This year’s Budget, Bills, and Abused Children

For the next biennium, legislators appropriated 40 million dollars to modernize Minnesota’s Social Services Information System. This will create more training, collection of child welfare data, clarity, transparency, and best practices throughout the “life of a case” and shine a light on how well or poorly programs and policies are working. This upgrade of our…

Details

What Happened to Aaliya Goodwin (a KARA Podcast)

the heartbreaking case of five-month-old Aaliya Goodwin, who died of positional asphyxia while under the care of her drug-abusing parents. Despite multiple reports of neglect, substance abuse, and unsafe conditions, Aaliya remained in the home due to systemic failures in Minnesota’s child protection system

Details

A Win For Abused Children of Minnesota

Safe Passage For Children of Minnesota has helped bring the issue of transparency of child abuse death and near death into the light and Legislature in our State. In about three weeks, Minnesota will create a statewide child fatality and near fatality review panel to track cases of children dying and suffering egregious harm while…

Details

Politics, Religion, and At-Risk Children

This is a dangerous time to be an abused child in America. Slash and burn politics and religious organizations are dismantling a large percentage of government and non governmental agencies keeping children safe. The COVID lockdown kept defenseless children in horrific circumstances without access to safety or healing for two years. Services before COVID and…

Details

MN Guardian ad Litem Program by the Numbers

47 years ago, the CASA volunteer Guardian ad Litem program came to Minnesota. At the time, some children were not able to have a CASA Guardian assigned because there were not enough volunteers to keep up with growing caseloads. This CASA remembers between 50 and 100 children throughout the year not having a CASA to…

Details

Domestic Violence and Child Death at the Hands of Caregivers

What’s it like for a two or five year child old watching mom or dad beaten or murdered in a drug fueled bout of domestic violence? How long does childhood trauma last? What happens to a child after being removed from the home and placed in foster care (podcast)?

Details

Terminating the CASA Volunteer GAL Program Will Cost Children’s Lives and Taxpayers Money

On Tuesday, 4.22.25 National CASA/GAL received notice that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has terminated (CASA National) federal grant awards – among 360 notices of termination the DOJ issued this week. All 12 million dollars.

In this fast moving effort to “cut waste” and “save money”

Details