With the call for child protection system reform in Minnesota has come a maelstrom of opinions about what works and what doesn’t for keeping children safe and protecting their overall well-being. Recent legislation has focused on improving aspects of the system’s ability to prioritize high-risk maltreatment cases and ensure child safety. Amid the discussion on child safety, advocates in the community and several members of the Governor’s Task Force on the Protection of Children are pushing for a greater focus on well-being and efforts to support families in order to keep children safe within their own homes.
When considering the legislative agenda and upcoming final Task Force recommendations, legislators and members of the Task Force may want to pay particular attention to best practices with involuntary clients. In the past, approaches to involuntary clients have been far more alienating than engaging. The goal of child protection is family preservation or, if a child is placed out of the home, reunification (when safe). Research has shown that children in foster care have poorer developmental outcomes than children who are not placed in out-of-home care. What’s more, family preservation and reunification promote the child’s continued attachment development, an aspect of child development that impacts the formation of close relationships and how people relate to others throughout the lifespan. A model of empowerment for working with families has been shown to be effective, incorporating strengths-based, task-focused approaches that target cooperation as a co-created process between the worker and family. Because family reunification and preservation are likely to remain the goals of child protection, efforts that set families up for success are highly important.
The Governor’s $2.5 million toward oversight of the child protection system hopes to improve the ethical standards of practice in child protection while also enhancing best practice protocols and trainings for workers. The Task Force and its workgroups have the opportunity to weigh in on a number of areas in child welfare, including early intervention and prevention services. Community advocates have come forth during Task Force meetings and Senate and House committee hearings to speak about a variety of issues, including ways to prevent children from re-entering foster care (for example, through post-reunification services), support for foster care providers, and support for children and families once they are in the system. They have also brought up the need for interventions at different decision points in the child protection system.
Representative Joe Mullery (DFL), who serves on the Task Force, has introduced a bill to extend the Task Force for another year. Based on discussions among Task Force members, as well as community advocates’ testimonies, perhaps the Task Force’s next steps might include broadening supportive services and interventions to other points along the child protection continuum, such as post-reunification and pre-involvement (prevention) services.