It Can’t Happen Here (Sally’s Story – Podcast)
the tragic story of Sally, an 8-year-old girl who suffered abuse by her biological father and her mother’s boyfriend, Joe
Vulnerabilities in the Foster Care System (podcast)
In this episode of Kids at Risk Action, hosts Ashley and Alex discuss a heartbreaking case in which a 7-week-old infant suffered 13 fractures while in foster care, allegedly inflicted by the foster mother. This case highlights the systemic issues within the foster care system, including inadequate resources, lack of oversight, and insufficient training and support for foster parents.
Foster Care Needs and Facts for Minnesota
There is an underappreciated reality that Child Protective Services is the only safe haven for children living with rape, violence and neglect as they are too young to defend themselves.
The End Of Child Protection
It also means that children growing up in toxic homes steeped in violence, abuse, and severe neglect are about to have the only chance they have of escaping life changing childhood trauma evaporate.
The Critical Need for Child Advocacy Centers (podcast)
Kids at Risk Action, the hosts discuss the critical issue of funding cuts to Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) in Minnesota, which are essential in providing support for abused and neglected children. CACs offer services like forensic interviews, victim advocacy, and medical exams, but with the loss of 80% of their federal funding, these centers could be forced to close, leaving thousands of children without protection.
List of Current Federal Policies Impacting Children
Funding cuts to programs for education, healthcare, poverty, hunger, disabilities, insurance, civil rights, nutrition, homelessness, discrimination, early childhood programs, child labor, and child abuse are all disappearing.
Child Death and Public Non Disclosure (podcast)
Kids at Risk Action, Alan and Lauren address the critical issue of the lack of transparency within child welfare systems and its devastating impact on vulnerable children. Despite efforts to raise awareness, many cases of child maltreatment, near-fatalities, and deaths remain hidden from public view due to the absence of standardized reporting and privacy laws that can shield institutions from scrutiny.
Best and Worst Practices in Minnesota CPS (part 4 of 4)
Jessie Van Berkel wrote a very strong piece about the CASA Guardian ad Litem program in the Star Tribune recently. She brought attention to how a few bad decisions from new management can almost end a community volunteer institution at a time when it is most needed.
Best and Worst Practices in Minnesota CPS (part 3 of 4)
If you ran an institution that found it hard to keep up with the demands being met in it you would most likely have only one or two choices to meet those demands. Find ways to do the work by simply making people do more with less, or, find more people to provide the service you have been mandated to provide.
Best and Worst Practices in Minnesota CPS (part 2 of 4)
Imagine you ran an office full of Guardians ad Litem with different talents and these people worked hard to fix the problems of people with a wide range of complex problems.
It would be useful to allow your talented worker bees to select those cases that fit their requests and talents
Best and Worst Practices in Minnesota CPS (part 1 of 4)
Because KARA calls on CASAs around the country, we have discovered Child Protection Policies that work along with things that don’t work and some practices that are harmful.
Doing the Math in Child Protective Services (podcast)
Kids at Risk Action, Michael and John examine the staggering costs and human impact of child protective services (CPS) and the interconnected child welfare and juvenile justice systems. They highlight troubling statistics, such as the high number of children reported to CPS each year, the underreporting of abuse, and the alarming link between CPS involvement and later incarceration.
77 Years of Child Abuse (podcast)
Kids at Risk Action, Katie and Jenna explore the deep, lasting effects of childhood trauma through the lens of a survivor’s 77-year journey. They discuss how childhood abuse, often unrecognized, rewires the brain and shapes a lifetime of emotional struggles, relationships, and self-worth issues.
All About Adverse Childhood Experiences: Trauma, Testing, And Resilience (podcast)
Kids at Risk Action, hosts Alex and Jordan explore the profound impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and how childhood trauma can affect individuals throughout their lives, much like PTSD in veterans.
KARA’s Plea For Children (a call to action)
There is no shortage of well-meaning volunteers and workers dedicated to improving the lives of the children they are serving as teachers, Guardians ad Litem, social & healthcare workers, law enforcement and adoptive/foster parents.
Be a Voice for MN Children at the Capital April 1 and 7
APRIL IS NATIONAL CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION MONTH-Register for Child Advocacy Events on April 1 and 7 with Safe Passage for Children Day at the Capitol here.
Be a Voice for MN Children at the Capital in April
APRIL IS NATIONAL CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION MONTH-Register for Child Advocacy Events on April 1 and 7 with Safe Passage for Children Day at the Capitol here.
Isabella’s Story
Isabella was taken into foster care when her birth home was raided by authorities for possession of drugs. She was found locked in a room by herself. She was silent – never spoke. Isabella had never been outside until she was placed into foster care at 7.
Ethan’s Story
Ethan was removed from his parents at a young age. I have only come to know him briefly through the course of my work with him at an inpatient facility.
What Happened To Portia?
Portia died shortly after being brought into the operating room. Leroy called me early in the morning and told me that the surgery had been delayed too long. There was no way the doctors could save her at that point.
When Is Child Abuse a Crime
If I had committed the crimes parents perpetrated upon their own children in my CASA guardian ad Litem cases, I would be writing this from jail.
Parental Drug Use Killing Children in Pennsylvania at High Rates (investigative report)
KARA follows investigative reporting on child death and near death by caregivers while the children are known to CPS (Child Protective Services). Please send us links to the reports in your state and we will make them available to a larger audience.Parental Drug Use Killing Children in Pennsylvania at High Rates (investigative report)
(CASA Guardian ad Litem) Be a Voice For Abused Children Where You Live
Commentary: Why We Need Volunteers to Work on Behalf of Our Most Vulnerable Children – Minnesota Women’s Press Commentary: Why We Need Volunteers to Work on Behalf of Our Most Vulnerable Children by Laurel Ferris in Commentary, Family/Home, Healing, Re-Imagining Public Safety FacebookEmailLinkedInTwitterShare This article ran a year ago during management’s effort to eliminate the CASA volunteer Guardian ad…
How One Letter Saved a Child (KARA Podcast)
Josh and Maya share a powerful story of a young boy on the brink of being locked up, not because he was dangerous, but because the system lacked transparency
Fosters, Grandparents & Thanksgiving Hunger
This Thanksgiving, over 13 million American children are living with their grandparents (four times what this it was in 1970).
It is estimated that for every child in foster care with relatives, there are 20 living outside of care with relatives (usually grandparents).
Child Abuse Investigations & Reforms
WHEN YOU Share KARA’s reporting with FRIENDS, INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK and most of all, your State Representative (find them here) change will come a little bit faster. When enough of us become informed and speak up for abused and neglected children, we will improve their lives and our communities! Please support KARA’s work with a small monthly donation: CLICK…
Child Abuse Data and Better Decision Making
Child Abuse Data and Better Decision Making
America’s Children In 100 Charts (draft preface)
America’s Children In 100 Charts
Child abuse is invisible. It is a core problem in every American community impacting all of us, our institutions, and every aspect of our quality of life every day.
State of Foster Care In America (Week of 8.28.24)
American Fosters are struggling. These reports from around the nation indicate a great need for more help for at risk families and safe homes for children unlucky enough to be born into toxic homes.
Self-Destructive Habits of Institutions
Let’s imagine a government that controls (1) automobile safety standards, (2) the state inspection for compliance with automobile safety standards (3) the automobile repair industry, all within the same department, and all done in official secrecy so as to protect the privacy of would-be drivers.
And let’s also suppose that the people who drive automobiles are, 98% of them, poor and very young people, who have no effective political voice.
Child Protection/CPS: If Lawmakers Only Knew
Child Protection/CPS: If Lawmakers Only Knew (why they don’t – & why they should) Not many lawmakers come to the job understanding child abuse and what happens to children in CPS (Child Protective Services). Few legislators have experienced childhood trauma or the institution (CPS) that protects children from growing up in homes of life-threatening harm.
Minnesota Child Protection News May 2024
Minnesota Child Protection News May 2024 Share these articles with media contacts,
lawmakers and other changemakers. Change won’t come without you.
U.S. Child Welfare Articles May 8 & 9 2024 – (From the Children’s Bureau)
Sign up HERE for KARA’S free Friday updates Support KARA Programs Here KARA Maintains this site with the hope that this information will compel you to share it with media contacts, lawmakers and other changemakers. change won’t come without you. KIDS AT RISK NONPROFIT EIN: 510570258 INVISIBLECHILDREN – KARA (KIDS AT RISK ACTION Who represents me in…
New Child Fatalities Database (thank you Safe Passage for Children of MN)
New Child Fatalities Database (thank you Safe Passage for Children of MN)
CASA of Rock County’s Break The Cycle Luncheon
CASA of Rock County’s Break The Cycle Luncheon
Celebrating Minnesota’s CASA Guardian Ad Litem Progress
Celebrating Minnesota’s CASA Guardian Ad Litem Progress
HUGE NEWS: Former Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz Appointed to MN Guardian ad Litem Board
After years of turmoil caused by GAL management’s efforts to end the Court Appointed Special Advocate volunteer program, Minnesota’s former Supreme Court Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz has been appointed to the GAL board.
Chief Justice Blatz attended the recent GAL board meeting where the vote was being taken to end the CASA program. She made observations and asked questions that prompted enough board member no votes to stop the elimination process.
Were Governor Walz State Board Members Misled About Volunteers (and what it could mean)?
There is a political battle being waged over the elimination of qualified community volunteers in Child Protective Services. There are too many pieces of this puzzle to include in this article, but one piece must be addressed to determine if wrongdoing has happened in the drive to eliminate the Court Appointed Special Advocate volunteers. KARA has sent two requests to Governor Walz Guardian ad Litem State Board members over the past few months requesting a conversation about their role in making this critical decision.
Parental Drug Use Killing Children in Pennsylvania at High Rates (investigative report)
KARA follows investigative reporting on child death and near death by caregivers while the children are known to CPS (Child Protective Services). Please send us links to the reports in your state and we will make them available to a larger audience.Parental Drug Use Killing Children in Pennsylvania at High Rates (investigative report)
CASA MN Newsletter (Guardian ad Litem News & Updates)
CASA MN Newsletter (Guardian ad Litem News & Updates)
Have Governor Walz State Board members been mislead?
Dear Reader,Allowing the State board to eliminate 10,000 future volunteers (over the next 40 years) at a time when we are reporting on children murdered by their parents may be an unfixable mistake costing even more children their lives.
Rebuttals to the State MAD report from several top child advocates here;
KARA Videos of the Week
A Storm Is Brewing (4m) Will CASA GAL program end because of misinformation?
Let’s Go KARA (3m) Supporting Child Friendly Initiatives
Don Shelby on Child Protection (30 seconds)
Child Placement Crisis (best article ever – thank you Child Welfare Monitor)
While the article from the Child Welfare Monitor by Judith Schagrin
refers to Child Protection conditions in Maryland,
it is clear the crisis exists in every state.
Children & Gun Violence (as American as Apple Pie)
2020, he child and teen gun death rate in the U.S. was more than 3 times higher than that in Turkey, the country with the next highest rate; 11 times higher than in Israel; 19 times higher than in Switzerland and 85 times higher than in the United Kingdom
We’re Doing It Again – Doubling Childhood Poverty
Child poverty more than doubled between 2021 and 2022. Child poverty and near poverty in America was around 60% when I grow up in 1960’s. Compared to other industrialized nations we have never been a leader – always between 25th and 40th in child poverty rankings among our peers. From the 1960’s through the 1990’s, our childhood poverty rates hovered around 30% (significant multiple of the other advanced nations).
Inside the Henn Cty Guardian Ad Litem Office Today
The push to diminish/eliminate the CASA Volunteer workforce of Hennepin County’s Guardian ad Litem Program is impacting office morale for both paid and volunteer GALS. We’ve gone from about 250 volunteers to 32 remaining under new leadership in the last five years. CASA’s supporting program, CASAMN has over 200 volunteers waiting to be GALs –…
Why CASA Guardian Ad Litems (in their words)
The following are recent survey responses by CASAs answering the question “What community CASA volunteers bring to abused children and the Child Protection System they serve. Several spelling and grammatical changes have been made for clarity. We advocate for these children without paycheck and without allegiance to anyone or anything other than the child. We…
Hennepin County Child Well-being Advisory Committee Meeting Summary (with KARA notations)
The complete report can be read HERE. This post emphasises the GAL program’s effort to eliminate the CASA community volunteer Guardian ad Litems. The author made notes and corrected several minor spelling errors (notes are in parenthesis and in bold).
Hennepin County participants: Jodi Wentland; Dan Rogan; Lori Whittier; Evangeline Filosi; Patricia Zagaros; Sherry Smith; Lisa Bayley; Kwesi Booker; Michelle Lefebvre; Lori Munsterman; Fintan Moore; Lauren Kewley; Madeline Johnson; Shanese Reed; Rachelle Loewenson Stratton; Meredith Martinez: Lolita Ulloa
Metrics That Matter (and NOT reported)
Costs of not knowing the reality of child abuse, trauma and child protection in Minnesota are high Children are dying at the hands of caregivers while in Child Protective Services
Metrics That Matter (and those that don’t)
Metrics are the heart of the matter. Measuring the wrong things wastes money, makes failure likely and problems fester…
Tracking, recording and making available meaningful information shines a light on what’s working and failing – The opposite is continued darkness…