Richard Gehrman on the Institutional Failure to Protect Children

In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Richard Gehrman, the executive director of Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota. A new report from Safe Passage examines 88 child maltreatment fatalities in Minnesota from 2014-2022. Racial disparities in the data were evident. Black children represented 28 percent of the fatalities, but they only make up 18 percent of children in the state. Substance abuse was also a factor in almost a third of the fatalities, and about half of the deaths were tied to a non-biological parent.

Richard explains that these deaths were preventable—child protection agencies, law enforcement, and mental health professionals had been alerted that these children were in danger. But little or no corrective action was taken because agencies were understaffed and workers are concerned that too much intervention will perpetuate what they see as structural bias in the system.

The report from Safe Passage has received attention from public policy researchers who seem interested in producing similar reports in other states. The challenge is to persuade elected officials to prioritize meaningful legislation in response to the report’s findings.

Resources:

• Minnesota Child Fatalities from Maltreatment: 2014-2022 | Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota

• Dangerous Illusions | Naomi Schaefer Riley | City Journal

Show Notes:

01:00 | What is Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota?

02:15 | How was Safe Passage able to put together this report?

05:20 | Breaking down the findings in the report

10:50 | Why do these cases get marked as low risk by the system?

14:15 | Racial disparities and substance abuse were prevalent

17:30 | The need for better communication between all professionals involved in domestic violence cases