Hennepin County reduced repeat abuse of kids. Are there lessons for the rest of Minnesota?

Sacramento County's Cultural Broker Program places trained community advocates between Child Protective Services and Black families to prevent children from entering foster care. They work directly with families from the moment CPS gets involved until the case closes. They attend meetings with social workers, translate complex bureaucratic processes and advocate for parents. Of 552 families referred to cultural brokers between 2018-2023, 90% had successful outcomes, meaning children were reunited with parents, adopted, or placed in permanent living arrangements.

Summit County, Ohio's juvenile court's Multidisciplinary Team Representation assigns a parent advocate and social worker to child-custody cases to help parents reunite with their children much more quickly than the system typically processes cases. The program has just begun in the county, helping a handful of families reunite, but a study in New York City showed the same approach reunited families 43% more often than if just an attorney were helping the family. Parents whose troubles lead to the temporary loss of their children need supports that help them get on firmer ground.

The Uganda Child Helpline is a 24/7 toll-free line, whose goal is to encourage children and adults to report cases of child abuse. The Helpline then links at-risk children to support and protection through case management services. Currently, there are call centers in 68 districts and the line receives an average of 9,509 calls a day.

In order to address child abuse and neglect community members got together to form: R.O.C.K Mat Su, a collaborative organization composed of several organizations that has “teamed up with government agencies, schools and judges to develop a comprehensive solution.” So far, they have been able to train 10 schools to become trauma informed schools, trained over 2,000 people in the community, and created an alternative judicial court for children that prioritizes family reunification.

Hennepin County Court, serving Minneapolis, MN and the surrounding area, has developed a co-parenting court – helping unmarried parents work together to raise their children, work through issues, and strengthen their partnership. Born out of a need for an alternative to family court, where individuals – typically fathers – are just given a child support amount to pay before being on their way, the program offers ongoing support, including co-developing a childcare plan to qualifying parents.

Cece Yara Child Advocacy Centre Foundation provides comprehensive care, protection and legal assistance to youth who suffered sexual abuse or are at risk. So far, they’ve helped reach eight convictions and have about 57 ongoing cases. The Foundation also emphasizes the importance of psychotherapy and education, empowering youth to learn about personal safety, boundaries and age-appropriate sex education in an effort to prevent reoccurring abuse.

My Two Aunties assists Indigenous families to help keep children out of foster care. The group provides parenting support and education, seeks to build relationships between families and their culture and also works to repair intergenerational trauma that can lead to creating an unsafe environment for children. In 2022, the program served 97 families and held 411 parenting classes and interest in the program is continuously growing.

The Safe Babies program model trains judges to oversee foster-care cases with the goal of fixing the problems that led social workers to remove young children from their homes. Operating swiftly, so that babies do not lose precious weeks and months apart from their parents at a critical time, programs like Best For Babies in Pierce County, Washington, put teams of medical and mental health experts on a case. Nationwide, the program used in 30 states makes family reunification much more likely and rapid, with healthier parental attachments and child development.

A pilot program within the child welfare system in Philadelphia is providing wraparound services for parents at risk of losing custody of their children. The multi-disciplinary services include an attorney, social workers, and a peer advocate in addition to services that help stabilize families such as housing, employment, and addiction treatment. Similar programs in New York City and Washington state show significant reductions of time spent by children in foster care and increased rates of reunification - saving money and reducing trauma.

Youth Villages, a nonprofit started in Tennessee over 30 years ago has helped improve the lives of children who face difficulties in their homes while saving money on the child welfare system. Instead of immediately removing children from their problematic homes, Youth Villages works on building relationships with the parents and providing in-home support services to both the parents and the children to ensure that they have a successful future. Additionally, the organization supports foster kids who age out of the system, and has managed to place many children back with their families securely.