State Capitol Building, St. Paul, MN. Image source: Patrick O’Leary/University of Minnesota
On November 5 and November 14th, the Governor’s Task Force on the Protection of Children met for the 3rd and 4th time at the State Office Building in St. Paul. Several of our current MSW IV-E Child Welfare students attended and a few of them reflect on the experience here.
From MSW IV-E Child Welfare Student, Hannah:
Attending the Governor’s Task Force on the Protection of Children was a great opportunity that I would highly recommend. Whether you are in macro practice or direct practice, have an interest in the child welfare system or not, the experience offers valuable insight into the complexities and challenges that come with policy and service enhancement and systemic change.
It was incredible to see so many people from different disciplines in one space for one purpose. But even that purpose was a little unclear as the group went around and offered their suggested Vision Statements for the task force—all of which were different, but certainly valuable. Clearly, every person in that room had a different lens through which they were viewing the problems and the solutions. This was evident as the group sorted through confusion about Family Assessment after hearing a presentation from the MN Guardian Ad Litem Board, which shared some of their criticisms of the Family Assessment process. Some task force members asked questions and shared information to help clarify some of the misconceptions and confusion around that particular process.
It’s tempting to jump to what we each believe is the problem by narrowing in on a specific policy, a certain group of people, or a specific process such as Family Assessment. But the problem is much bigger than one process or policy and will require a broader lens in order to capture as much of the loopholes as possible. Although these various lenses are incredibly valuable and necessary for systemic change and service enhancement, it is important to begin the collaborative work with an accurate view of what the processes and policies are—both in theory and on the ground. Without a doubt, the task force has an incredible challenge in front of them—I left the meeting wondering how the members would even know where to begin. But the responsibility for change does not lie solely in the hands of the task force. There will be decisions made and recommendations proposed that greatly impact children, families and our greater community.
As students and social workers working within the child welfare system, it’s critical that we stay informed of the work the task force is doing and take initiative to contribute to accurate perceptions of the child welfare system—both its strengths and its shortcomings. Even though there is a deadline for the recommendations of the task force, this does not mean there needs to be an end to ongoing collaboration between systems. I think successful changes and enhancements to the child welfare system depend on ongoing collaboration and transparency between systems, and an eagerness to become better in every decision that’s made by all of us.
From an MSW IV-E Child Welfare 1st Year Student:
As a student who is learning about and planning a career in public child welfare, attending the Task Force Meeting was a great opportunity. The task at hand is an enormous one, and I was interested to learn the more about the people who were chosen to be involved and all of the settings they represented. I appreciated learning that there was time for public comments during the meeting and that there is a way for the public to submit suggestions, comments, recommendations to the Task Force as well. In my supervision this week, I was able to talk more with my field instructor about the work of the task force and we had a larger discussion in our team meeting. We have also been able to have some discussion in our field seminar course. I plan to continue to follow the work of this group and integrate it into my current learning as a child welfare student.
From MSW IV-E Child Welfare Student, Shannon:
Last week I attend a meeting of the Governor’s Task Force and was struck by a theme I have seen in other areas.
Recently, in my job as a firefighter, I was talking with a captain who had declined a promotion. He explained that if he were to take the promotion he would no longer be riding the truck and running calls. He felt that once you are not doing the work, you lose a certain amount of credibility or understanding of the job. You become a step removed from the work even though you are still crucial to that work. He went on to say that ideally he would take the promotion if he could still work shifts with the crews occasionally.
A similar idea or model is used by Corner House in their work with children. At Corner House the trainers who go out and teach forensic interviewing are required to be trainers part time and do the work of forensic interviewing part time. This is a model that I believe allows phenomenal and informed work to be done.
The question that came to mind for me during the Task Force meeting is how far removed from the work is too far to be making crucial decisions. All the Task Force members are crucial members of the system and I fully believe they have the strongest desire to help and protect children, but they are removed from the direct line work of child protection. Being removed from the day to day work potentially leads to a less than full understanding of that work.
As one person I spoke to at the meeting put it, the task force members have “varying degrees of understanding of the child protection system.” That concern was echoed in the sighs of direct line workers sitting with me in the audience and the hissed comments between those workers throughout the meeting.
Luckily as social workers we are advocates! One person who has done child protection work for over 10 years spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting. She was eloquent in what she had to say and gave a voice to direct workers. Unfortunately, she only had 2 minutes to speak which is not enough to provide all the necessary information for the Task Force members to get a fuller understanding. It is a start however!
It is our duty to inform the Task Force, share our perspective, and help them to make the crucial decisions and recommendations they have been charged with making. In order to do that, we all need to get involved!