Coversheet

Board Action Request
17-0108

Item Description:
Establish Child Well-being Advisory Committee - offered by Commissioner Opat

Resolution:

BE IT RESOLVED, that a Child Well-being Advisory Committee is established to advise county staff responsible for children on implementation of:

Best practices to advance the well-being of children and to embed a Child Well-being Practice Model in the work that Hennepin staff does;
Requirements and recommendations from the Minnesota Department of Human Services, the Governor’s Task Force and Child Protection, and the Legislative Task force on Child Protection;
Recommendations from the Child Protection Oversight Committee created by Resolution No. 15-0244R1 on July 7, 2015 and issued from its last meeting, October 13, 2016;
Recommendations from Casey Family Programs in its Report and Recommendations to Hennepin County in June 2015; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Board establishes the committee for the purpose of advising the Board on progress achieving these outcomes for children:

Children involved with Hennepin County have basic competencies in these child well-being domains:
a. Cognitive (social readiness, school achievement, graduation from high school)

b. Social/emotional (manage relationships with others and get along with people; function in school and at work);

c. Psychological/behavioral development (prosocial behavior is taught and promoted beginning at birth, in the home, school, and community);

d. Physical health (prenatal care, well-child care including up-to-date immunizations and developmental screens);

e. Spiritual and cultural well-being, with the child as an essential participant and valued member of the child’s community.
Children are and feel safe at home and in the community through the impact Hennepin County has because:

a. Hennepin County works with families, schools, law enforcement, doctors, mental health providers, and communities to keep children safe and nurtured and to improve parental capacity; and

b. Hennepin systems recognize trauma experiences and help to address those experiences to remediate the impairment caused so the child’s functioning can improve; and

c. The community values nurturing children and works to prevent child maltreatment; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the committee shall identify and advance recommendations to Hennepin staff and the Board on systemic and community issues it identifies; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the committee shall:

1. be chaired by a Commissioner and have at least one other Commissioner member;

2. have up to eighteen members appointed by the Board who include a variety of backgrounds and are recognized for expertise pertaining to child protection child welfare, child well-being, and children’s issues or who represent critical stakeholders’ interests ; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that members of the Child Protection Oversight Committee created by Resolution 15-0244R1 are offered appointment to the Child Well-being Advisory Committee for staggered terms of one and two years; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that new members shall be appointed to fill membership up to eighteen for two year terms; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that members may be reappointed; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that committee membership shall be set by the committee chair and communicated to the Board; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that members’ terms begin on the date of the first committee meeting following the member’s appointment; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the committee shall be staffed by County Administration and shall report at least twice a year to the County Board.


Background: In February 2014, the County Board authorized a Comprehensive Review of Children and Youth Services (Resolution 14-0067) focused on improving outcomes for county-involved youth as well as enhancing coordination and efficiencies across county departments. The Comprehensive Review resulted in a request for an assessment of the county’s child protection system by Casey Family Programs. Shortly thereafter, in September 2014, in response to several reports on the State of Minnesota’s child protection system, the governor created the Governor’s Task Force on the Protection of Children. The task force released a set of initial recommendations in December 2014, and a final report and recommendations in March 2015. Casey Family Programs presented their assessment and recommendations to the Hennepin County Board in June 2015. Key recommendations included that Hennepin County re-vision the county’s child protection system to meet standards of excellence “without regard to current resource deficits,” The following month, in response to recommendations from the Casey Family Programs Assessment and the Governor’s Task Force, the County Board Established a Child Protection Oversight Committee (Resolution 15-0244R1), and Created six workgroups to undertake tasks related to Child Protection Services (Resolution 15-0269R1). The Child Protection Oversight Committee, consisting of twelve experts with a variety of experiences, met thirteen times over a one year period beginning in October 2015. The committee monitored reports from the six workgroups, approved a child well-being practice model, and endorsed the following major recommendations: Implement a Hennepin Child Well-Being Practice Model in Children and Family Services (CFS) Hire staff to reasonable caseload levels Support CFS space configurations in ways that support the child well-being model and improved outcomes for children Build prevention and early intervention practices and services that reduce risk to children Establish an independent data unit Establish a permanent successor to the 2015-2016 Child Protection Oversight Committee This Board Resolution implements Recommendation 6 from the Child Protection Oversight Committee.