If You Live In MN You Should Do This

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, CASA, GAL and Child Protection, Child Abuse and Deaths, KARA News and Events, Reporting and News - MN Specific

The Safe Passage Report on Child Maltreatment Deaths is a remarkable report – not in a good way. It demonstrates how common it is for Minnesota children to die from abuse in the home even after they have become known to CPS. This report is still only the the tip of the horrors facing abused children as;

DHS did not cooperate with the investigator,
Four counties did not respond,
Child deaths reported were only those that had court filings or had been reported in the media

Child Death, Employee Burnout & Guardian ad Litem Volunteers

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, CASA, GAL and Child Protection, Child Abuse and Deaths, Reporting and News - MN Specific

The tortured death of 4 year old Eric Dean in 2013 prompted the first in depth reporting on parental child murder I can remember. CASAMN gave the reporter (Brandon Stahl) an award and had him speak at our annual conference.

At that time, several children in my caseload had been almost murdered by their caregivers.

A number of my caseload kids (4,5, and 6 year old children) had suffered years of unspeakable sexual abuse and other violence. Their stories never made the paper.

Rich Gehrman Rebuttal of MAD Volunteer Guardian ad Litem Report

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, CASA, GAL and Child Protection, Reporting and News - MN Specific

The analysis by MAD is not, in my view, sufficiently compelling in some important respects to support the board in managing this risk.  While I understand from a previous board meeting I attended as well as a legislative hearing on the topic that the board has been guided in this deliberation by staff, this decision is yours alone, and you alone will be accountable for what happens in the future as a result. 

Minnesota Children Killed By Caregivers While Known to CPS (& how to stop it)

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, CASA, GAL and Child Protection, Child Abuse and Deaths, Reporting and News - MN Specific, Their stories

 There is a real lack of data and transparency in CPS which makes it hard to know outcomes short of child death.
72% of of the 88 child maltreatment deaths studied (complete study below) were known to CPS. We do know that there were many reports of life changing violence, neglect and abuse but few follow ups.