12/30/2019 Hennepin child-welfare settlement calls for oversight – Minnesota Lawyer

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Dianne Heins, James Volling

Hennepin child-welfare settlement calls for oversight

 By: Barbara L. Jones  December 30, 2019

T.F. is a 12-year old boy who is a ward of the state who lives in a Minnesota Intensive
Therapeutic Home, diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, attention deficit disorder,
oppositional defiant disorder and a generalized conduct disorder as a result of abuse and
frequent changes of residence.

C.O. is a 7-year old girl who is in court-ordered out-of-home placement and has been known
to the Minnesota Department of Human Services since she was 3. L.L. is a 14-year- old who
has been in foster care since he was 8. When he was 11, his then foster family dropped him
off at school and never picked him up.

These three children are among 14 who are named plaintiffs in a recently settled class action
against Hennepin County and the Minnesota Department of Human Services brought to
address the results of a 2016 federal audit of the Minnesota child protection system that
lawyers said were “shockingly not good.”

The complaint paints a detailed picture of an overwhelmed child welfare system in a county
struggling to meet the demands. “Children are now entering foster care at a higher rate, but
the number of available beds is far exceeded by the increasing number of children needing a
placement. As a result, some children are moving from one temporary placement to another,
other children are being sent to live with relatives who do not meet state foster care
licensing standards, and yet other children either remain in their homes, or return to their
homes prematurely, often without necessary services to ensure their health and safety,
because there is no available foster care placement,” it says.

It also notes that Hennepin County fails to ensure that its caseworkers carry caseloads
consistent with reasonable professional standards. It also says that the county does not
provide many of its caseworkers with office space. Instead, workers use an “open office
space” and are assigned “business lockers.” In practice, caseworkers often work out of their
cars, from home, or in unassigned office space, so that they must transport their case files
and computers.

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The turnover in Hennepin County caseworkers is “alarmingly high,” the complaint also states.

Necessary encouragement
The plaintiffs’ investigation began in 2016 and revealed that “litigation might well be a
necessary encouragement” to the repair of the system, said lead attorney James Volling. “I
think it would be fair to say that the county was not particularly happy when we brought this
lawsuit, nor was the commissioner [of the Minnesota Department of Human Services],”
Volling said. Faegre Baker Daniels attorneys along with nonprofit organizations brought the
case at the impetus of A Better Childhood, located in New York and also based on the audit
results.

U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson offered strong encouragement to settle the case
and the plaintiffs took that seriously, Volling said.

Discussions began in November of 2018 and the parties reached an agreement in June 2019,
which received final approval and class certification earlier this month, he said. The parties
had the assistance of retired United States Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan and retired Chief
Justice Kathleen Blatz. “They were a tremendous team,” Volling said.

Hennepin County invested in the child welfare system and believes that things are getting
better, Volling said, but he doesn’t think the county maintains that they’ve solved all the
problems. “We need to improve outcomes for the children who are in the system,” and not
just hope that circumstances get better and fewer maltreatment cases are reported, he said.

Hennepin County likely would say it has been dealing with crises for years and is attempting
to turn its attention to improving child well-being, said Dianne Heins, of counsel to Faegre
for pro bono cases. “I have appreciated the willingness of Hennepin County to come to the
table and work hard over a pretty long period of months,” Volling said.

Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Dan Rogan said that the county is pleased to reach a
settlement that will allow it to continue to reform the child protection system for the children
of Hennepin County. The county has the resources to fully execute the settlement, he said.

The settlement covers a lot of ground and has a lot of specific requirements, Vollling said. It
provides for four years of oversight, assessment, periodic reporting and public disclosure of
the actions taken under the settlement. It calls for four years of systemic reforms overseen
by a settlement subcommittee chaired by former Hennepin County District Court Judge John
Stanoch. The settlement subcommittee will monitor the county’s progress in meeting the
requirements of the settlement agreement and will issue biannual reports on its findings.

The settlement encompasses maltreatment reports and investigations, foster care, adoption,
shelter care and other areas. It includes specific timelines for developing the plans, along
with provisions for reporting and reviewing data, providing information and other ongoing
monitoring of issues. The defendants will provide a data dashboard that will include detailed
information that the settlement subcommittee can use to monitor the system. Other
provisions include state audits and county review of the state audits. The settlement
subcommittee can conducts its own reviews and the county has committed up to 600 hours
annually of staff time to assist in those reviews. All told, the settlement provides for real,
measurable improvement in key areas of the child welfare and child protection system, the
plaintiffs told the court in their settlement motion.

Additionally, the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners will hold an annual public
meeting regarding the county’s Child and Family Services Program and will also prepare an
annual report to address the actions and issues identified by the subcommittee.

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The only money changing hands is the $2,250,000 the state will contribute to the county to
facilitate the settlement, Volling said. The object of the case was not money. The case was
always about injunctive relief, although the plaintiffs did want the state to contribute funds
to the county, he said. Faegre did not take a fee for the case. The nonprofits will pursue
fees, he said.

The settlement does not address the issues of parental rights and the role of parents, Volling
said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that [parental resources] can be improved and that
there’s a focus that needs to be given there. I believe you’re going to see over time that the
county will continue to try to develop kinship resources for children as opposed to stranger
foster care. Hopefully some of that will be more acceptable to parents,” he said.

Volling hopes that the heightened awareness on child protection issues that the case has
identified continues and become ingrained into the system and that there is fewer
maltreatment reports. “I hope this will cause people to pay attention and put resources
toward these things,” Volling said. “Otherwise we’re just making them into dysfunctional
adults,” he said. The social cost of that is too high, he said.

Volling asks lawyers to be vigilant about reporting maltreatment of children and to look for
opportunities to volunteer to represent children, parents or guardians. “Anything you can do
to make the system more responsive and responsible,” he said. “It’s worth doing. This
problem belongs to all of us but lawyers are the ones who can provide access to justice.”

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