MPR's Elizabeth Stawicki reports that The National Center for State Courts (CHIPS), a non-profit organization which conducts research and educates courts on how to improve the administration of justice, has found opening child protection hearings and records to the public has had virtually no major effects in Minnesota…negative or positive. CHIPS studied the effects in the 12 Minnesota counties that took part in the three-year pilot project.

Child protection hearings and records have traditionally been kept private in order to protect the confidentiality of parents and children. But in the past few years, 16 states including Minnesota, have lifted that cloak in hopes that the public would better understand the often heart-wrenching decisions faced in juvenile court and lead to greater accountability of child protection workers.