Children's Issues

Minnesota State Government

• Child Support Guidelines - A guide compiled by the staff of the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library that discusses recent changes to Minnesota's child support laws.
• Legal Age in Minnesota -  A guide compiled by the staff of the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library.
• Minnesota Department of Human Services - Includes their Children and Families Services Page which provides information on subjects such as child protection, family support and preservation, foster care and adoption, and other issues related to child welfare. The Child Support Enforcement Division is part of this agency.
• Minnesota Department of Health - Provides information about several child and youth health issues on the Division of Child & Family Health page.
• Minnesota Minority Child Heritage Protection Act - A guide compiled by the staff of the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library that discusses the history of the Minnesota Minority Child Heritage Protection Act.

Other Minnesota Information

• University of Minnesota Extension: Families and Youth - Located at the University of Minnesota, the extension provides information related to the health, education, and welfare of children, youth and families.
• Children's Defense Fund-Minnesota - An advocacy group which promotes efforts for children's health care coverage and child support and enforcement legislation. Includes a link to CDF's child resources and publications.
• Children's Law Center of Minnesota - A staff of attorneys and social workers that promotes the rights and interests of Minnesota's children in the judicial, child welfare, health care, and education systems.
• Family - Legal topics from LawHelpMN.org, which include custody, child support, adoption, etc.
• Minnesota Alliance with Youth - An intergenerational group committed to creating active citizen leaders among the state's youth.
• Minnesota Child Care Resource and Referral (MNCCRR) Network - A non-profit, tax-exempt organization coordinating and supporting a statewide system of 22 Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies.
• Minnesota Fathers & Families Network - A statewide network whose mission is to initiate, promote and support effective programs and to educate on public policy to enhance the responsible involvement of fathers in the lives of children, families and the community.

Federal Information

• Administration for Children and Families (ACF) - A division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Federal programs aimed at children and families include:
  • Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System - Includes many state-by-state comparisons of data on foster care.
  • Child Care Bureau - Established in January 1995 to administer federal funds to assist low income families with quality child care.
  • Children's Bureau - The oldest federal agency for children. It is responsible for assisting States in the delivery of child welfare services. Statistical information can be found in many of their statistics & research page.
  • Child Welfare Information Gateway - Formerly the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information and the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, Child Welfare Information Gateway provides access to information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families.
  • Office of Child Support Enforcement - Includes state profiles of paternity and child support laws.
  • Office of Family Assistance - Provides statistical reports about the division's programs and services.
• America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being - A report from the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics that presents indicators on critical aspects of children's lives such as poverty, crime, health care, math and reading proficiencies, and childhood immunizations.
• U.S. Bureau of the Census Home Page - Includes children and Child Care Data which contains information on child care costs and arrangements that are collected on an intermittent basis in the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP).

Research and Statistics, Advocacy Groups, and Volunteer Organizations

• AdoptionNetwork - Includes an overview of adoption issues and provides information on federal, state, and local adoption agencies.
• The American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law - Includes child law books and publications.
• Annie E. Casey Foundation - A private charitable organization dedicated to helping build better futures for disadvantaged children. Includes a link to the report KIDS COUNT.
• Child Trends, Inc. - A non-profit research organization that studies issues relating to children, youth, and families. Their Child Trends DataBank contains a variety of statistical data on children.
• Child Welfare League of America - An organization of nearly 1,000 public and private non-profit agencies. Includes the League's publications on topics such as parenting, kinship care, adoption, and raising healthy teenagers.
• Children and Families - This page by the National Governors Association (NGA) provides links to the latest reports, initiatives, and information on child welfare.
• Children's Defense Fund - Provides information on the activities of the CDF as well as statistics on children.
• Children's Environmental Health Network - A national project whose mission is to promote a healthy environment and protect the fetus and the child from environmental health hazards.
• Children's Rights Council - Includes information about current federal legislation relating to child custody and support.
• Fetal Alcohol and Drug Unit - A division of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Washington. Includes an index to resources related to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE).
• The Future of Children - An electronic journal from the Center for the Future of Children at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. An excellent source for articles about current research and policy issues relating to the well-being of children.
• National Center for Children in Poverty - From the Columbia University School of Public Health. Includes state profiles on policies, demographics and economic conditions for children and families.
• National Center for Missing and Exploited Children - Includes a database of missing children.
• National Conference of State Legislatures Human Services Issue Area - Contains a lot of information on children's issues, including the 2014 Child Welfare Enacted Legislation Database.
• Safe Kids Worldwide - A international organization dedicated to the prevention of unintentional childhood injury.
• Stand For Children - An organization committed to improving the quality of children's lives.
• The State of the World's Children - Reports back to 1981 from UNICEF that provides statistics on children's health, mortality, education, and other indicators for gauging the well-being of children throughout the world.

See also

• Education (Early Childhood)
• Education (K-12)
• Gender Issues

The sites listed on this page are not created, maintained, or endorsed by the Minnesota Legislature.