Lucinda Jesson, Commissioner of Minnesota Department of Human Services, appeared on KARE-11 to encourage people to consider adopting African American youth in foster care in Minnesota. Commissioner Jesson spoke of meeting one youth who, at age 17, was adopted. Commissioner Jesson also encouraged anyone interested in learning more about adoption to visit the mnadopt.org website. [...]
Prevention Action, an online news publication on issues related to improving child development and health around the world, published an article, "Stressed welfare systems impede evidence-based support for foster children" last week. According to the article, a collaborative effort by rsearchers in the US and UK found that while several strong evidence-based interventions have been [...]
Remember to follow our bill tracking efforts! Senate will be in session at 11:00 AM on Monday, February 11.House meets in session at 3:00 PM on Monday, February 11. Governor's budget 2/12, 10:00 AM, 200 SOB: House Health & Human Services Finance Committee—MDH to present the Governor's budget proposals.2/13, 10:00 AM, 200 SOB: House Health [...]
[Photo by Jennifer Simonson for MPR] This morning as I was driving to work I heard a wonderful story by Sasha Aslanian on MPR about the Heartland Girl's Ranch. Heartland began as a group home for adolescent girls with behavioral issues and found over the years that more and more of the girls referred to [...]
[Photo by Patrick Cummings for Associated Press] ESPN's Rick Reilly published a commentary on ESPN's website last week about Colin Kaepernick, the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. Kaepernick was adopted and according to the Reilly article, is currently not interested in meeting his birth mother. Human interest stories about our sports figures are common, [...]
[Photo by Catherine Green for LA Weekly] The LA Weekly published a story last Thursday about the story of one young man struggling to find his way after aging out of the system, and a family that has informally offered resources and support. This story deftly describes the many ways in which young adults aging [...]
An innovative initiative by former Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Helen Meyer helps to support parents who have been accused of abusing their children. According to Myer, repairing the relationship between the parent and child is worth the effort and resources if it prevents the child from having to be placed in out-of-home care or adopted. [...]
I will try to post as early as I can in the week about child welfare-relevant upcoming committee hearings during Minnesota's 88th legislative session. I thought it would be a good idea to organize based on topic, rather than date. Let me know what you think of my methods. As always, remember to follow our [...]