Minnesota
Racial disparities in child protection prompt Minnesota legislation, federal complaint
Layla Jackson never returned to her mother.
The cheerful, observant 17-month-old was murdered by her foster father in 2018.
Latasha Bacon said child protection workers should not have removed her daughter from her care after the girl returned from a babysitter’s with a broken leg. Bacon, who is Black and Native American, is part of a movement demanding Minnesota rethink its child protection system that has disproportionately penalized families of color.
“Nobody wants to say, ‘Racism is very much still alive.’ Nobody wants to say that our system is broken,” said Bacon, who mentors other parents involved with child protection. “A lot of these parents are being faulted for neglect for being broke and living below the poverty guidelines. Instead of being given the resources, they are just taking their kids away.”
A Minnesota family’s chances of being reported for child maltreatment varies dramatically depending on their race. So does the likelihood a kid will be removed from their family, or reunited with them down the road.
The Minneapolis branch of the NAACP recently filed a federal civil rights complaint saying discrimination in the child welfare system is devastating Black families, particularly in Hennepin and Ramsey counties.
Advocates are also pressing for action at the State Capitol, where they hope that after years of failed attempts, lawmakers will pass legislation this session to address unequal outcomes. The bill is named the Layla Jackson Law.
“African American families are coming into the system for less serious allegations than our Caucasian peers, yet we continue to face the most harsh and punitive outcomes,” Kelis Houston, chairwoman of the local NAACP’s child protection committee, recently told lawmakers. “What we’re asking for today is for this state to stop harming our children.”
State takes aim at disparities
African American families are at the center of recent advocacy, but state data shows gaping child protection disparities for many demographic groups. The differences are particularly stark for Native American families.
Native American kids are 16 times more likely to be removed from their families than white children in the state, according to the most recent state report on out-of-home placements. Kids who identify as two or more races are seven times more likely.
African American and Hispanic children are twice as likely as their white peers to be taken from their homes. Children with disabilities are also disproportionately represented in foster care.
The bill at the Capitol, which has expanded to include African American and “disproportionately represented children,” aims to ensure there are “active efforts” to keep a child with their family or reunify them as soon as possible; that child welfare staff get cultural competency training, and a portal is created where people can report noncompliance with the law. It would also establish a grant program to provide training to social services agencies, court advocacy, culturally specific family counseling and other services.
The legislation doesn’t have a price tag yet.
Associations representing counties, social service administrators and county attorneys have said they support the overall aim, but raised some concerns. Counties have said the law won’t succeed without more state spending to bolster the child welfare workforce, services, training and technology. And county attorneys proposed changes to the bill that they said would better ensure “necessary public safety safeguards.”
“Safety, of course, is first and foremost,” said Rep. Esther Agbaje, DFL-Minneapolis. But she said when child protection gets involved, “We also don’t want to be overly onerous on folks who are just trying to raise their families.”
Some goals of the bill are already underway. The Department of Human Services created the African American Child Well-being Unit in 2020, which is launching a pilot program to provide $3 million in grants for community efforts to prevent child abuse and keep families together.
The state unit also set up an advisory council to review data, advise on priorities and review issues, said Tikki Brown, assistant commissioner for children and family services at the DHS. The legislation would enshrine the advisory council in law.
Lawmakers are also working on a bill to strengthen a decades-old state law that expanded on the federal Indian Child Welfare Act, which governs the removal of Native American children from their families.
“For our Native kids, they were removed for very discretionary reasons” and kept in foster care longer, said Sen. Mary Kunesh, DFL-New Brighton.
Counties have failed to notify tribes of child protection proceedings and are not ensuring that tribes have a say in foster care placements to try to keep kids with kin, she said. Her bill aims to ensure those steps are taken and would mandate that court officials ask about American Indian heritage in all child protection proceedings and make it easier for tribes to participate in that legal process.
Hennepin, Ramsey county critiques
The NAACP’s civil rights complaint calls for an investigation into discrimination and how federal funds are used in Minnesota’s child protection system. It zeroes in on Hennepin and Ramsey counties.
Cindy Devonish, a Hennepin County child protection worker and NAACP member, said she’s seen the disparities firsthand and told lawmakers she was removed from a case where she objected to terminating parental rights.
“This is unequal treatment that comes at a high cost to our community as a whole,” Devonish said.
The NAACP asked the federal government to compel Minnesota and the counties to comply with the Civil Rights Act and pressed the state to create additional procedures to document racial equity issues. It raised concerns with law enforcement emergency removals of children, a lack of services to support Black families and the state’s safety and risk assessment tools.
Ramsey County agreed the DHS should update its risk assessment tool, noting that having more children in a home can contribute to a determination that a child is at higher risk. But Kathy Hedin, Ramsey County’s deputy county manager of health and wellness, said focusing on emergency removals doesn’t give an accurate picture of how they are addressing disparities. Such holds, which allow child protection to assess whether there’s an unsafe situation, are typically initiated by law enforcement and don’t automatically result in permanent removal, she said.
Both Ramsey and Hennepin County staff stressed that they have added services that help support and keep Black families together. In 2020, the Hennepin County Board declared racism to be a public health crisis and officials launched a three-year pilot with Village Arms, an organization dedicated to reducing child protection disparities for Black families.
Village Arms leaders say their pilot proved strategies being considered by state lawmakers could be successful: 90% of the 200 families the group worked with avoided having a child removed from the home. But those who worked on the pilot say they also saw troubling behavior from some county child protection workers.
“We experienced some of the most blatant racist attacks on those trying to prevent out of home placement for African American children,” said Thomas Berry, co-chair of the NAACP child protection services committee, who worked on the Village Arms pilot, which ended in December.
Jodi Wentland, deputy county administrator for human services, said Hennepin County officials have been working since 2017 to transform the child protection system and eliminate racial disparities.
“This work is difficult and complex,” Wentland said in a statement. “Above all, we want to see children safe at home, in healthy, stable families.”
Star Tribune staff writer Christopher Magan contributed to this story.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Gas prices are climbing again in the Twin Cities, with experts warning drivers to brace for more increases if oil prices keep rising.
Twin Cities gas prices see sharp increase
What we know:
According to GasBuddy’s survey of 1,106 stations, the average price for regular gasoline in the Twin Cities jumped 10.9 cents per gallon in the last week, now sitting at $4.18 per gallon. That’s 38.6 cents higher than a month ago, and $1.28 more than this time last year.
The national average price for gasoline also rose, hitting $4.48 per gallon after a 5.1-cent increase over the past week. Diesel prices are up too, with the national average at $5.62 per gallon, a 0.2-cent increase.
The cheapest gas in the Twin Cities was $3.70 per gallon Sunday, while the most expensive was $4.63 — a difference of 93 cents per gallon. Across Minnesota, prices ranged from $3.70 to $5.01 per gallon.
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said, “Average gasoline prices declined in just six states over the last week, led by the Great Lakes region, where motorists in states like Michigan and Ohio saw prices fall sharply, while Indiana experienced even steeper relief after the state temporarily waived both its excise and use taxes on gasoline.”
GasBuddy’s data shows that while some states saw relief, most drivers are paying more at the pump.
Gas prices in neighboring states
By the numbers:
Gas prices in neighboring states and cities are also fluctuating. Wisconsin drivers are paying $4.37 per gallon, almost unchanged from last week. Sioux Falls saw a significant jump, with prices rising 17.3 cents to $4.13 per gallon. Minnesota’s statewide average is now $4.16, up 11.1 cents from last week.
Looking at the last five years, Twin Cities prices have varied: $2.90 per gallon in May 2025, $3.25 in 2024, $3.47 in 2023, $4.11 in 2022 and $2.76 in 2021. GasBuddy compiles these numbers from more than 11 million weekly price reports across over 150,000 gas stations nationwide.
How much more you’re paying at the pump
Dig deeper:
In the scenario that your vehicle has a 15-gallon tank that you fill up about every 10 days, here is a look at how much more it’s costing you in May versus April, and in 2026 versus last year.
Now: At an average price of $4.18/gallon at three times per month at $62.70 per trip, that comes out to $188.10
One month ago: An average price of $3.79/gallon at $56.85 per trip, that’s $170.55 per month.
One year ago: An average price of $2.90/gallon at $43.50 per trip, that’s $130.50 per month.
Drivers face more uncertainty ahead
What’s next:
De Haan said, “Those declines helped pull the national average lower by roughly eight cents over the last several days after oil prices eased mid-week on optimism that the U.S. and Iran could reach a deal. However, that optimism has since largely unraveled, with talks appearing to stall and President Trump signaling the latest proposal is unacceptable, helping push oil prices higher again in Sunday electronic trade.”
He warned that if oil prices continue to climb, the national average could approach $4.65 per gallon. Ongoing refinery issues are also affecting diesel production, especially in the Great Lakes region, where prices are nearing record highs.
Should geopolitical tensions escalate further, fuel prices could rise even more sharply in the weeks ahead, De Haan said. Many drivers are watching prices closely and hoping for relief, but experts say the outlook remains uncertain for now.
What we don’t know:
It’s unclear how long prices will continue to rise or when drivers might see relief at the pump. Future changes will depend on oil markets, refinery operations and global events.
The Source: This story uses information from GasBuddy.
Cori Roberts of St. Cloud, Minnesota, incurred more than $8,000 in medical bills after she was diagnosed at CentraCare with early-stage cervical cancer. She says the health system told her she made too much — about $41,000 a year — to qualify for financial aid.
Anthony Souffle/The Minnesota Star Tribune
hide caption
toggle caption
Anthony Souffle/The Minnesota Star Tribune
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Cori Roberts was living in a rented basement four years ago when she was diagnosed with early-stage cervical cancer.
Recently divorced, the former stay-at-home mother had returned to work in her mid-40s, taking a human resources job that paid $41,000 a year. Then, despite having insurance, she was hit with more than $8,000 in medical bills.
“I had my car and a basket of clothes,” Roberts recalled. “Medical bills were not something I could have afforded.”
Roberts sought financial assistance from CentraCare, the St. Cloud-based health system that treated her. It’s a nonprofit charity that receives millions of dollars in federal, state, and local tax breaks. In exchange, it’s obliged to offer charity care to patients who can’t afford their medical bills.
But Roberts said CentraCare told her she made too much to qualify.
Roberts instead scrimped on groceries and Christmas gifts for her kids and paid off more than $6,000 over two years. Then CentraCare sued her last year because she hadn’t paid off all the debt.
“They’re supposed to be a nonprofit,” Roberts said. “It’s like, ‘Come on!’”
This story was a collaboration between KFF Health News and the Minnesota Star Tribune.
A sliver of financial aid
CentraCare earmarks just a tiny fraction of its budget for helping patients with medical bills they can’t pay, but it’s not alone in that, a Minnesota Star Tribune-KFF Health News investigation found.
Minnesota’s hospitals and health systems are among the least charitable in the country, the investigation found, providing less financial aid as a percentage of their operating budgets on average than hospitals in almost every other state.
The investigation drew on a detailed review of every hospital charity care program in the state, an analysis of five years of hospital financial data, and dozens of interviews with patients, hospital executives and state officials.
Nationally, hospitals spend an average of about 2.4% of their operating budgets on charity care, according to federal hospital data compiled by Hossein Zare, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University. Minnesota hospitals spend about a third of that, on average.
CentraCare’s flagship hospital in St. Cloud, Minnesota, earmarks only a fraction of its budget for helping patients who can’t pay their medical bills.
Anthony Souffle/The Minnesota Star Tribune
hide caption
toggle caption
Anthony Souffle/The Minnesota Star Tribune
Some spend considerably less. Of Minnesota’s 123 general hospitals, 62 devoted less than 0.5% of their operating budgets to charity care from 2020 through 2024, the Star Tribune-KFF Health News investigation found.
“The system is not working,” said Erin Hartung, director of legal services at Cancer Legal Care, a Minnesota nonprofit that helps patients with medical debt and other financial challenges. “And the burden is falling hardest on the people who are least able to bear it.”
CentraCare’s flagship St. Cloud Hospital spent less than 0.25% on charity care, according to the analysis. That works out to $25 in patient aid for every $10,000 spent on hospital operations.
A growing burden
Charity care will become even more vital in coming years as Americans lose health coverage or can’t afford rising copays and deductibles. The nation’s uninsured rate has been ticking up and is expected to increase further as budget cuts pushed by President Trump force states to pare back Medicaid and other safety net programs.
Nationwide, healthcare debt — much of it from hospitals — burdens an estimated 100 million people. And charity care, which was historically aimed at the uninsured, is now critical to many people with health insurance who can’t afford their bills.
Hospital officials say it’s unfair to expect them to solve this affordability problem when many of their facilities are financially strained. “No amount of charity care from hospitals will ever fully meet the needs of uninsured or underinsured Minnesotans. The need is simply too great,” Minnesota Hospital Association spokesperson Tim Nelson said in a statement.
But Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said hospitals have a duty to increase charitable help for all needy patients in exchange for the tax breaks they receive.
“There is a benefit you get from being a nonprofit hospital in the state of Minnesota,” he said. “But do the people get the benefit?”
Several factors help explain why Minnesota hospitals provide so little financial aid. For one, job-based insurance and an expanded Medicaid program offer broad coverage. Hospitals in states with less government assistance and more uninsured people typically spend more on charity care.
Eligibility standards vary
But patients also face significant barriers accessing financial aid at many hospitals, including inconsistent eligibility standards and extensive applications, the Star Tribune-KFF Health News investigation found.
To qualify at many hospitals, patients must submit detailed personal information, including bank statements, retirement accounts, mortgage documents and estimates of other assets such as cars, homes or livestock.
Cori Roberts, who was sued by her healthcare provider after she was unable to make full payments for her treatment, thumbs through copies of her payment records at her home in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
Anthony Souffle/The Minnesota Star Tribune
hide caption
toggle caption
Anthony Souffle/The Minnesota Star Tribune
And because Minnesota has not standardized the criteria for charity care, patients might receive aid at one hospital but not another. The investigation found that some hospitals give free care to patients with an annual household income of $47,000, while others cap it at about $15,000.
There are similar variations in charity care standards at hospitals nationwide, KFF Health News and other researchers have found. A recent analysis by the nonprofit Lown Institute found that one hospital in Boston set the limit for free care at less than half the level as another hospital just a few block away.
In Minnesota, had Roberts driven 30 miles east or 35 miles north, she would have found medical providers with more generous financial aid policies than CentraCare. But she didn’t know to look.
Roberts, now 49, has remarried and lives in a split-level home in St. Cloud decorated with inspirational plaques such as “Faith, Family, Friends.” CentraCare recently dropped the lawsuit against her, but only after she took out a loan against her retirement plan to pay off the medical debt. “It just feels very unfair,” she said.
CentraCare spokesperson Karna Fronden said medical privacy laws prevented her from discussing Roberts’ case. She also declined interview requests about the health system’s charity care spending.
In a statement, Fronden said CentraCare provides assistance in addition to charity care, such as helping enroll patients in insurance. “This helps provide broader, longer-term protection for patients,” she said.
Other hospital leaders said they serve their communities in ways besides forgiving medical bills, including training doctors and nurses and preserving money-losing services such as obstetrics and mental health care.
Hospitals in rural communities specifically also play an important role as employers, said Robert Pastor, chief executive of Rainy Lake Medical Center in International Falls, Minn.
“We are the second- or third-largest employer in town, running on razor-thin margins while navigating escalating labor and supply costs and routine underpayment by public programs,” Pastor said. “Meanwhile, many health insurers post billions in profits.”
“Rural hospitals like ours are often portrayed as though we are sitting on piles of cash and simply choosing not to spend it on charity care. That is far from the reality,” he said.
Hospital executives say they have a responsibility to ensure that limited resources for charity care go to patients who need them, said Travis Olsen, chief executive of Hendricks Community Hospital, near the South Dakota border.
Burdensome application process
To determine eligibility, some Minnesota hospitals consider only income, the Star Tribune-KFF Health News investigation found. But most demand information about patients’ bank accounts as well. More than two-thirds require even more information, including the value of retirement accounts, life insurance policies, property and vehicles.
In addition to copies of tax returns, W-2 forms, pay stubs and bank statements, Hendricks asks aid applicants 53 questions about their finances. These include questions about the make, model and value of vehicles; the current market value of farm equipment, livestock and land; and the purchase price and square footage of homes.
Other hospital applications ask patients to detail their monthly spending on food, utilities and other medical bills.
All these questions discourage patients from seeking assistance, said Jared Walker, founder of Dollar For, a nonprofit that helps people apply for charity care.
“The drop-off rates are much higher the more questions you ask and the more documentation you have to provide,” he said.
By contrast, most hospitals make it very easy for patients to click a button on the hospital website to pay their bills, Walker said. “Hospitals have optimized to get payment,” he said. “If you want to get on a payment plan, if you want to get on a credit card, it’s so easy.”
Back in St. Cloud, Roberts said that when she drives past CentraCare’s $200 million expansion at its Plaza campus in St. Cloud, she wonders why Minnesota hospitals don’t live up to higher standards.
“They have all the money,” she said. “But they can’t grant a good person some grace?”
This story was produced by KFF Health News and the Minnesota Star Tribune.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF.
-
World2 minutes agoTrump administration rejects UN migration declaration, says ‘mass migration was never safe’
-
Politics8 minutes agoStacey Abrams hit with subpoena in alleged campaign finance violations saga: ‘No one is above the law’
-
Health14 minutes agoTwo Maryland residents monitored for hantavirus after sharing flight with infected cruise ship passenger
-
Sports20 minutes agoCraig Morton, quarterback who led the Broncos to their first Super Bowl appearance, dead at 83
-
Technology26 minutes agoRobotaxi drives off from airport with passenger’s suitcase
-
Business32 minutes agoL.A. port traffic rises in April despite trade disruption, higher fuel costs
-
Entertainment38 minutes agoEntertainment mogul Byron Allen to acquire Buzzfeed, HuffPost
-
Politics50 minutes agoOversight chair seeks information from OpenAI’s Sam Altman about potential financial conflicts