Earlier this month, the House Research and Senate Counsel, Research, and Fiscal Analysis legislative offices published "side-by-side" comparisons of the House and Senate Health and Human Service Omnibus bills. As of last week the Senate File (2039) has been absorbed by the House File (2294). Because of this, the following overview of the side-by-side comparison [...]
Welcome back to session, Minnesota legislature! With just a few weeks left, there's a lot to do. This week appears to be pretty quiet regarding hearings of child welfare-related legislation. As of today, there is just one bill related to child welfare that's being heard. However, should this change, we will of course update this [...]
S.F. 1586/ H.F. 1945 was revised on April 9, 2012, adding additional penalties for parents, guardians or caregivers who confine or restraint children which results in demonstrable bodily harm. Demonstrable bodily harm is bodily harm capable of being perceived by a person other than the victim. These penalties include up to 2 years in prison, [...]
S.F. 2297 and H.F. 1899 were signed into law by Governor Dayton on April 4, 2012. This law, known as Jacob's Law, requires both parents to be notified if their child is a possible victim of abuse, neglect or sexual assault. This petition was brought forth by Sarah Guggisberg of Clara City, MN whose son [...]
S.F. 753 was introduced by Senator Rosen on March 14, 2011. If enacted, this law would require those who engage in social work or are presented to the public as a social worker become licensed by the MN Board of Social Work by July 1, 2016. This would apply to those who are newly employed [...]
This month the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare has three new Policy Briefs available online. CASCW's Policy Briefs aim to explore how the field of child welfare interacts with policy and research. The Briefs serve as a "user's guide" for policy makers and advocates, pointing to the articles most directly linked to policy [...]
We are presenting our 13th Annual FREE Child Welfare conference, Beyond Burnout: Secondary Trauma in the Child Welfare Workforce on May 1, 2012, from 1:00pm to 4:30pm. We are pleased to feature keynote presenter Dr. Brian Bride, PhD, LCSW, who is Associate Professor and PhD Program Director at the School of Social Work, University of [...]
Rep. Jim Abeler, chair of House HHS Finance Committee, and Sen. David Hann, chair of Senate HHS Committee. Photo courtesy of MN House of Representatives This week has been fairly quiet regarding child welfare legislative hearings. On Monday, the Senate HHS Committee held a hearing on the recent Office of the Legislative Auditor's Child Protection [...]