Minnesota can end deep poverty; let’s start with common sense changes. Nearly 250,000 Minnesotans live in deep poverty, which means they make no more than 50% of the federal poverty level. That’s $888 per month or less for a family of three or $517 or less for a single adult. Think about trying to live on that much. Read more in this column by Commissioner Jodi Harpstead that appeared in the Minnesota Reformer on Feb. 24.

More than $150 million has been given to child care providers in Minnesota during pandemic. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released data back in September showing several states reported more than 50% of child care providers closed amid the pandemic. However, Minnesota ranked high among states on the percentage of child care facilities still open and operating. Learn more in this Feb. 10 KIMT TV story, which features an interview with Lisa Bayley, acting assistant commissioner for Children and Family Services at DHS.

Minnesota's Children's Justice Initiative celebrates 20 years of protecting vulnerable children. Twenty years ago, Minnesota began a dramatic overhaul of its child protective system. For too long, said visionary and former Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz, child protection had become "a feeder system to our prisons," with vulnerable children moving through a revolving door first as juvenile offenders and, later, as adult criminals. Today, the Children's Justice Initiative (CJI), a collaboration between the Minnesota judicial branch and Minnesota Department of Human Services, is a national model for how to find safe, stable and permanent homes for abused and neglected children. Read more in this Feb. 12 Star Tribune article.