Child Welfare Policy & Practice Blogs

Legislators slogged through more conference committee meetings this week, debating the state budget. Most of the conversation in Health and Human Services committees has been focused on health care and disability services, with citizen activism disrupting one session. Child welfare issues have not risen to the surface of debates, but they remain very susceptible to [...]

Each year, the Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) selects a handful of issues to study through its Program Evaluation Division. Child Protection Screening is one of seven issues selected for evaluation this year. The OLA is a nonpartisan office within the legislative branch. "The office's principal goal is to provide the Legislature, agencies, [...]

Less than three weeks until the legislature has to adjoin, but there are huge distances to cover. The Governor called for the Senate and the House to put forth a single budget bill by May 6th, but that deadline was not reached. Budget conference committees continued to meet this week in an effort to resolve [...]

Back into the swing of things, the legislature reconvened this week after a recess. There's very little consensus at the Capitol these days, but everyone seems to agree that there is a long way to go before a budget solution is reached. And time is beginning to run short. The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits writes [...]

Hey, Child Welfare community - I know you all have valuable expertise and lots of opinions to share, so why don't you consider attending this event? It's about the Saint Paul Promise Neighborhood, hosted with the help of the Children's Defense Fund of MN. Community Conversation-Help Build a Cradle-To-Career Network of Support For Our Kids [...]

On Monday April 18th, the bill known as the Family Reunification Act of 2011(HF 749) had a hearing in the Civil Law Committee. The discussion of the bill was fascinating and contentious, with very different views from people concerned about child well-being. You can listen here. The committee voted to pass the bill and refer [...]

This week, the MN Legislature takes an extended break for Jewish and Christian holidays, so there's no new legislation or activity to report. Still, it was an exciting week for us here at the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare. We hosted our 12th Annual Child Welfare conference. Each year it's free, viewed in [...]