MINNESOTA

This document may be freely copied, printed, or distributed for personal, nonprofit, governmental, or educational use, if the copy displays this permission statement with the copyright: © Pinion Feather Press, LLC, 2020, 2023.

WHO:        ANY person MAY report if s/he knows, has reason to believe, or suspects a child is or was neglected or physically or sexually abused.  [Stat. § 260E.06, Subd. 2]

A parent, guardian, or caretaker MUST report if his/her substitution of prayer for a child’s medical care may cause serious danger to health.  [Stat. § 260E.06, Subd. 3]

These are mandatory (MUST report): • A professional or delegate engaged in practice of the healing arts, social services, hospital administration, psychological or psychiatric treatment, child care, education, correctional supervision, probation or correctional services, or law enforcement • Clergy member who received the information while engaged in ministerial duties. DHS states that these include: • medical personnel & professionals, & dental professionals • social workers, group home staff, & foster parents • therapists • family child care providers, & child care center staff • teachers & assistants, school administrators, & school support staff • guardians ad litem.  [Stat. § 260E.06, Subd. 1; Resource Guide for Mandated Reporters of Child Maltreatment Concerns (1/2016), p. 1, https://www.dowr.org/img/Reporting%20Child%20Abuse%20and%20Neglect%201_16.pdf]

·       NOTE: The professional and clergy mandate is not limited to the reporter’s work life.

STANDARD:  [Stat. §§ 260E.06, Subd. 1,2; 609.25, Subd. 1; 609.26, Subd. 1; 260C.007, Subd. 4,5; 645.451, Subd. 2; 260C.451, Subd. 3a]  Child means under age 18.

(1)      Mandatory reporters:

(a)     knowledge or reason to believe that a child is being neglected or sexually or physically abused OR has been neglected or physically or sexually abused within the preceding 3 years; or

(b)     knowledge or reason to know of a child’s kidnapping without their consent (or a parent’s consent if the child is under age 16) EITHER (i) for ransom, reward, a shield, felony, bodily harm, terror, or involuntary servitude, OR (ii) by concealing, taking, obtaining, retaining, or failing to return a minor child, thus substantially depriving rights to parenting time or custody.

(2)      A parent, guardian, or caretaker: if their use of prayer in lieu of medical care may cause serious danger to a child’s health.  [Stat. § 260E.06, Subd. 3]

(3)      Other reporters: knowledge, or reason to believe, or suspicion that a child is being or has been neglected or subjected to physical or sexual abuse.

·       PRIVILEGE:  Clergy-confession privilege is a ground for not reporting. For proceedings, husband-wife, medical practitioner-patient, and mental health professional-client confidentiality prevent examination without the confider’s consent, but husband-wife and patient/client confidentiality cannot exclude evidence.  [Stat. §§ 260E.06, Subd. 1(2); 260E.04; 595.02, Subd. 1(c)]    

WHEN:      For all reporters: IMMEDIATE (< 24 HOURS) oral report.  For mandated reporters: follow-up written report within 72 HOURS (exclusive of weekends and holidays).  [Stat. §§ 260E.03, Subd. 9; 260E.06, Subd. 1(a); 260E.09(a)] 

WHERE & HOW:  [Stat. § 260E.06, Subd. 1] 

For mandatory reports: usually, FIRST, call any of the local (a) local welfare agency, (b) agency responsible for assessing or investigating, (c) police department, (d) county sheriff, (e) tribal social services agency, or (f) tribal police department.  THEN submit a follow-on written report to the same unit. Alternatively, report only to an investigating agency (law enforcement).  Suspicious deaths have their own reporting protocol.

AGENCY RESPONSIBLE: DHS handles complaints for human services, juvenile corrections, and in part, health facilities. If the event concerns an institution for education or some health facilities, mandatory reporters must notify the oversight agency. Also see the exception below for suspicious death of a child.

VOLUNTARY REPORTERS use the same contacts as for mandatory reports, but may not have a follow-on written report.

When a child is in immediate danger:                       Dial 911; report afterward.

(a) Imminent danger of injury, death, or sexual abuse; (b) injuries needing medical care; (c) belief that s/he would not be safe at home; or (d) s/he says a sexual assault occurred.       [http://www2.minneapolismn.gov/police/report/police_crime-reporting_childabuse]

Reports on these are to a COUNTY or TRIBAL child protection agency:  [Stat. § 260E.14]

(1)      Alleged sexual abuse, physical abuse, or neglect: by a parent, guardian, sibling, family member responsible for care, or household member with a significant relationship to the child; OR

(2)      Maltreatment in human service facilities, foster care, family child care, license-exempt child care, in-county juvenile correction, or a license-exempt personal care provider organization; OR

(3)      A child who is a victim of sex trafficking.

A directory for county and tribal child protection agencies is posted at:

https://mn.gov/dhs/people-we-serve/children-and-families/services/child-protection/contact-us/

For the local POLICE department, COUNTY sheriff, or TRIBAL police department:

(1)      Mandatory reports of kidnapping (for crime or deprivation of parental rights & custody) are to local police or the county sheriff.  [Stat. § 260E.11, Subd. 2]

(2)      Other reports to police, etc. are allegations of: (a) a person who is NOT a parent, guardian, sibling, family member responsible for the child's care, nor a household member, nor in significant relationship to the child, or (b) a criminal violation.

(3)      Directory: see the 1^st URL below. It is incomplete for tribes. Tribal child protection agencies (above) know how to reach their police; or see links at the 2^nd URL.

https://www.usacops.com/mn/

https://mn.gov/portal/government/tribal/mn-indian-tribes/

Dept. of EDUCATION, for maltreatment in schools:  [Stat. § 260E.14, Subd. 1(d)]

                              (1)      Report: download and complete the confidential maltreatment reporting form from the URL below and email it to mde.student-maltreatment@state.mn.us or fax it to 651-797-1601 OR call the 24/7 reporting line 651-582-8546.

                               (2)     https://education.mn.gov/mde/dse/mal/

Dept. of HEALTH, for maltreatment in hospitals, sanitariums, assisted living, outpatient surgical centers, nursing services, & in-home [medical] personal care assistance.  [Stat. §§ 260E.14, Subd. 1(d); 144.50 - 144.58 and 144A.43 - 144A.482 or chap. 144H; https://www.health.state.mn.us/facilities/regulation/ohfc/filecomp.html]

                                 (1)     Option #1: Contact the county DHS office (see contacts above).

                                 (2)      Option #2: Contact the Office of Health Facility Complaints by phoning 651-201-4200 or emailing health.ohfc-complaints@state.mn.us  .

For a SUSPICIOUS DEATH:  A mandatory reporter who knows or has reason to believe that a child died due to neglect or physical or sexual abuse must report to the local medical examiner OR coroner instead of elsewhere.  [Stat. § 260E.11, Subd. 3]  No report deadline is given, but the M.E. or coroner must complete investigations as soon as feasible. See directory at http://mncmea.org/?page_id=21

OTHER ASPECTS

·       REPORT DETAILS: MUST contain enough to identify: (a) the child; (b) anyone thought to be responsible for the abuse or neglect, if known; (c) nature and extent of abuse or neglect; and (d) reporter’s name and address. [Stat. § 260E.09(b)]  For calls to a local child welfare agency, child protection screeners also ask: (e) the reporter’s phone number, relationship to family or child, and source of info (witnessed, heard, etc.); (f) name, address, age, and other identifying info for the alleged victim, siblings, alleged offender, other household members, or other witnesses; (g) description – when and where the alleged incident occurred and if a child is in immediate danger; (h) description of injuries or present conditions, and impact of alleged maltreatment to the child; (i) weapons, domestic violence, criminal activity such as prostitution or sex trafficking of children, or other dangerous activities in the home; (j) any action by a school and/or other facility or agency in response to the incident; (k) family’s awareness of reporter’s contact with the agency; (l) any immediate family / relative / community resources willing to offer protection or support, and what the reporter is willing to do (or has done) to help; (m) if known, a child’s Indian tribe lineage, and if so, which tribes; (n) other helpful info about the child and/or family; and (o) whether the reporter would like to be notified of the initial disposition.  [p. 6 at https://www.dowr.org/img/Reporting%20Child%20Abuse%20and%20Neglect%201_16.pdf]

·       REPORTER PROTECTION: (1) Mandatory reporters must include their name and address in written reports.  [Stat. § 260E.09(b)]   (2) That identity is shielded unless an alleged perpetrator compels disclosure with the reporter’s consent or by a court finding that a report is false and evidences bad faith.  [Stat. § 260E.35, Subd. 3(n)]  (3) All reporters in good faith are immune from civil & criminal liability; if they prevail in a civil suit over it they may be awarded attorney’s fees and costs; maltreatment or failure report when required is not immune.  [Stat. § 260E.34]

WHY:        (1) Failing to make a mandated report is a: (1a) misdemeanor if the person knows or has reason to believe the issue is or was current in the past 3 years; or (1b) gross misdemeanor if it concerns physical or sexual abuse in the past 10 years, of two or more children unrelated to the same perpetrator. (2) A parent, guardian, or caretaker’s non-reporting is a: (2a) gross misdemeanor if s/he knows (or should) the child’s health is in serious danger, and the child has substantial or great bodily harm from lack of medical care;  or (2b) felony (< $4,000 fine and/or < 2 years’ prison) if s/he dies; medical religious freedom does not exempt reporters. (3) Employer retaliation has civil liability for actual damages and < $10,000 penalty; if done within 90 days after a good-faith report it is presumed retaliatory. (4) ANYONE knowingly or recklessly reporting falsely is civilly liable for actual and punitive damages plus costs and reasonable attorney fees.  [Stat. § 260E.07; 260E.08]

WHAT:      Minnesota’s reporting law concerns: (1) neglect (which may include any of: failure to supply necessities, protect, supervise, or ensure education; prenatal substance abuse; medical neglect; parental chronic, severe abuse of alcohol or a controlled substance during pregnancy or otherwise, and emotional harm); (2) physical abuse (which may include mental injury and threatened injury [implicit from a dangerous parent]; and (3) sexual abuse (which may include sexual exploitation).  [Stat. §§ 260E.03; 260C.007; 609.377]   

Initial Screening Criteria (DHS): (1) legal qualification as child maltreatment; (2) sufficiency of info to locate the child or a family member; (3) situation not previously reviewed by the local child welfare agency or another. DHS TOP PRIORITIES are sexual abuse, substantial child endangerment, and serious threat to child safety. DHS accepts sufficient reports even from unidentified reporters.  [Stat. §§ 260E.09(b); 260E.17; p. 3 at https://www.dowr.org/img/Reporting%20Child%20Abuse%20and%20Neglect%201_16.pdf]    

Reportable: (1) persons responsible for the child’s care, for neglect (in supplying, protecting, supervising, educating; substance abuse in pregnancy or otherwise; or emotional harm), physical abuse, mental injury, emotional maltreatment, threatened injury, sexual abuse and criminal sexual conduct; (2) persons with significant relationship to, or recent authority over the child, for sexual abuse and criminal sexual conduct; and (3) birth mother for prenatal abuse of alcohol or drugs.  [See items below]

·     NOTE: Anyone is reportable to police, etc. for abuse under other statutes: (a) assault; (b) prostitution or sex trafficking; (c) statutory rape; (d) malicious punishment; or (e) neglect by willful deprivation, intentional or reckless harm, knowing exposure to substances, and age <14 access to a loaded firearm.  [Stat. §§ 260C.007, Subd. 5; 609.221-.224, 609.2242; 609.322; 609.342; 609.345; 609.377; and 609.378] 

·     Person responsible for the child's care is: (a) a family member responsible for the child’s care such as a parent, guardian, or someone similar; or (b) non-family with the responsibility, such as a teacher, school administrator, other school staff or agent, or other lawful custodian with full-time or short-term duties such as daycare, babysitting (paid or not), counseling, teaching, or coaching.  [Stat. § 260E.03, Subd. 17] 

·     Family or household members are spouses, ex-spouses, parents, children, blood relatives, and persons who live together or did, and persons with a child in common, whether they married or lived together or not.  [Stat. § 260C.007, Subd. 17]

I. Neglect is a nonaccidental act or omission below, BUT, failing to provide these things is NOT neglect unless there is a legal duty to do so (i.e., s/he is responsible for the child).  [Stat. §§ 260E.03, Subd. 15(a),(c)]

(A)     Failure to supply necessary food, clothing, shelter, health, medical, or other care required for the child’s physical or mental health, when the (neglectful) person responsible for a child’s care is reasonably able to do so; OR

(B)     Failure to protect (when able to do so) a child from serious danger to his/her physical or mental health; a physician may diagnose growth delay due to parental neglect; OR

(C)     Failure to provide necessary supervision or child care arrangements appropriate for the child’s age, mental ability, physical condition, length of absence, or environment, when the child is unable to care for (a) his or her own basic needs or safety, or (b) the basic needs or safety of another child in his or her care; OR

(D)     Failure to ensure that the child is educated as required by state law, however a parent’s refusal to provide drugs against ADHD is not neglect; OR

(E)     Prenatal (a) exposure to a controlled substance used nonmedically by the mother, as seen by the newborn’s withdrawal symptoms or toxicology results (from mother or child at delivery / birth) or corresponding medical effects or developmental delays in the first year of life, or (b) presence of a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder; OR

(F)     Medical neglect of a disabled or life-threatened infant, such as withholding medically advised nutrition, hydration, and/or medicine UNLESS: (a) the infant is irreversibly comatose; (b) treatment would be ineffective; or (c) it would be futile and inhumane under the circumstances; OR  [Stat. § 260C.007, Subd. 6(5)]

(1)     Relying on PRAYER instead of medical care is NOT neglect, yet when lack of care may seriously endanger a child, the parent, guardian, caretaker, or mandatory reporter MUST report it.  [Stat. § 260E.03, Subd. 15(b)]

(G)    Caregiver incapacitation by alcoholism or addiction: chronic, severe use of alcohol or a controlled substance by a parent or another responsible for the care of the child, such that it adversely affects the child's basic needs and safety; OR

(H)     Emotional harm by a behavior pattern that impairs emotions, with a substantial, observable effect in the child's behavior, emotions, or cognition that is not within the normal range for his/her age and development, with due regard to his/her culture.

II. Physical Abuse means any of: (a) any non-accidental physical, mental, or threatened injury inflicted by a person responsible for the child’s care; (b) physical or mental injury that cannot reasonably be explained by the child’s history of injuries; or (c) any aversive [embittering] or deprivation [denial] procedures or legally unauthorized regulated interventions [e.g., use of drugs or electroshock].  [Stat. § 260E.03, Subd. 18]

(A)     Examples: (a) throwing, kicking, burning, biting, or cutting; (b) closed-fist hitting; (c) shaking a child age <3; (d) striking etc. a child age <18 months; (e) interfering with breathing; (f) threatening with a weapon; (g) striking a child age <1 on the face or head; (h) injuring the face or head of a child age 1, 2, or 3; (i) giving poison, alcohol, or dangerous, harmful, or controlled substances, or substances that affect behavior, coordination, or judgment, or cause illness or injury requiring medical care not needed otherwise; (j) unreasonable confinement or restraint, e.g., tying, caging, or chaining; or (k) corporal punishment on school property. [Stat. § 260E.03, Subd. 18(c)]

(B)     Mental injury in psychological capacity or emotional stability is evidenced by observable or substantial impairment in function in a normal range of performance and behavior, with due regard to culture.  [Stat. § 260E.03, Subd. 13]

(1)     EMOTIONAL MALTREATMENT is consistent, deliberate pattern with harmful intent in inflicting mental harm, by a person responsible for the child, with an observable, sustained, and adverse effect on his/her physical, mental, or emotional development.  [Stat. § 260C.007, Subd. 15]

(C)     Threatened Injury is substantial risk of physical or sexual abuse or mental injury, e.g., a caregiver: (a) egregiously harms or fails to protect a child; (b) was found unfit as a parent; (c) lost parental rights involuntarily; or (d) had involuntary transfer of permanent legal and physical custody to a relative.  [Stat. § 206.03E, Subd. 23]

(D)     Reasonable discipline is NOT abuse. Examples: (1) reasonable, moderate physical discipline by a parent or legal guardian that does not result in an injury; (2) educators using reasonable force.  [Stat. §§ 260E.03, Subd. 18(b); 121A.582]

(1)     Contrast MALICIOUS PUNISHMENT: a parent, legal guardian, or caretaker intentionally commits one or more acts, with unreasonable force or cruel discipline, excessive under the circumstances.  [Stat. § 609.377, subd. 1]

III. Sexual Abuse is criminal sexual conduct by a person who has: (a) responsibility for the child's health, welfare, or supervision; (b) a significant relationship to him/her; or (c) a current or recent position of authority over him/her.  [Stat. § 260E.03, Subd. 20]

(A)     “Current or recent position of authority” includes but is not limited to: (a) a parent or someone in their place responsible for the child (such as a psychotherapist) (b) at the time, even briefly, or within 120 days beforehand.  [Stat. § 609.341, Subd. 10]

(B)     “Significant relationships” include: (a) guardians; (b) by blood, marriage (step-) or adoption: parent, brother, sister, first cousin, aunt, uncle, nephew, niece, great aunt, great uncle, grandparent, great grandparent; and (c) an adult non-spouse of child who lives there at least sometimes.  [Stat. §§ 260E.03, Subd. 21;  609.341, Subd. 15]

(1)     Compare INCEST: sexual intercourse knowing the partner is nearer than first cousin, whole or half blood. [Stat. § 609.365]  [Nearer kin are up to 3^rd degree: (a) ancestor to great grandparent; (b) descendant to great grandchild; (c) sibling (whole or half blood); (d) parent’s sibling; or (e) nephew or niece.] 

(C)     The age of consent is 16. But it is age 18 if the sex partner is in a: (i) current or recent position of authority over the child; or (ii) significant relationship with the child. Mistake as to age 16 is a defense if the child is at least age 13 and the offender is no more than 120 months older than the child. [Stat. §§ 609.345, Subd. 1(b),(e),(f)] 

(1)     STATUTORY RAPE concerns a child age under18; it is absolute under age 13. It is less severe for a: (a) child under age 13 with a partner no more than 36 months older; or (b) child age 13, 14, or 15, with a partner no more than 48 months older.  [Stat. §§ 609.345, Subd. 1(a),(b)]

(2)     ALLOWED: two people age 13 or more: (i) sexual penetration at age difference no more than 24 months; or (ii) sexual contact at age difference no more than 48 months.  [Stat. §§ 609.344, Subd. 1(a),(b); 609.345, Subd. 1(a),(b)]

(a)      Intimate parts are human and include the primary genital area, groin, inner thigh, buttocks, or breast. [Stat. § 609.341, Subd. 5]

(b)      Sexual contact is sexual or aggressive touching or seminal fluid or sperm on: intimate parts or clothing there, between parties or a third person. Under age 13, genitals and/or anuses are bare. [Stat. § 609.341, Subd. 11]

(c)      Sexual penetration is regardless of semen: (i) sexual intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, or anal intercourse; or (ii) even slight intrusion of an object or body part into genitals or anus. [Stat. § 609.341, Subd. 12]

(D)    Criminal sexual conduct includes: (a) prostituting a minor; (b) sexual abuse threatened by a parent figure or household member, at the level of a registered predatory offender; or (c) sex trafficking of a child. Or it may entail (d) using a minor in sexual performance [porn].  [Stat. §§ 260.03, Subd. 20; 609.342 ff.]