State panel recommends new measures to protect children

A state legislative task force released a set of recommendations Thursday designed to improve child protection services across the state.

The Legislative Task Force on the Protection of Children was formed last year and builds on previous work done by a task force convened by Gov. Mark Dayton in response to the death of 4-year-old Eric Dean, who was killed by his stepmother.

Among the task force recommendations are that the state help recruit child protection workers for rural counties, review law enforcement's role in removing children from their homes and pressure all 87 counties to implement around-the-clock child protection.

Assistant Majority Leader Rep. Ron Kresha, R-Little Falls, said the report represents a milestone in reforming the state's child protection systems. But he said it's obvious that there's still much work to be done.

"We have these children who are fighting for survival and then academic success and prosperity later in life," Kresha said. "If we don't address this now, and we don't continue to push on this, those children will suffer."

Among the legislation that will come out of the report is a proposal by Rep. Joe Mullery, DFL-Minneapolis, for a new office of children's ombudsman to coordinate programs including foster care and other human services related to child protection.

Lawmakers said there's no cost estimate attached to the recommendations. But Sen. Jeff Hayden, DFL-Minneapolis, said he's hopeful that the report will influence lawmakers to allocate more money to programs that seek to more broadly help families before abuse occurs.

"There is abuse and we know what that looks like, but there is a lot of neglect, and I think the underlying cause is poverty, so we will continue to talk about that," Hayden said.