Given the progress Hennepin County has made with child welfare in recent years, it was disheartening to read this Citizens Review Panel report on kinship foster care.
Hennepin has increased kinship care to 63.9% of placements — overall a good thing. But apparently this was accomplished in part by too often placing children with the first relatives willing to take them, without assessing whether that setting fit their needs. The report also documents poor communication among kinship, licensing, and child protection workers.
Once placed, the relatives frequently couldn’t get workers to return their calls, and weren’t getting needed support, for example to meet licensing requirements or get child care.
Hennepin should identify one high level manager with the authority and accountability for ensuring that this program is child-centered and well-coordinated.