Recommendations Announced For Improving Child Services
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Hennepin County leaders are making new recommendations to help protect children in Minnesota.
A child protection oversight committee announced its plan Thursday morning in a board meeting.
The recommendations were the result of 13 months of research where the committee met with experts from all over the country.
Ultimately, they established five points they want to address.
First, the committee suggested implementing a well-being model in children and family services.
Second, they want to hire more staff and give them reasonable caseload levels.
They also want to better support CFS and have earlier intervention services to reduce risks for children.
Finally, they want to appoint a successor for the 2015-2016 oversight committee.
The committee said the core of the model is ensuring that youth have support in four areas of well-being. That includes physical, emotional and relational health as well as growth and development.
There is a rapidly growing need for child services in Minnesota.
For this year, it's projected child services will see over 21,000 child protection reports. In 2009, there were only 11,000 reports.
The rise in reports could be attributed to growing awareness, officials say.