Child-Maltreatment-Research-L (CMRL) List Serve

Message ID: 11186

Date: 2023-03-09

Author:Kevin Gee

Subject:Re: New post

Hi Sarah, Just saw your post and you may want to check out two resources that might be helpful: 1. The first is a short brief from DHHS re: state statutes and disclosure: https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubpdfs/confide.pdf Footnote 10 lists the states that publicly disclose information in cases where a fatality or near fatality has occurred. 2. A database of state statues: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/laws-policies/state/ You can do a search that'll give you more detail about the public disclosure regulations in each state. There's a section under "2. Select a Topic" that you can check to perform a search for state statutes re: Disclosure of Confidential Child Abuse and Neglect Records Best of luck on your project! Regards, Kevin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kevin A. Gee, Ed.D. Associate Professor Chancellor's Fellow (2020-2025) Faculty Affiliate, Center for Poverty & Inequality Research Associate Editor, American Educational Research Association (AERA) Open School of Education University of California, Davis On Thu, Mar 9, 2023 at 8:59 AM Sarah Haegele > wrote: Hello, Please post the following to the listserve. Thanks! "I work with Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota, and we recently published a study on child fatalities in Minnesota from maltreatment. We are currently exploring whether the information we used in our study is available in other states, potentially making it possible to replicate our study. In Minnesota, Juvenile Court child protection records are publicly accessible through terminals situated at county courthouses. Through these terminals we gathered Child in Need of Protection and Services (CHIPS) and Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) petitions, each of which usually included case histories provided to the court by caseworkers and Guardians ad Litem. We augmented this with related information in Criminal and Family Court records, including missing demographic data, related custody issues, malicious punishment of a child convictions, and no-contact orders related to incidents of Domestic Violence. In addition, Minnesota counties are required upon request by any citizen or organization to produce a report describing key aspects of the case including past involvement with child protection, number of past reports, the relationship between the child and perpetrator, and how the fatality occurred. Does anyone know if there is an inventory or research regarding which court records are publicly accessible by state, or other ways in which information on child fatalities is made public?" -- Sarah Haegele Ireland Justice Fellow Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota sarah@safepassageforchildren.org 920-362-2005 www.safepassageforchildren.org She/Her/Hers

Hi Sarah, Just saw your post and you may want to check out two resources that might be helpful: 1. The first is a short brief from DHHS re: state statutes and disclosure: https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubpdfs/confide.pdf Footnote 10 lists the states that publicly disclose information in cases where a fatality or near fatality has occurred. 2. A database of state statues: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/laws-policies/state/ You can do a search that'll give you more detail about the public disclosure regulations in each state. There's a section under "2. Select a Topic" that you can check to perform a search for state statutes re: Disclosure of Confidential Child Abuse and Neglect Records Best of luck on your project! Regards, Kevin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kevin A. Gee, Ed.D. Associate Professor Chancellor's Fellow (2020-2025) Faculty Affiliate, Center for Poverty & Inequality Research Associate Editor, American Educational Research Association (AERA) Open School of Education University of California, Davis On Thu, Mar 9, 2023 at 8:59 AM Sarah Haegele > wrote: Hello, Please post the following to the listserve. Thanks! "I work with Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota, and we recently published a study on child fatalities in Minnesota from maltreatment. We are currently exploring whether the information we used in our study is available in other states, potentially making it possible to replicate our study. In Minnesota, Juvenile Court child protection records are publicly accessible through terminals situated at county courthouses. Through these terminals we gathered Child in Need of Protection and Services (CHIPS) and Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) petitions, each of which usually included case histories provided to the court by caseworkers and Guardians ad Litem. We augmented this with related information in Criminal and Family Court records, including missing demographic data, related custody issues, malicious punishment of a child convictions, and no-contact orders related to incidents of Domestic Violence. In addition, Minnesota counties are required upon request by any citizen or organization to produce a report describing key aspects of the case including past involvement with child protection, number of past reports, the relationship between the child and perpetrator, and how the fatality occurred. Does anyone know if there is an inventory or research regarding which court records are publicly accessible by state, or other ways in which information on child fatalities is made public?" -- Sarah Haegele Ireland Justice Fellow Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota sarahsafepassageforchildren.org 920-362-2005 www.safepassageforchildren.org She/Her/Hers