BLACK NEWBORNS LIKELIER TO BE DRUG-TESTED: STUDY

Black babies are more likely than white babies to be tested for cocaine and
to be taken away from their mothers if the drug is present, according to
the March issue of the Chicago Reporter.

The monthly publication on race and poverty surveyed the 53 public and
private hospitals in Cook County that deliver babies. Only five would
provide statistics about the number of babies they test.

Of those that responded, two Chicago hospitals serving primarily black,
low-income women said they test every baby. Two suburban hospitals that
serve primarily middle-class whites said they test fewer than 2 percent of
newborns.

Black babies in Illinois are more likely than white babies to be taken from
their mothers and placed in foster care because of exposure to drugs while
in the mother's womb, the Reporter found.

In the year ending June 30, 2000, the Illinois Department of Children and
Family Services took 39 percent of 5,851 drug-exposed black babies into
foster care, but only 27 percent of 1,035 white babies.

"I have worked here for a long time, and the most compelling explanation is
that it is evidence of bias," said John Goad, associate deputy director of
child protection for DCFS in Cook County.

Illinois has no law or policy dictating which babies should be tested for
drug exposure in the womb, leaving the decision to each hospital. No
government agency tracks who is being tested.