About the Indicator:

Child subjects of maltreatment reports: unique number of children and rate of children per 1,000. Types of maltreatment included are non-medical neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, mental injury, and medical neglect.

Once a report of maltreatment is made, a screener reviews the initial information about the concern and decides whether or not the report meets the statutory criteria for a child protection response. If it does, the agency determines if the allegations require a Family Investigation (FI) or a Family Assessment (FA). State law indicates a Family Assessment response is preferred practice, except in situations that include alleged egregious harm, sexual abuse and/or maltreatment in a child daycare or foster care home. The screener also considers a history of past reports and level of cooperation from a family. In a Family Investigation, county/tribal child protection workers interview persons involved with the report, including the alleged victims, alleged offenders and family members. If there is a preponderance of evidence that a child has been a victim of maltreatment and the harm was caused by an act, or failure to act, by a person responsible for a child’s care, the county/tribal child protection worker makes a determination that maltreatment has occurred. In a Family Assessment, no determination of maltreatment is made. In these situations, a county or tribal worker meets with all family members together to discuss and assess child safety concerns, and reviews the family’s strengths and needs.

Data are reported in aggregate for Faribault and Martin counties; for Lincoln, Lyon, and Murray, Pipestone, Redwood, and Rock counties; and (since 2013) for Cottonwood and Jackson counties. While these individual county fields will show N/A for not available, all combined counties fall within the Southwest Prevention Region, for which the aggregated data are available.

According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count Data Center, the rate of children confirmed by child protective services as victims of maltreatment in 2012 was considerably lower in Minnesota than the national average: 3 per 1,000 versus 9 per 1,000.

Data Source: Minnesota’s Child Welfare Report, Children and Family Services

Description: Minnesota’s Child Welfare Report is a statistical report describing the state of children involved in Minnesota’s child protection response continuum in the areas of child maltreatment assessment/investigation, out-of-home care and adoption.