The Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) just issued a report on removing children from their families. Read their study or the Star Tribune editorial and summary of the report.
OLA discovered that practices vary widely among counties, including the rate of removals, social services/law enforcement cooperation, and the availability of preventive services. This finding echoes other studies showing variability in related service areas. The result is that children and families are being treated differently depending on where they live.
OLA recommendations include standardizing protocols between local child welfare agencies and law enforcement, expanding the courts’ performance measures to include child well-being metrics, and making prevention services available consistently statewide.
These findings cry out once again for the Department of Human Services to assert a stronger role in developing statewide standards across all steps in the child welfare process.
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Read the podcast transcript here.
Removing Children from Home - The Legislative Auditor Weighs In
The Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) just issued a report on removing children from their families. Read their study or the Star Tribune editorial and summary of the report. OLA discovered that practices vary widely among counties, including the rate of removals, social services/law enforcement cooperation, and the availability of preventive services. This finding echoes other studies showing variability in related service areas. The result is that children and families are being treated differently depending on where they live. Join Rich for a full discussion and analysis on this in this week’s podcast.