These recent pieces from Safe Passages for Children of Minnesota paints a more positive picture for Minnesota’s at risk children than can be seen in the rest of the nation. KARA highly recommends getting to know getting to know this organization as it is having a very positive impact on the policies and legislation that rule the lives of at risk children in our state.
It’s good to know that MN politicians on both sides of the isle care about the youngest and most vulnerable among us. They recognize that healthy children become healthy adults creating a safe and productive community.
The rest of the nation’s children are at risk as attacks on healthcare and education will dismantle working programs and the well-being of millions of America’s poorest and youngest citizens.
Politicians blaming educators and other service providers replace objective discussions about what it takes to improve safety nets and troubled institutions. It hurts me to see just how quickly children’s services become wasted money that some states have been all too ready to reduce for political benefits.
Thank you Minnesota legislators for doing the right thing. Your critical thinking skills and the ethical standards you have maintained to accomplish so many of the recommendations from the Governor’s Task Force on Child Protection Services and Mental Health will benefit this state for decades to come.
As the holiday season approaches, let’s all be grateful for the hard work of these two task forces (and the people that volunteered to staff them) and the results they have accomplished this year.
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The 2017 Minnesota state legislative session starts next month. Our top goal is to help to address burgeoning caseloads in child protection, foster care, and County Attorney offices. This trend should flatten out at a permanently higher level once counties catch up with backlogs, and respond to maltreatment reports in numbers more appropriate for a state of our size. We are supporting strategies to help keep workloads in these agencies from becoming unmanageable: 1. Fully fund the existing system. 2. Reduce pressure on caseloads by investing in two prevention/early intervention services proven to reduce child maltreatment, including in racially diverse communities. b. Home visiting services that provide parenting skills training to high risk pregnant mothers. |
