“The racial disproportionality in our system tells its own story. We tend to value some people more than others; we see some people's love for their children as more valid and valuable than others. Racism and messaging about race and families reinforce the negative, biased beliefs that drive our current system. We're [...]
The mental health of children and youth has been negatively impacted during the pandemic. We observed missed developmental milestones, isolation, hunger, unstable housing, grief, ambiguous loss, and lost connections to adults. Simply put, it was a really hard time and many youth had nothing in their “toolbox” to help get them through this [...]
Executive Director, AspireMN This week at the CASCW Spring 2022 Conference we were inspired, instructed and sent – to further Support Collaborative Birth and Foster Parent Relationships in Child Welfare (as the conference was titled). Discussions included reflections from research, personal narrative, practice implementation strategies, and interestingly – little direct discussion of policy.Instead there [...]
Compiled by Mariel Carlson, Graduate Assistant and Ariana King, Graduate Assistant The Minnesota legislature returned from break on Tuesday to continue its hearings of omnibus bills. Previous bills which we reported on and were laid over for possible inclusion have “lost their number” when they are potentially rolled into the committee omnibus bills. National [...]
Compiled by Mariel Carlson, Graduate Assistant The Minnesota legislature is on break this week and will be returning on Tuesday, April 19th to resume hearings on omnibus bills and more. National News A bill entitled “Ensuring Medicaid Continuity for Children in Foster Care Act of 2021” (S.2689 / H.R. 5414) has been proposed in [...]
Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota is not bringing forward legislation itself this session, but our volunteers are meeting with their state Senator and Representative in support of legislation brought by others when it has a direct impact on child safety and well-being. The first such bill has been brought by Foster [...]
Compiled by Mariel Carlson, Graduate Assistant Today, Friday, April 8th, is the last day for committees to act favorably on bills of finance or appropriation. All week long, various committees in the House and Senate have put forward their omnibus bills for consideration and voting. At the conclusion of week 11, the legislature will [...]
Joanna Woolman and Hannah Burton, Institute to Transform Child Protection Minnesota is one of only four states with an explicit preference in our law to terminate a parent’s rights when a child cannot return home. HF 3159 and SF 3984 seek to change that preference, and instead ensure that Minnesota’s permanency decisions in child [...]