Child Safety and Family Preservation

Neglect

Neglect is the most common form of maltreatment. It is usually a failure of a child's caregiver to:

• Provide needed food, clothing, shelter, medical or mental health care, education or appropriate supervision
• Protect a child from conditions or actions that endanger the child
• Take steps to ensure that a child is educated as required by law.

The following also may be considered neglect:

• Exposing a child to certain drugs during pregnancy
• Causing emotional harm to a child.

Physical abuse

This is when a caregiver causes any physical injury, or threatens harm or substantial injury, on a child other than by accident. Physical abuse can range from minor bruises to severe internal injuries and death.

Mental injury

This is harm to a child's psychological capacity or emotional stability evidenced by an observable and substantial impairment of a child's functioning.

Sexual abuse

This is when a child is a victim of a criminal sexual act or threatened act committed by:

• A person responsible for a child's care
• A person who has a significant relationship to a child
• A person in a position of authority.

Call the county or Tribal social service agency, or the police, where the child lives if you believe that a child is being hurt or neglected.

Some people, whose jobs involve caring for children, such as doctors, teachers and ministers, are required by law to report suspected child abuse or neglect.

Other people, such as neighbors or relatives, are encouraged to report if they think a child is being abused or neglected. Your report is confidential and your name cannot be released to the family except by a court order.

Child protection workers assess reports for child safety, risk factors, and family strengths and needs. Extensive research has found that children are safer and families are healthier when family support services are quickly made available and targeted to specific needs.

Many reported incidents are successfully addressed using either the Parent Support Outreach program or the Family Assessment Response. These approaches connect families to counseling, parenting education, services like early childhood or special education, and programs to help them meet basic needs such as housing and food.

Other assessment factors

• Many reported incidents do not reach the legal standard of abuse or neglect, but there may be factors that put the children at potential risk. The Parent Support Outreach Program helps these children and their families get support to prevent future incidents of child maltreatment.
• Most of the children receive a Family Assessment Response, which secures children's safety while supporting families. Families must participate in working to resolve issues that may be contributing to the risk of child maltreatment.
• Counties and tribes still use Family Investigations for serious reports of child abuse and neglect. This includes cases where children are at imminent risk of harm.

Information about the child protection process, including what happens when a report of child maltreatment is accepted by the county or tribe, is explained in the Families' Guide to Child Protection  DHS-3247-ENG (PDF).

This brochure is also available in:

• Hmong - Families' Guide to Child Protection DHS-3247-HMN (PDF)
• Somali - Families' Guide to Child Protection DHS-3247-SOM (PDF)
• Spanish - Families' Guide to Child Protection DHS-3247-SPA (PDF)

Efforts are underway to reform child protection policies and practices to eliminate long-standing racial disparities, unequal treatment, and poor outcomes for too many children and families. This work follows passage in 2024 of the Minnesota African American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act. Learn more about the act and its implementation. 

To communicate concerns about the child protection process, constituents can contact DCYF staff by calling 651-431-4661, or by email to dcyf.child.safety-permanency@state.mn.us.