The Legislative Task Force on Child Protection met on July 27, 2016, to hear an update from DHS on the work of the Implementation Work Group and the grants that were recently awarded to projects designed to reduce racial disparities in child protection.
Senator Kathy Sheran opened the meeting by saying that the legislature elected to extend the task force and expand its membership to include six members from the Senate and six from the House. Current membership includes six Senators: Sheran (Co-Chair) (through the end of her term in December), Jeff Hayden, Julie Rosen, Carla Nelson, Michelle Fischbach, and Tony Lourey; and six members from the House of Representatives: Ron Kresha (Co-Chair), Peggy Bennett, Jim Nash, Joe Mullery, Paul Marquart, and Rena Moran.
Jim Koppel, Assistant Commissioner of DHS, and Jodi Wentland, of Olmsted County, representing the Implementation Work Group, testified on several activities, beginning with the new DHS Guidance on Minnesota’s Best Practices for Family Assessment and Family Investigation, which is finalized, but hasn’t yet been rolled out to the counties.
Koppel assured task force members that the guidance released to counties would be accompanied by training to facilitate implementation throughout the state. Legislators asked what authority DHS had if counties were not implementing the guidelines. Koppel said that they are discussing how DHS can apply incentives for proper implementation and penalties for counties not meeting criteria, including the current practice of a 10% withhold of state funding. The guidance is not mandated, though Koppel said that they would approve of legislation that would make it mandatory, with a goal of a consistent child protection system response across the state.
24/7 Coverage
A draft of Guidance on 24/7 Coverage for Child Protective Services was reviewed. The guidance indicates that a system should be set up in each county to ensure that calls received after regular business hours and on weekends and holidays are screened for imminent danger by the child protection agency, rather than delegated to an answering service or law enforcement. Counties may collaborate with neighboring counties to share responsibility for after-hours responses if desired.
In case of a report indicating imminent danger, an immediate (no more than 24 hours) response is required. Counties must implement a system for 24/7 response by January 1, 2017, and the legislature will address this issue to clarify requirements in statute in 2017.
Progress on implementation of Governor’s Task Force recommendations
The 93 recommendations from the Governor’s Task Force on Child Protection have been compiled into a color-coded spreadsheet that divides the status of each recommendation into four categories: Completed, In Progress and/or Plans to Address, Planned for 2017 Legislative Proposal, and Planning in Progress via Implementation Workgroup.
Disparities Grants
DHS awarded eight grants with special funding allocated by the legislature in 2016 to reduce racial disparities in the child protection system. There was some discussion about whether funding for organizations specifically serving African American families could have been increased, and whether funding could be identified at this point to add an organization that could fill that perceived gap in funding for these grants.
KSTP filmed the task force meeting, and aired a story that evening, featuring highlights from discussions and testimony on procedures for interviewing alleged child victims of maltreatment.
The next meeting of the Legislative Task Force on Child Protection will be held in late August or early September. Updates, agendas, handouts and other information can be accessed at http://www.lcc.leg.mn/tfcp/.
