The Department of Human Services produced this helpful analysis of expenditures for Minnesota children’s services.
Some highlights are in the chart:
Reforms in 2015 accelerated these increases by bringing thousands of additional children into child protection and foster/kinship care. Many of them were eligible for federal entitlement programs, which required the state and counties to pay for additional out-of-home placements and case management services. These new investments in children also drew down $86 million in federal matching funds.
The next important questions to address include whether the additional dollars helped to lower county caseloads, or reduce the chronic gap in services needed to support case plans.