Child Welfare License (CWEL) Practice Exam 2025 – Complete Study Resource

The Inter-Ethnic Placement Act specifically addresses the importance of preventing discrimination based on a child's race or ethnicity in foster care and adoptive placements. It was enacted to eliminate barriers that could prevent a child from being placed in a family, emphasizing that the race or ethnicity of a child should not be a deciding factor in their permanent placement decisions. This legislation aims to promote the best interest of the child by focusing on the need for stable and loving homes rather than demographic considerations.

Other legislation, such as the Adoption and Safe Families Act and the Fostering Connections to Success Act, while important for promoting child welfare and safety, do not explicitly prohibit the consideration of race or ethnicity in placement decisions in the same way that the Inter-Ethnic Placement Act does. The Social Security Act Title IV-E primarily deals with funding for foster care and adoption services and does not focus specifically on placement decision criteria concerning race or ethnicity.