UNITED STATES
Star Tribune
Article by: BRANDON STAHL , Star Tribune Updated: November 30, 2014
Child protection agencies across the country are grappling with how to repair systems that failed to protect thousands of vulnerable children from repeated abuse.
Since 2012, directors of at least 16 state and county agencies have resigned or been fired. Nine states have passed sweeping reforms designed to protect more children. Those actions often followed public outrage over the deaths of children previously known to child protection agencies.
New York, Florida and Arizona overhauled their child protection systems this year, and now Minnesota is poised to follow their lead. Gov. Mark Dayton formed a child protection task force in September following the Star Tribune’s report on 4-year-old Eric Dean, who was reported for abuse 15 times before he was murdered by his stepmother last year. And last week, Minnesota’s Department of Human Services announced that it had hired a new assistant commissioner for Children and Family Services.
This is at least the third time Minnesota has looked to reform its system since the late 1980s. Nationwide, states have passed reforms or seen key leaders resign amid scandal, only to have children continue to die from repeated abuse and neglect.
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