. The study describes how professionals acknowledge, justify, or ignore the presence of surveillance, policing, and punishment, embedded in practices intended to service traumatized youth that instead perpetuate systemic racism. Findings uncovered that while professionals acknowledge the overrepresentation of crossover youth across all decision points in family separation and juvenile legal systems, views of individual, and family pathology were noted as causes which underpin carceral thought and social control. Perceptions were akin to a need for continued policing structures that target Black youth. Recommendations for dismantling practices reflecting anti-Black racism and carcerality are offered.