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Child Safety and Permanency: Child Foster Care

Sept. 10, 2026

• Policy highlights
• New and updated publications
• Resource highlights
• Upcoming training and practice-sharing opportunities
• Questions and consultation requests

Policy highlights

SSIS tip/trick: SSIS data entry guidance – placement/location/absence settings

Department staff complete quality assurance reviews for the use of “Authorized temporary location” settings. Certain options are not being utilized accurately and do not meet the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis Reporting System (AFCARS) requirements.

Use “Authorized Temporary Location” only when a child is temporarily away from their existing placement with agency approval. Do not use “Authorized Temporary Location” when the child is in a different placement setting, including:

• Juvenile detention facility
• Licensed shelter
• Waiver crisis respite as an out-of-home service in a DHS-licensed child foster residence setting (CFRS), a community residential setting (CRS) or foster home
• Emergency relative placement, kin/nonrelative placement or when the child’s placement has officially ended.

The allowed temporary absence “reasons” for the “Authorized Temporary Location” setting only include:

• Visitation
• Education
• Military
• Camp
• Awaiting placement setting
• Respite
• Other (examples: reestablishment of parental rights under Minnesota Statutes 329 or job training longer than 14 days).

Note: The reason “Safety/Stability” is not an allowed option under the setting of “Authorized Temporary Location.” Double-check entries before finalizing, as previously selected placement settings can cause incorrect reasons to autofill.

New and updated publications

Bulletins

Summary of 2026 Child Welfare Legislation (Bulletin #26-68-15)

Corrected: Minnesota African American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act (MAAFPCWDA) Initial Guidance (Bulletin #26-68-08C)

Intrastate Process for Child Foster Care Placements in Another County (Bulletin #26-68-12)

Raising Age of Delinquency Initial Guidance (Bulletin #26-68-13)

Minnesota’s Child Maltreatment Report, 2024 and Minnesota’s Out-of-home Care and Permanency Report, 2024 (Bulletin #26-68-16)

eDocs

Minnesota’s Out-of-home Care and Permanency Report, 2024

Resource highlights

Kinship Navigator Programs

The Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families’ kinship navigator program supports relatives and close family friends raising a child who isn’t their own. The program helps caregivers access legal, financial, emotional and community support, whether they’re caring for the child informally, through child welfare or with a legal arrangement. The goal is to connect families to the services and support they need to thrive.

Agency staff can share information about the Kinship Navigator Program with people and organizations in their communities who may help connect kinship caregivers to schools, service providers, faith-based organizations, reporters during the intake process, etc.

Why it matters

Kinship caregivers take on a big responsibility — and they shouldn’t have to do it alone. The program is here to help families:

• Stay financially stable
• Find trusted support in their communities
• Get connected to services like health care, food, housing and child care.

ADAPT Program: Parenting support for families who serve

The Adaptive Parenting Tools (ADAPT) program is an evidence-based parenting program developed specifically for military families with school-aged children. The program is currently recruiting National Guard families with children (ages 5-12) to participate in a research study to improve access to effective parenting programs.

See the ADAPT website for more information on the program, and www.adapt4ng.org for National Guard families interested in participating in the current study.

Upcoming training and practice-sharing opportunities

Run, Risk, Response: Practical strategies for child welfare that strengthen youth interventions (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)

Child welfare professionals are increasingly on the front lines of coordinating care, services and emergency response for survivors of child sex trafficking. NCMEC has learned that trafficking prevention efforts must start at a young age and address online safety and running behavior. Advanced recovery planning and specialized response can mitigate challenges, streamline resources and allow for coordinated, trauma-informed interventions.

Objectives

1. Use strategies to engage youth, identify the root causes of running behavior and tailor interventions to reduce running and risk for revictimization.
2. Differentiate between ineffective and effective approaches to youth engagement and safety planning, emphasizing how strategies are implemented for individual youth.
3. Recall NCMEC resources that can assist with locating, recovering and supporting child sex trafficking survivors.

Registration information

Marshall: Sept. 21, 2026, 10 a.m. – noon

Roseville: Sept. 22, 2026, 10 a.m. – noon

Duluth: Sept. 23, 2026, 1 – 3 p.m.

Detroit Lakes: Sept. 24, 10 a.m. – noon

October 2026 Foster Care Community of Practice

Topic: The impact of stress and trauma in children from birth to age 5

Join Laura Smith, Psy.D., LP (DHS early childhood mental health clinical coordinator) and Teya Dahle, MSW, LICSW, IMH-E®(IV-C) (DHS early childhood mental health consultation coordinator) as they discuss the impact of stress and trauma on children from birth to age 5. This session will cover typical development and worries, trauma symptoms in young children, relationships and attachment, and ways adults can support young children and their families.

Target audience

Sessions are geared towards ongoing case managers for children and youth in out-of-home placement receiving child protection, child welfare, children's mental health and/or disability services.

Registration

Registration is open to those whose role aligns with the targeted audience. Each registration request will be reviewed, and every registrant will receive an email with their status.

Register for Oct. 27, 2026, at 10 a.m.

Questions and consultation requests

Information and resources regarding child foster care are available on PartnerLink.

For foster care policy, including case and permanency planning, relative search and placement, and placement decisions, contact dcyf.csp.fostercare@state.mn.us.

For questions about extended foster care and resources for independent living services, contact dcyf.csp.foster.youth.transitions@state.mn.us  

For permanency policy questions, case consultations, the Northstar eligibility process, training suggestions and requests for training or technical assistance, contact northstar.benefits@state.mn.us.