Ruling may impede on research | mndaily.com - The Minnesota Daily

"An upcoming Minnesota Supreme Court decision that could tighten the public’s access to child maltreatment documents has raised concern among child welfare advocates and University of Minnesota researchers. Before July, the state court could rule to restrict the access of social work documents and records of child mistreatment, which are currently available to the public upon request. The potential changes address privacy issues, but some advocates and researchers say it could limit their work. The state Supreme Court formed advisory committees to make recommendations on the availability of certain documents that are currently available to the public last year, as the court planned a switch to an electronic filing system. In December, one committee proposed to keep documents related to child maltreatment cases private. But the documents are critical for analyzing how these cases are handled, said Canan Karatekin, an associate professor at the University’s Institute of Child Development. And though privacy issues are at the core of the potential changes and those should be recognized, it’s important that well-intentioned people still have access, Karatekin said ..."