A major takeaway from our recent report on child fatalities is that the single most effective way to reduce child maltreatment is to reduce the strains caused by poverty.

Governor Walz’ budget has more proposals to do this than at any time in decades.

Join Rich Gehrman for a full discussion and analysis in this week's podcast.

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Our work for vulnerable children is made possible through support from listeners like you. Thank you. Please help support our work for vulnerable children at www.safepassageforchildren.org/donate

Rich Gehrman is the founder and Executive Director of Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota. He is the 2021 winner of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Minnesota’s 2021 "Mark Proctor Hero for Children Award."

Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota is a 501c3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to strengthen the Minnesota child welfare system so children are safe and can reach their full potential. If you know someone who cares about children, be sure to share this podcast with them.

Visit us at safepassageforchildren.org

A common trope alleges that child protection caseworkers confuse poverty with neglect. 

This has been repeated so often that many accept it as fact, but there’s actually no evidence to support it.

Join Rich Gehrman for a full discussion and analysis in this week's podcast.

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Our work for vulnerable children is made possible through support from listeners like you. Thank you. Please help support our work for vulnerable children at www.safepassageforchildren.org/donate

Rich Gehrman is the founder and Executive Director of Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota. He is the 2021 winner of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Minnesota’s 2021 "Mark Proctor Hero for Children Award."

Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota is a 501c3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to strengthen the Minnesota child welfare system so children are safe and can reach their full potential. If you know someone who cares about children, be sure to share this podcast with them.

Visit us at safepassageforchildren.org

Yesterday Safe Passage for Children released its year-long study of Minnesota child fatalities from maltreatment from 2014 to 2022.

The report reveals a number of concerning patterns related to child welfare and the courts including:

With your help this report can spur positive improvements in Minnesota’s programs to protect children.

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Our work for vulnerable children is made possible through support from listeners like you. Thank you. Please help support our work for vulnerable children at www.safepassageforchildren.org/donate

Rich Gehrman is the founder and Executive Director of Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota. He is the 2021 winner of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Minnesota’s 2021 "Mark Proctor Hero for Children Award."

Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota is a 501c3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to strengthen the Minnesota child welfare system so children are safe and can reach their full potential. If you know someone who cares about children, be sure to share this podcast with them.

Visit us at safepassageforchildren.org

Our soon-to-be-released study of child fatalities documents numerous physical assaults on children that caseworkers, law enforcement, investigators and the courts knew about but ignored. Perhaps we have become desensitized to violence against children, or forgotten that it is illegal, or just feel powerless to stop it. Join Rich Gehrman for a full discussion and analysis in this week's podcast.

Comments or questions? Please reach out to us at [email protected]

Read the transcript at https://safepassageforchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Podcast-narrative-for-should-we-love-all-children-or-just-our-own.pdf

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Our work for vulnerable children is made possible through support from listeners like you. Thank you. Please help support our work for vulnerable children at www.safepassageforchildren.org/donate

Rich Gehrman is the founder and Executive Director of Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota. He is the 2021 winner of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Minnesota’s 2021 "Mark Proctor Hero for Children Award."

Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota is a 501c3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to strengthen the Minnesota child welfare system so children are safe and can reach their full potential. If you know someone who cares about children, be sure to share this podcast with them. 

Visit us at safepassageforchildren.org

Our study of Minnesota child fatalities documented seven children who were killed by a mother who had chronic mental health crises, including repeated psychiatric hospitalizations. Six-year old Eli Hart’s mother killed him with nine shotgun blasts shortly after he was returned home, and a few months after she was released from her second psychiatric inpatient stay. If the mental health facilities and child protection were in touch about the reunification it is not reflected in the court records. Additionally, role conflicts between Family and Juvenile Courts delayed hearings that would likely have given custody to Eli’s father.

Join Rich Gehrman for a full discussion and analysis in this week's podcast.

Comments or questions? Please reach out to us at [email protected]

Read the transcript at https://safepassageforchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Mental-Health-Child-Protection-–-Courts-You-Need-to-Talk.pdf

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Rich Gehrman is the founder and Executive Director of Minnesota nonprofit organization Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota. He is the 2021 winner of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Minnesota’s 2021 "Mark Proctor Hero for Children Award."

Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota’s nonprofit mission is to strengthen the Minnesota child welfare system so children are safe and can reach their full potential. If you know someone who cares about children, be sure to share this podcast with them.

Please help support Safe Passage's work for vulnerable children at www.safepassageforchildren.org/donate

Visit us online at safepassageforchildren.org

This Star Tribune article reveals that Minnesota counties are diverting income belonging to approximately 700 foster children into local coffers without even informing them.  This includes social security benefits based on a parent’s death or disability, or related to fosters’ own physical or mental disability. Reporter Chris Serres shares the stories of young people who faced desperate financial struggles because of this practice, which clearly contributes to chronically poor foster care outcomes. It also shows that counties are valuing revenues over the success of children in their care. Join Rich for a full analysis and discussion in this week's podcast. 

Read the transcript at https://safepassageforchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Podcast-for-blog-on-Social-Security-Benefits-being-taken-from-fosters.pdf

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Rich Gehrman is the founder and Executive Director of Minnesota nonprofit organization Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota. He is the 2021 winner of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Minnesota’s 2021 "Mark Proctor Hero for Children Award."

Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota’s nonprofit mission is to strengthen the Minnesota child welfare system so children are safe and can reach their full potential. If you know someone who cares about children, be sure to share this podcast with them. 

Support Safe Passage's work for Minnesota's most vulnerable children at www.safepassageforchildren.org/donate

safepassageforchildren.org

In 2021 Safe Passage helped pass legislation that lowered legal barriers to becoming a foster parent.  We successfully advocated to include statewide mandatory licensing standards in the bill.  The process of developing these standards is underway and they will be implemented next July. The new process will assess candidates based on their ability to provide nurturing parenting today rather than focusing on past mistakes, living arrangements, and other factors less relevant to the child’s needs.  Join Rich for a full analysis and discussion in this week's podcast.

Read the transcript at https://safepassageforchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Podcast-on-foster-care-licensing-reform-bill.pdf

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Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota’s nonprofit mission is to strengthen the Minnesota child welfare system so children are safe and can reach their full potential. If you know someone who cares about children, be sure to share this podcast with them. Support Safe Passage's work for Minnesota's most vulnerable children at www.safepassageforchildren.org/donate

Rich Gehrman is the founder and Executive Director of Minnesota nonprofit organization Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota. He is the 2021 winner of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Minnesota’s 2021 "Mark Proctor Hero for Children Award."

www.safepassageforchildren.org

Chronic neglect refers to cases that are reported to child protection repeatedly.  Our recent webinar speaker Dee Wilson estimates that it accounts for 1/5 to 1/3 of child protection cases nationally. Chronic neglect includes a breakdown of parental norms, for example by leaving pre-school children alone for hours or days at a time.  Frequently it is accompanied by deep poverty and spirals into physical and sexual abuse. In this article Wilson states that once chronic neglect takes hold, therapy and other interventions are ineffective.  So the appropriate response is intervening early with financial supports and services to restore parental functioning. However today’s adult-focused policies encourage workers to treat each maltreatment report separately and ignore the overall pattern.  This, combined with political pressures to limit the role of child protection, presages a future where children are purposefully consigned to chronic neglect. Join Rich for a full discussion in this week's podcast.

Read the transcript at https://safepassageforchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Podcast-on-Dee-Wilsons-theories-about-chronic-maltreatment.pdf

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Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota’s nonprofit mission is to strengthen the Minnesota child welfare system so children are safe and can reach their full potential. If you know someone who cares about children, be sure to share this podcast with them. Support Safe Passage's work for Minnesota's most vulnerable children at www.safepassageforchildren.org/donate

Rich Gehrman is the founder and Executive Director of Minnesota nonprofit organization Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota. He is the 2021 winner of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Minnesota’s 2021 "Mark Proctor Hero for Children Award."

www.safepassageforchildren.org

This week’s webinar speaker, Dee Wilson, co-wrote an article for a 2013 edition of the journal Child Welfare dedicated entirely to research on child fatalities. The authors’ findings are still supported by subsequent studies.  What’s changed is that their perspective has become unacceptable to those who influence child welfare policy today. For example the authors recommended that child protection take action before children are harmed based on precursors of child murders such as family violence, or caregivers who have weak emotional ties to their infants. Preventive child protection action today might be viewed by the political left as racist and as unwarranted intrusion into families by the right. Should we proactively protect children in high-risk situations?  An objective analysis of that question would require child welfare leaders who are in the political mainstream, rather than activists promoting an ideological agenda.

This week’s podcast analyzes the 2013 article in more detail and explores the management challenges to implementing its recommendations.

Read the transcript at https://safepassageforchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Narrative-for-podcast-on-Dee-Wilson-article.pdf

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Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota’s nonprofit mission is to strengthen the Minnesota child welfare system so children are safe and can reach their full potential. If you know someone who cares about children, be sure to share this podcast with them. Support Safe Passage's work for Minnesota's most vulnerable children at www.safepassageforchildren.org/donate

Rich Gehrman is the founder and Executive Director of Minnesota nonprofit organization Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota. He is the 2021 winner of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Minnesota’s 2021 "Mark Proctor Hero for Children Award."

www.safepassageforchildren.org

For this week’s podcast we present Rich Gehrman's summary and detailed recap of Minnesota's Inaugural Conference on Family Violence, which Safe Passage for Children organized and hosted, and which happened on 10/14/22. 

Read the transcript at https://safepassageforchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Narrative-for-podcast-on-Family-Violence-conference.pdf

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Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota’s nonprofit mission is to strengthen the Minnesota child welfare system so children are safe and can reach their full potential. If you know someone who cares about children, be sure to share this podcast with them. Support Safe Passage's work for Minnesota's most vulnerable children at www.safepassageforchildren.org/donate

Rich Gehrman is the founder and Executive Director of Minnesota nonprofit organization Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota. He is the 2021 winner of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Minnesota’s 2021 "Mark Proctor Hero for Children Award."

www.safepassageforchildren.org