Brandon Stahl Reporting
KARA gathers news about Minnesota’s abused children to provide a snapshot of Child Protection and how our state values its children.
Only a fraction of serious child abuse stories, statistics and facts we should be aware of.
All Adults Are the Protectors of All Children
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Safe Passage For Children MN (Join their legislative volunteer efforts and make child friendly legislation a reality)
DetailsKARA gathers news about Minnesota’s abused children to provide a snapshot of Child Protection and how our state values its children.
Only a fraction of serious child abuse stories, statistics and facts we should be aware of.
All Adults Are the Protectors of All Children
DetailsKARA gathers news about Minnesota’s abused children to provide a snapshot of Child Protection and how our state values its children.
Only a fraction of serious child abuse stories, statistics and facts we should be aware of.
All Adults Are the Protectors of All Children
Follow;
Safe Passage For Children MN (Join their legislative volunteer efforts and make child friendly legislation a reality)
DetailsIt should be big news* that Hennepin County Commissioner Jan Callison** stood up for abused and neglected children when she found out County Child Protection service providers did not respond to abused & neglected children on weekends, late nights or holidays.
You could tell Commissioner Callison was upset when a service provider at a Task Force Oversight Committee meeting described the County’s procedure of leaving children in violent and abusive homes for days because public policy favored social workers not working holidays, late nights and weekends over the safety of children in dangerous circumstances.
The good news is that Governor Mark Dayton created a task force to investigate Child Protective Services and that many of the worst failures are being addressed instead of ignored.
The bad news is that four, five and six year old children had to die tortured deaths to attract the media and outrage a public before terrible public policy could be exposed and corrected.
None of the 50 children I worked with in Child Protection ever made the newspaper.
DetailsKARA gathers news about Minnesota’s abused children to provide a snapshot of Child Protection and how our state values its children.
Only a fraction of serious child abuse makes the news.
All Adults Are the Protectors of All Children
DetailsTracking the safety of Minnesota Children and caring about how child abuse is dealt with in our community is a big deal. Thank you Safe Passage for Children of MN for staying on top of the statistics of child abuse and watchful eye on the providers. Who’s Minding the Store for abused and neglected Minnesota children?
DetailsBy the time she was 11 years old, McKenna Ahrenholz of Swift County, Minnesota, and her four younger brothers and sisters had endured years of abuse and neglect by her father.
The abuse was frequently reported to child case workers, but each time, time after time, the Ahrenholz children were returned to their father. Even when they asked not to be returned. Every time – seventeen times.
Today, McKenna and her siblings live safely and happily with their grandparents. But in too many cases, Minnesota’s child welfare system continues to fail our state’s children.
Safe Passage for Children advocates for reforms in the child welfare system. As you make your year-end charitable donations, please help us reach our $8,000 goal with a contribution to Safe Passage – and the future of Minnesota children.
DetailsIt is only because you found the death of 4 year-old Eric Dean suspicious and dedicated yourself to reporting on the awful circumstances that killed him after 15 ignored reports of child abuse, that this volunteer CASA guardian ad Litem has any hope for the thousands of other terrified and tortured children in need of child protection services today.
Working for decades with traumatized children, I’ve experienced the awful truth about the lasting impact of abuse on children and the lasting impact of abused children on our community.
Brandon, your efforts and insights into the inadequacies and failures of a system in need of transparency, accountability and media attention is why Governor Dayton called out the colossal failure of the system & created the task force that has brought significant change to an institution not given to criticism or outside influence.
Details“Did you all see the article in the Science and Health section of the Sunday Star Tribune? – ”Study will look at the role of childhood stress in adult disease”. There is a line in there that says, to the effect, that very little is known about the connection between childhood stress and adult disease. Give me a break. What about the ACE Study? Very discouraging.”
Thank you Carol.
Here are my thoughts on your note;
Beyond the sadness of reporters and the general public lacking awareness about the plethora of * ACEs studies demonstrating the direct connection between abuse and lack of coping skills, chronic illness, dangerous lifestyles and early death, is that the most recent reprinting of the DSM* shows almost no mention of ACEs.
Professionals in the mental health field and learning institutions that train new mental health workers need to know ACEs trauma informed best practices for working with trauma victims if we are ever to increase graduation rates, reduce crime and incarceration rates and rebuild safe and livable inner cities.
DetailsSafe Passage For Children of MN has pointed out today that obvious child protection steps in our state are not being followed and might need legislation to be accomplished. Yes to protecting children and making these changes. Far too many children spend far too many months/years being repeatedly traumatized because our system allows risky practices.
Making the first child protection visit unannounced instead of scheduling it in advance
No longer conducting initial interviews of children in the presence of their alleged abusers
Training workers to do fact-finding
