Just before Thanksgiving a multi-year initiative to build bridges between Hennepin County child protection and the Minneapolis North Side community took a huge step forward.
Under a state grant to the African American Coalition on Child Protection (AACCP), the Hypatia Group trained nine teams of facilitators to coordinate dialogues between child protection staff and community members. Each group of eight will meet four times to address hot topics, establish a foundation for continuing conversations, and develop action steps.
The facilitation teams themselves are comprised of one community activist and one child protection investigator, which means the trainers will model the dialogue they are helping to foster.
Community leaders and Hennepin County are tackling long standing issues head on, and starting down the path to an ongoing positive relationship.