Lawsuits Target Direct Service Workers in Child Deaths

Lawsuits Target Direct Service Workers in Child Deaths 940 788 Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota
A picture of an empty swingset

Most legal actions around child fatalities are against a county or nonprofit.  But recent lawsuits also name individual caseworkers in the murders of these three foster children:

  • Layla Jackson
  • Arianna Hunziker
  • Kendrea Johnson

This Star Tribune article probes why caseworkers left children in clearly dangerous situations.

The explanation for Layla and Arianna is that they were in kinship placements, and caseworkers are under extreme pressure to keep children with families or kin.  This is intended to address the disproportionate number of children who are removed from BIPOC families.

This approach has actually failed to reduce disparities, which suggests that addressing racism in child welfare will require something more nuanced than simply keeping a lid on foster care.

Perhaps these lawsuits will clarify that children are paying for this mistaken strategy with their lives, and prompt officials to modify it.

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