As an educator in the area of child protection, and as a practicing attorney who represents parents in the child-protection system, I was affected deeply by the tragic and potentially preventable death of 4-year old Eric Dean. Much of the shock also stems from the fact that I am the mother of a young boy.

I am also the director of the Child Protection Program at William Mitchell College of Law, where our mission is to promote reform of the child-protection system through the development of best practices. I know that there are no easy answers and often many difficult questions.

Following reports of Eric's case, several legislators have suggested repealing changes to legislation passed within the last six months. Representatives from the Minnesota Department of Human Services and elsewhere have acknowledged that there may be a real issue of resources at play — was the county involved adequately funded, and were employees adequately trained?

An immediate call to repeal recent legislation is not a good way to create sound and measured public policy. For elected officials to state that they did not understand key provisions of the bill is also concerning.

Holding legislative hearings to investigate and develop a clear understanding of what happened in this case, however, is a good start. It is my hope that the families affected by these policies will be included in this decisionmaking process.

But hearings alone won't be enough. Making sure that our child-protection system is adequately funded deserves more of our attention. We spend millions each year placing children in foster care. Placing Eric in foster care might have helped. But in many cases, that money could be spent in ways that create sustained and effective natural support networks for parents and communities to prevent other children from ever being put in Eric's tragic situation. This might include robust parent mentoring programs or public awareness campaigns about the long-term health consequences of trauma and abuse. Because in most cases in Minnesota, when the child-protection system intervenes, the child ultimately comes home.

Joanna Woolman lives in Minneapolis.