Yesterday at 11 AM, Minnesota Public Radio’s The Daily Circuit hosted a discussion of Minnesota’s child protection system. Guests were Dr. Mark Hudson, Medical Director at the Midwest Children’s Resource Center, Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota; and Lori Whittier, Managing attorney in the Child Protection Division, Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. Dr. Hudson is also a member of the Governor’s Task Force on the Protection of Children.
Most of the discussion centered around what currently happens when a person (mandated reporter or not) suspects that a child is being abused or neglected, including the role of law enforcement in child protection investigations. Specific issues that could be addressed by the task force were also discussed.
State Oversight
There was some discussion about whether the state should have greater oversight and/or implement a centralized intake system. Whittier expressed concern that the current maltreatment statute is vague, leaving room for interpretation, and that counties might have more information about their families and communities that would put them in a better place to make a screening decision. A retired law enforcement officer called in and said that he felt that greater state oversight would add complexity to the system that didn’t need to be there, making it harder for investigators to do their work. Dr. Hudson did say that the task force is interested in how to simplify such a complicated system, but that “complex situations with simple solutions is probably not attainable,” and that “by some definition there will be some complexity,” though the task force would work on how to clarify policies and procedures.
Screening Practices
Regarding comments about screening practices and being able to consider past report and referral history, Whittier said that “most people would agree that sometimes what happens in the past can be relevant to what happens in the future” and that considering patterns is important, but that we must also be cautious about using past reports of alleged maltreatment that have not in any way been proven. She urged the use of professional judgment in decision-making.
Whittier recommended that the task force look at what counties’ decision-making processes are regarding screening, how they document screening decisions, what inconsistencies there are across counties, and what counties do with cases that have been screened out. She pointed out that just because a case has been screened out, it does not necessarily mean that the family’s needs are not being addressed.
Resources
In response to a caller (a local pastor), who stated that the “outcome of the investigation is very much influenced by resources available” to rectify situations, she said that the task force can look into the issue of available resources across the state and whether counties can work together to harness resources.
Multidisciplinary Teams
Dr. Hudson (and a caller) called for the use of multidisciplinary teams in working with children who are abused and neglected, saying that children are served better when there is a multidisciplinary response rather than a siloed response, especially when children have relationships with other service providers.
Other topics covered in this discussion were the state’s responses over time to child abuse and neglect (over-investigating, too many foster care placements, the use of FA to reduce the first two issues, etc.), whether a dollar amount might be included in the task force recommendations, and who makes the decision to remove a child from the home (and why).
