Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

Bipartisan support shown for adopting child protection recommendations

Foster parent Cathy Gillman testifies Jan. 21 before the House Health and Human Services Reform Committee in support of a bill that would modify child maltreatment reports screening. Rep. Ron Kresha, the bill’s sponsor, listens to the testimony. Photo by Andrew VonBank
Foster parent Cathy Gillman testifies Jan. 21 before the House Health and Human Services Reform Committee in support of a bill that would modify child maltreatment reports screening. Rep. Ron Kresha, the bill’s sponsor, listens to the testimony. Photo by Andrew VonBank

Initial recommendations from The Governor’s Task Force on the Protection of Children comprise a bill that aims to put a child’s needs first, over the needs of the family when suspected child maltreatment is reported.

The task force formed after the death of 4-year-old Eric Dean, who was repeatedly abused by his step-mother, Amanda Peltier. Eric suffered a fatal abdominal injury in February 2013 at the hands of Peltier who was later sentenced to life imprisonment.

Overall, the task force is proposing more than 30 changes in the way child protection cases are handled; final recommendations are due out in March.

However, HF191 contains some of those recommendations, most notably a culture shift in the way county and tribal screeners process child abuse claims. Rep. Ron Kresha (R-Little Falls), who served on the task force, sponsors the bill.

Approved Wednesday by the House Health and Human Services Reform Committee, the bill, as amended, was sent to the House Civil Law and Data Practices Committee. Sen. Kathy Sheran (DFL-Mankato) sponsors a companion, SF4, which awaits action by the Senate Health, Human Services and Housing Committee.

Stopping child maltreatment reports from falling through the cracks

Though the bill is showing signs of broad bipartisan support, some foster care parents were upset that they were not represented on the task force.

Cathy Gillman, a foster parent for 12 years, said children often suppress information and tell foster parents the truth about what happened to them. As mandated reporters, they should have had a voice at the table, she said.

Judith Brumfield, Scott County health and human services director and a task force member, said counties support many of the proposed changes but they won’t support unfunded mandates. Counties fund about half of the child protection costs, while the federal government pays 30 percent and the state pays 20 percent.

Screeners serve on the front line

When a child maltreatment call comes into county social services, a screener determines whether the case should be dismissed or if it should move forward through the county or tribal child protection system. Thus, cases are “screened out” if dismissed or “screened in” if the social worker finds the report credible.

Under current law, screeners are not allowed to consider previous reports about the same child if those reports were screened out. A hallmark of the bill would be a repeal of that provision and enabling of information about why a previous call was screened out to be kept on record for five years.

Among the state’s 87 counties and tribal units, whether a case should be referred varies within the systems. Task force members are striving for more uniformity and asking for the Department of Human Services to take a stronger lead role.

Per the bill, screening guidelines would be updated by the commissioner by Aug. 1, 2015, and agencies would be required to consider prior screened-out reports when determining whether to dismiss the report or to determine which path it would travel through the system: investigation or child/family services assessment. Agencies would need to implement the guidelines by Oct. 1, 2015.

Pick one: voluntary services or investigation

After a screener decides to open a case file, there are two paths it can travel. The case may be referred for family assessment, where family support services are offered. Acceptance of family services are voluntarily.

“If the families aren’t going to work with the system, there’s nothing that can be done until the court intervenes. The kids don’t have a choice. The parents have made that choice,” Kresha said.

More serious cases of suspected maltreatment are referred for family investigation, which brings in law enforcement and may include removing a child from the home.  

In addition, some screeners have referred hundreds of suspected sexual abuse cases for family assessment services, rather than investigation.

“We should never be looking at that as a family assessment model. That should be an investigation. That’s being corrected,” James Koppel, Department of Human Services’ children and family services assistant commissioner, said during a previous committee hearing.

Can data be shared?

Some counties share child protection data between social services and law enforcement. For others, antiquated systems make extracting data too difficult so social workers don’t bother trying, said Vicki Underland-Rosow, a member of the Hennepin County Citizen’s Review Committee on Child Welfare.

Information needs to be shared across county lines, and even state lines, if the child’s safety is at risk.

“The reason for that is we know these families move. They know the system better than our workers do and that’s how they can get around it,” Kresha said.

Data sharing issues are expected to be discussed in the House Civil Law and Data Practices Committee.


Related Articles


Priority Dailies

Minnesota’s projected budget surplus balloons to $3.7 billion, but fiscal pressure still looms
(House Photography file photo) Just as Minnesota has experienced a warmer winter than usual, so has the state’s budget outlook warmed over the past few months. On Thursday, Minnesota Management and Budget...
Legislative leaders announce 2024 committee deadlines
(House Photography file photo) Legislators and the public officially know the timeline for getting bills through the House committee process during the upcoming 2024 session. Here are the two deadlines fo...

Minnesota House on Twitter