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June 2026
You are receiving this email because you are a child foster care licensor or supervisor, or authorized agent for a child-placing agency. Please share this with other staff that work with CFC licensing (admin, case aides, county attorneys, supporting roles).
An initial step of each background study in NS2 is a registry check that is completed by the
county/private agency sensitive information person (SIP) initiating the study. If the registry check for a license applicant reveals a current exclusion, the application must be denied per Minnesota Statutes, section 245.095, subdivision 1 (a). Additionally, if a current license holder has a new (or newly discovered) exclusion, the license must be either revoked or suspended for the period of the exclusion:
245.095 LIMITS ON RECEIVING PUBLIC FUNDS.
Subdivision 1. Prohibition. (a) If a provider, vendor, or individual enrolled, licensed, receiving funds under a grant contract, or registered in any program administered by the commissioner, including under the commissioner's powers and authorities in section 256.01, is excluded from that program, the commissioner shall:
(1) prohibit the excluded provider, vendor, or individual from enrolling, becoming licensed, receiving grant funds, or registering in any other program administered by the commissioner; and
(2) disenroll, revoke or suspend a license, disqualify, or debar the excluded provider, vendor, or individual in any other program administered by the commissioner.
The licensing authority for these actions is Minnesota Statutes, section 142B.15 (a)(10), which allows the Commissioner to deny a license if the applicant is prohibited from holding a license according to section 245.095; and Minnesota Statutes, section 142B.18, subdivision 4 (a)(4), which allows the Commissioner to suspend or revoke a license if the applicant is prohibited from holding a license according to section 142A.12.
It is very important that your agency SIP informs the licensor when there is an exclusion found during the initial step of the BGS process. These are relatively uncommon, and we would encourage you to contact triage for any case specific questions.
We often get emails asking whether or not a licensor is able to close a file following a Licensing Action Order (LA Order) or what the status of an LA Order is.
LA Orders are sent via Certified Mail with Return Receipt Service (aka "Green Card"). This USPS service helps prove the LA Order was sent. It also allows us to track the date the order was delivered, who signed for it, and what delivery attempts were made.
The appeal request timeline for the LA Order does not start until it is accepted at the address via signature or picked up from the post office. After the order is signed for or picked up at the post office, the USPS will return the "Green Card" to DCYF CFC Licensing. The date on the Green Card is what is used to initiate the timeline for the applicant/license holder to request an appeal. It should be noted that the action taken determines the number of days to submit an appeal request. The timeline for the actions are:
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Conditional - 10 calendar days
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Denial - 20 calendar days
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Fine - 10 calendar days
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Revocation - 10 calendar days
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TIS* - 5 calendar days (*personally served - no green card)
Before reaching out to us, please check the application/license status in ELMS. Below is a list of statuses (as shown next to the action taken) and what they mean:
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Pending Appeal - The application/license is still pending the appeal request timeline, either
- the Certified Mail has not been successfully delivered; or
- the LA Order has been successfully accepted, however the appeal timeline has not passed yet (from the date of the signed Green Card)
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Under Appeal - The Applicant/License Holder has appealed the action.
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Final Action (Denied or Revoked, etc) - If it is listed as the final licensing status with the date of the LA Order (not pending or under appeal), then you may close out the file on your end.
As a reminder, do NOT email or give the Applicant/License Holder the LA Order. For tracking purposes, we need the signed and dated Green Card to start the appeal request timeline.
The Certified Mail process can take quite some time. The mail carrier will make a few attempts to deliver Certified Mail. If it is not successfully delivered, then it will be returned to DCYF with a yellow USPS label as either unclaimed, undeliverable, or include a forwarding address. We will attempt to mail the LA Order up to three times.
- Forwarding Address - The LA Order will be resent to the address provided on the yellow USPS label.
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Unclaimed - The LA Order will be resent, along with a separate "Unclaimed Mail Memo" (via standard USPS mail) encouraging the Applicant/License Holder to accept the Certified Mail because there are instructions to follow if they disagree with the contents of the LA Order. The licensor will receive a copy of the memo via email.
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Undeliverable - Triage will email the licensor asking to confirm the address we have and/or asking if there are any updates in the address of the Applicant/License Holder.
If you still have questions regarding an LA Order or an address update, then reach out to triage.
During the March webinar, CFC Licensing staff went over the mental health and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders form (previously C29). The intent of the content was to go over page four. Every agency needs to have page four on file, to articulate what trainings your agency has approved to meet the initial two hour children’s mental health training. Since licensing agencies have the autonomy to approve children’s mental health training, this form needs to be on file whether or not your agency utilizes a “DCYF approved” training.
We also want to acknowledge that there are items on this document that are out of date. Specifically, the trainings that are offered by the child welfare academy on pages two and three. The trainings listed are not currently offered by the Child Welfare Academy. We are working on updating all of our licensing forms.
It has been one year since CFC Licensing has joined DCYF and you were informed of the new CFC Triage email address. Our triage box still gets emails related to non-CFC questions or issues. If triage notices that the email is related to a different license type, you will get a reply saying it appears that you are emailing us about something that is not CFC related and to resend it to the appropriate email address. To mitigate this issue, you might find it helpful to know who to email and how to manage the various licensing unit contacts.
If you are a licensor that oversees multiple license types (AFC, CFC, CFRS, CRS, FCC, etc), you might find it helpful to create an email "contact" for each of the licensing units' triage emails. If you use Outlook (or similar), you can create a contact for CFC Triage, by following the steps below:
- Click on "Contacts" or "People" in the quick menu on the left,
- Click on "New Contact/Person,"
- In the "Full Name" field, enter CFC Triage (or what you prefer to name it),
- Click "OK" in the dialog box that pops up,
- In the "Email" field, enter dcyf.fostercarelicensing@state.mn.us,
- Click on "Save & Close" and the new contact will be displayed,
- You should now be able to use the "CFC Triage" contact.
Below are some of the commonly used triage emails that you may want to create contacts for:
Please note - If you are still using the dcyf.licensingsupport@state.mn.us or dhs.licensingsupp@state.mn.us email, please refrain from using these. If you have any child foster care related questions or concerns, they should be sent to our triage email. We understand that some online forms are sent directly to the above mentioned email addresses and we are working on redirecting those to our CFC triage email address.
Below are training opportunities offered and presented by DCYF's Child Foster Care (CFC) licensing staff. If you have already attended any of the courses below, you are welcome to attend again, as a refresher. Visit TrainLink to learn more about the courses offered. This is the schedule for the second half of 2026.
* Training dates and times are subject to change.
Licensing Actions and Appeals - Child Foster Care (NEW Training Available)
June 11, 2026: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (St. Paul, MN)
CFC Home Safety Checklist Overview
July 22, 2026: 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. (St Paul, MN)
The Basics and Beyond - Child Foster Care
*This course is intended for new licensing workers and supervisors
August 13, 2026: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (St. Paul, MN)
Licensing Complaint and Investigations - Child Foster Care
August 19, 2026: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (St Paul, MN)
CFC PIF & 3324 - Child Foster Care (NEW Training Available)
August 20, 2026: 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. (Virtual)
Licensing Actions and Appeals - Child Foster Care (NEW Training Available)
September 16, 2026: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (St Paul, MN)
Licensing Actions and Appeals - Child Foster Care
October 21, 2026: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (St Paul, MN)
CFC Home Safety Checklist Overview
October 29, 2026: 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. (St Paul, MN)
The Basics and Beyond - Child Foster Care
*This course is intended for new licensing workers and supervisors
November 12, 2026: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (St. Paul, MN)
CFC PIF & 3324 - Child Foster Care (NEW Training Available)
November 16, 2026: 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. (Virtual)
Licensing Complaint and Investigations - Child Foster Care
*This course is two half days, must attend both.
November 18 & 19, 2026: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (Virtual)
The Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy (MNCWTA) is a collaboration between Child Safety and Permanency (CSP) at DCYF and the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare (CASCW) at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. They work with licensors to access Foster Parent College, as well as registering prospective foster parents in trainings. There are 5 Learning Centers: Detroit Lakes, Duluth, Marshall, Owatonna, & Roseville. Visit MN Child Welfare Training Academy to learn more about them and what they offer or email info@mnchildwelfaretraining.com. Upcoming training(s) listed below:
Addressing Disparities and Disproportionality: MAAFPCWDA
June 29-30: 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. (Virtual - both days)
The Training Academy now offers training for the Minnesota African American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act (MAAFPCWDA). This two-day course highlights the connection between historical inequities, current system disparities, and the responsibilities of child welfare professionals under the Act.
Foster Parent Pre-Service Training
June 11th and June 25th: 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. (Virtual Cohort 33)
If you would like the Training Academy to enroll and register your resource parents in instructor-led Foster Parent Pre-Service Training and/or Foster Parent College (FPC), complete this form. For current information regarding Foster Parent Training, please continue to check the Training Academy website.
For licensors who want to handle registration on their own, here is a draft email that you can share. If you need assistance, or if you need access to Foster Parent College, please contact our Training Operations Specialist, Brittany Koneczny Palm, at konec007@umn.edu.
Please let your resource parents know that they are welcome to attend the virtual trainings together, but each will need to be registered individually to receive credit.
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