NAACP, children's advocacy group file lawsuit against Minnesota for welfare discrimination

Source: The Hill

03/04/24 12:09 PM ET


The Minneapolis branch of the NAACP and advocacy group Children’s Rights have filed a lawsuit alleging the state of Minnesota and its child protection agencies and officials have discriminated on the basis of race against Black families in Minnesota, particularly in Hennepin and Ramsey counties.

The lawsuit argues the discrimination is evident in the “historic, pervasive, and ongoing overrepresentation of Black families in Minnesota’s child welfare system” and that the state has a pattern and practice of using federal funds to discriminatorily surveil and separate Black families, specifically in Hennepin and Ramsey counties.

“Minnesota has engaged in a long-standing pattern and practice of intrusive interventions, causing prolonged and often permanent separation and inflicting immediate and long-term harm,” the suit states. “The consequences of these patterns and practices in Minnesota’s child welfare system have been disastrous and disproportionately suffered by Minnesota’s Black and low income population, leading to significant adverse and discriminatory effects on the basis of race that are without any legitimate justification.”

The groups have filed the lawsuit with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (HHS-OCR) and are now calling for an investigation. “For far too long, forces within our government have worked to divide, and decimate Black families and communities. Let’s be clear — federal dollars should never be used as tools of discrimination,” said Derrick Johnson, NAACP president and CEO, in a statement.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4506799-naacp-childrens-advocacy-group-file-lawsuit-against-minnesota-for-welfare-discrimination/