New report finds Minnesota systems are failing Black women and girls

According to ground-breaking new data from a statewide survey conducted by Research in Action, only 28% of Black women, girls, and femmes in Minnesota are confident institutions will provide timely support when they need it.

A new statewide survey of nearly 800 Black women, girls and femmes across Minnesota paints a troubling picture: Many do not trust the institutions meant to protect and support them, and most expect stressful or harmful experiences when seeking help.

The findings come from the Justice in Institutions for Black Women, Girls and Femmes survey, released this month by Minneapolis-based research firm, Research in Action.

The study examined experiences with criminal justice, healthcare, housing, child protection and education systems, while also documenting why many Black women and girls avoid seeking services altogether.

Only 28% of respondents said they are confident that institutions would provide timely support when needed.

"In 2023, Minnesota became the first state to create an Office of Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls, but that was just a first step," said Dr. Brittany Lewis, founder and CEO of Research in Action. "This survey data shines a light on how systems that are supposed to protect all Minnesotans are routinely and dramatically failing Black women, girls and femmes."

Working alongside a Community Action Council composed of impacted Black women, girls and femmes, Research in Action plans to develop an accountability framework that state agencies and counties can use to measure whether policies and practices are actually improving safety and wellbeing. The organization hopes the model created in Minnesota can eventually be replicated nationwide.

The survey was developed in partnership with more than 75 community organizations and leaders and supplemented with focus groups and interviews to capture the experiences behind the numbers.

Among the report's findings:

• Criminal justice received a D+, one of the lowest grades in the study. Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they were not confident the system would support them, while 66% reported high or extreme stress during interactions with law enforcement and courts.

• Child Protection Services also earned a D+. Only 21% of respondents said they believed the system would support them, while nearly two-thirds anticipated high stress if they needed to engage with CPS.

• Housing received a C, but researchers noted that respondents expected interactions with housing systems to be nearly as stressful as the experiences themselves. Forty-seven percent anticipated high stress before seeking help and 48% reported high stress during those interactions.

• Healthcare and education received the highest marks at C+, yet only about one-third of respondents expressed confidence that either system would provide meaningful and timely support.

Across every system studied, the most common reason respondents gave for avoiding services was fear they would be treated unfairly because of their race, ethnicity or background.

For Lakeisha Lee, founder of the Brittany Clardy Foundation, the report confirms what many Black women and girls have long said.

"These survey results make visible and tangible the challenges Black women, girls and femmes have been articulating for generations," Lee said. "Now that we have the data, we must listen, receive and believe what Black women, girls and femmes are telling us—and take actionable steps to change key systems."

The report builds on previous work by Research in Action, which in 2022 published what it described as the nation's first comprehensive state-level report on missing and murdered Black women and girls. That work helped lead to the creation of Minnesota's Office of Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls, the first office of its kind in the country.