Risk of Child Welfare Involvement among Children of Kalaallit Inuit Descent in Denmark and Greenland

Mikkeline Munk Nielsen, University of Copenhagen
Peter Fallesen , Rockwool Foundation
Martin Eiermann, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Brielle Bryan, Rice University
Christopher Wildeman, Duke University

Young adults with a history of child welfare services (CWS) involvement have worse health and socioeconomic outcomes. In settler-colonial societies, indigenous children experience elevated CWS risk, yet population-level estimates distinguishing indigenous and non-indigenous territories remain scarce. This study examines age-standardized CWS involvement risk for Kalaallit Inuit children in Denmark and Greenland versus Danish children in Denmark (2010-2023), providing first estimates of CWS gradients in both Greenland and Denmark. Kalaallit Inuit children face 3.5-6 times higher out-of-home placement risk than Danish children, with highest risks among Kalaallit Inuit in Denmark. Risks increase across the study period for both groups. Further, within Denmark, Kalaallit Inuit children are twice as likely to be reported to CWS and receive in-home services than Danish children. Thus, the Kalaallit Inuit-Danish gradient is starkest for the most severe form of CWS involvement. Across childhood, Kalaallit Inuit children in Denmark was 3.5-4 more likely to ever be placed in care compared to Danish children.

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 Presented in Session P4. Migration, Migrants, and Mobility