Early Reviewers

In March 2024, the NAACP and Children's Rights filed a lawsuit against Minnesota, alleging that the state's child protection agencies have discriminated against Black families.

The lawsuit claims that the state's child welfare system has violated civil rights laws and that Black families are overrepresented at every step of the system.

Some of the allegations in the lawsuit include:

• Black children are more likely to be investigated by child welfare services than white children
• Black children are more likely to be removed from their homes than white children
• Black children are more likely to have their parental rights terminated than white children
• The state uses federal funds to discriminatorily surveil and separate Black families

The lawsuit highlights the alleged discrimination in Hennepin and Ramsey counties, where Black children are overrepresented in the child welfare system. For example, in Hennepin County, Black children made up more than 53% of all reports in 2019, and in Ramsey County, Black children made up more than half of the children whose parents had their rights permanently terminated.

This is my tragic story.