Minnesota’s Child Protection System: From the Voices of Refugee Community Members (4-Part Series)

Authors: Patricia Shannon, PhD and Connor Malloy

In this four-part video series interviews are conducted with members from four of Minnesota’s largest refugee communities (Somali, Karen, Oromo, and Nepali-Bhutanese) in which the community members discuss their communities’ interactions with child protection services. The videos cover such general topics as the communities’ awareness of child protection services’ mission (or lack thereof), generational differences and their effects on power dynamics within the family structure, a learned distrust of representatives of governments, starkly different notions related to corporal punishment, and important considerations to make when using interpreters. Each video also highlights the lived experiences, differences from “back home,” communication styles, and notions of respect that are unique to the Somali, Karen, Oromo, and Nepali-Bhutanese communities, all of which relate to the work being done by child welfare professionals in Minnesota.