Updated Jan. 5, 2015, to reflect the Initial Recommendations report, released December 31, 2014. Changes and additions are

highlighted yellow, and deletions are marked as strikethroughs.

The Screening & Transparency Workgroup preliminary recommendations are listed below, grouped under general themes (which are found in the light gray boxes). Each of these recommendations are taken from the draft of the Initial Recommendations document that was made available at the December 12 CPS Task Force meeting. Some of the recommendations have italicized notes underneath, which come directly from the CPS Task Force’s discussion during the December 12 meeting. The recommendations listed below may or may not be in the final draft of the preliminary recommendations that are due on Wednesday, December 31.

These recommendations were included in the December 31, 2014 Initial Recommendations report; changes are noted below.

Not included in the table below are recommendations that are based on whether Minnesota keeps its 2-track system currently in place. If Minnesota does retain its 2-track system, then the following recommendations would be given:

  • Allow the consideration of families’ previous use of FA in determining track assignment.
  • Make clear that agencies can opt for an investigation track even if the report doesn’t meet all elements of “substantial child endangerment,” provided that the reason(s) for doing so are well documented and based on child safety.

Final recommendations for this legislative session are due in March of 2015.

Workgroup Recommendations: Screening and Transparency

Revise the Public Policy statement for Minnesota’s Reporting of Maltreatment of Minors Act to include child safety as paramount concern.

Require use of DHS Screening Guidelines as base for decision making.
Require DHS approval for any county-level modifications to the Screening Guidelines; such modifications can only result in greater protection of children, not less.
Include examples in the Screening Guidelines, particularly for medical neglect reports, mental/emotional harm reports, and driving while under the influence with children present.
Expand definition of “substantial child endangerment” based on research-based vulnerability factors.

Enhance screeners’ ability to make screening decisions.
Remove “that are done in anger or without regard to the safety of the child” in statute under the definition of “physical abuse.”

  • Members brought up that the actions included in this definition (e.g., throwing, kicking, burning, cutting) should not require proof that they were done in anger or without regard to the child’s safety.
Require screening decisions to be made by more than 1 person (preferably a multi-disciplinary team).
Repeal last year’s law barring consideration of screened out reports.
Allow screeners to seek out more collateral information.

  • Scott County HHS Director Judith Brumfield cautioned that such information-seeking could inadvertently turn into an investigation or assessment, thereby automatically screening in the report. Molly Kenney, Family Services Director at Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery, indicated concern that some of these recommendations are adding a lot of expectations for screeners, and that more would be needed to support the screening team, such as additional training on bias and culture. Sen. Rosen felt that these recommendations should be seen as extra tools for the screener, rather than increasing the screeners’ workloads.

Allow more data-sharing across counties & with mandated reporters.
Ensure that cross-reporting between law enforcement & CPS agencies is happening.

  • While this is currently required by statute, it was noted in the meeting by former MN Supreme Court Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz that this does not happen uniformly across counties. By law, every report that comes in must be cross-reported, whether the report is screened in or not.
Allocate funding to update SSIS
[Social Services Information System] to ensure accessibility across the state and counties.

  • Stacy Hennen of MACSSA stated that all counties in Minnesota fall under SSIS, making it easier to share information across counties. While workers do have to click a button to request access to other counties’ SSIS records, permission is automatically granted. The button is a way to track who is accessing which records in order to reduce unlawful access.Sen. Sheran asked about sharing data across states. Chief Justice Blatz responded that data sharing between states is allowed in statute, and Hennen added that sometimes other states don’t respond to data sharing requests. Hennen also added that Minnesota does give other states client-level information when requested.
Clarify that CPS must share relevant private data (except in limited circumstances) to mandated reporters who make a report who also have an ongoing responsibility for the child. (The CPS Task Force will review the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act to determine if it needs to be amended in order to allow this.)
Encourage counties to share such private data with other mandated reporters who did not make the original report but who have an ongoing responsibility for the child & such data is necessary to care for the child.

Improve data-recording processes.
DHS to provide greater direction on how to record screened in/out reports.
Screen in duplicate reports as duplicate reports (don’t screen out due to same allegation).

  • Justice Blatz stated that this recommendation was made in order to improve confidence in the CPS system. By allowing duplicate reports to be screened in, mandated reporters will know that something is getting done.
Keep records of screened out reports for 5 years, not 1.

  • Nicollet County Attorney Michelle Zehnder Fischer stated that this number was based on other record-keeping practices as well as the vulnerability factor of children ages 0-5.

Improve transparency.
(This recommendation was originally found under the Family Assessment workgroup’s recommendations.) Add a section in the annual Child Welfare report that identifies themes in data, including where CPS is improving and potential areas of concern.

  • This seems to be related to an earlier concern brought up at the December 4 CPS Task Force meeting regarding assignment of child sexual abuse cases to FA, which the most recent Child Welfare report showed had happened quite a few times. The Director of Child Safety and Permanency at DHS, Jamie Sorenson, indicated his concern that this was happening and stated that DHS would be sending out a bulletin to all counties to reiterate that cases involving child sexual abuse were not to be assigned to FA.
Increase consistency and comprehensive reporting by county agencies.
(This recommendation was moved to Training & Supervision recommendations.) Monitor county compliance with statute & conduct reviews/quality assurance.
Make child mortality review process more accessible to the public & conform with federal requirements.

  • In a recent editorial in the Star Tribune, Mark Sizer of MACSSA pointed out that “Minnesota’s child fatality rate is less than half the national average (0.78 per 100,000 children in Minnesota vs. 2.2 per 100,000 children nationally.” (Source: Star Tribune)