This week, several MSW Child Welfare students, most of whom are currently interning at Hennepin County in child protection and child welfare units, toured St. Joseph’s Home for Children in Minneapolis. Many of the current students have worked with children who have stayed at St. Joseph’s when they were removed from their homes due to child protection situations in their family. Students were able to tour the facility, see where the Central Intake calls come in, walk through some of the spaces where the children stay during their time there, and hear about some of the current practice challenges and program strengths and opportunities of the work done at St. Joseph’s.

According to their website, approximately 1200 children each year are cared for through St. Joseph’s Central Intake, which provides basic needs and emergency shelter placement for children from birth to 17 years. When we asked staff what advice they would give future child protection and child welfare social workers, students were told, “Please be sure to visit the kids while they are here and do all that you can to nurture your relationships with them.”

For more information on St. Joseph’s, visit: http://www.cctwincities.org/SJHC