A task force charged with recommending how Minnesota can better protect children will feature both defenders of the current system and critics who say it needs major reform.
DFL Gov. Mark Dayton announced the makeup of the bipartisan task force on Friday, saying "the abuse of any child in Minnesota is one child too many."
The appointments come after the Star Tribune's investigation of the death of 4-year-old Eric Dean, a Pope County boy whose abuse was reported 15 times before he was murdered last year by his stepmother.
The task force members come from across the state, and include former chief justices of the Minnesota Supreme Court and Appeals Court, four state legislators, heads of social service and law enforcement agencies and child outreach workers for nonprofit agencies.
Minnesota has one of the nation's lowest rates of taking action on abuse reports. Health providers are required to report any abuse they suspect, but in 2013, child protection services screened out over 36,000 abuse reports made by mandated reporters, according to the Department of Human Services.
Former Minnesota Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz, who is on the task force, said the system has failed thousands of children, not just Eric Dean.
She said she hopes the group will recommend making the child protection process more open. Blatz was instrumental in numerous child protection reforms in the early 2000s, including opening access to juvenile court proceedings.
Many child protections records are still sealed from the public, however, including reports made to the state about children who died and were known to the system.
