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FFPSA established requirements to promote placement prevention services and limit the number of children/youth placed in child care institutions (congregate care). The new requirements for placing agencies are meant to ensure that children/youth receive the treatment and services they need within their family, a family foster care setting or in their community and only when that is not possible they are placed in a child care institution. If these new requirements are not met, county and tribal social service agencies will no longer receive federal Title IV-E reimbursement for out-of-home placement costs in these facilities. Existing child care institutions will be required to become certified as a qualified residential treatment program (QRTP). The requirements are effective Sept. 30, 2021 and apply to the following child care institutions:
- Children’s residential treatment
- Group homes
- Foster care residences (commonly known as corporate foster homes).
Webinars and written guidance for FFPSA will begin in August and will run through September. These Webinars will contain policy related information as well as data entry components in SSIS. Please click on the links to register. The webinars listed below will be recorded and posted at a later time for those who were not able to attend the live presentations.
- Placement Process Changes Webinar Registration - Aug 5, 2021 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
- Juvenile Treatment Screening Team Webinar Registration - Aug 12, 2021 1:00PM to 2:00 PM
- QRTP Assessment Process and Qualified Individual Requirements Webinar Registration - Aug 17, 2021 1:00PM to 3:00PM
- Out of Home Placement Plan Webinar Registration - Aug 24, 2021 1:00PM to 3:00PM
- AFCARS Facility Classification Documentation in SSIS Webinar Registration - Aug 31, 2021 1:00PM to 3:00 PM
- Family and Permanency Team's Role in Assessment and Placement Webinar Registration - Sep 2, 2021 1:00PM to 3:00PM
- Court Review for Placement and Extended Placement in QRTP Webinar Registration - Sep 9, 2021 1:00PM to 2:00PM
- Specialized Residential Settings for Youth who have been or are At Risk for Sex Trafficking Webinar Registration - Sep 14, 2021 1:00PM to 2:30PM
- FFPSA and Expectant and Parenting Youth Overview Webinar Registration - Sep 23, 2021 1:00PM to 2:30PM
- Specialized Residential Independent Living Facilities for Youth Age 18 yrs and Older Webinar Registration - Sep 28, 2021 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
In addition to the FFPSA policy webinar series being launched August 5, the SSIS Training team, in partnership with SSIS Business Operations team, will be hosting a series of SSIS Coffee Talk Webinars titled “Family First in SSIS”. Each coffee talk will focus on assisting system users with navigating SSIS changes due to the FFPSA. SSIS coffee talks will follow most policy webinars and cover the topic of the day. All mentors, coordinators and SSIS users are welcome.
Click here for dates, times and registration links to upcoming sessions. Registration is required.
Up-to-date SSIS mentor and coordinator contact information assists SSIS staff in communicating SSIS news and events accurately, effectively and efficiently. Agency mentors and coordinators are asked to review agency SSIS contact lists regularly to ensure timely delivery of SIS communication. Contact lists are located on the SSIS Resources page. Change requests should be submitted to the SSIS Help Desk.
Strong passwords are one of the best defenses against criminal cyber activity. Effective July 27, 2021, increased password requirements will be implemented in SSIS.
Passwords will continue to require at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number, and one special character. SSIS will now, however, detect and deny weak passwords that meet those requirements. An example of this is the password Summer2021!.
Please keep in mind the following tips regarding cybersecurity when determining password possibilities:
- Create unique passwords
- Do not share passwords with anyone
- Change passwords if you suspect a compromise
- Do not write your password down on paper or save it in a plain text file on your computer
Do not use weak passwords
Emergency Background Studies
Instructions with the steps and information entities need to submit an emergency background study are available on NETStudy 2. Frequently asked questions about emergency background studies are also available on the background studies COVID-19 webpage.
Adoption-only background studies and emergency background studies for foster care
This information was originally released in the February 2021 Permanency Support Issue of the CSP Update.
When a child foster care provider is planning to adopt a child under guardianship of the commissioner, but their foster care home study was approved using emergency background studies, adoption-only background studies can be completed on each prospective adoptive parent and all required household members to fulfill background study requirements for adoption and Northstar Adoption Assistance eligibility. This option is only currently available to foster families who are adopting a child under guardianship of the commissioner and whose foster care license was issued using emergency background studies.
Adoption-only background studies have different procedures than child foster care and emergency background studies. Adoption-only background studies are completed using hard fingerprint cards, where fingerprints are taken manually, not electronically, and processed via the former NETStudy system (not NETStudy 2.0). Gemalto Thales fingerprinting sites cannot be used for fingerprint requests for adoption-only background studies, as those locations are for electronic fingerprinting for NETStudy 2.0.
If pursuing this option, agencies should provide fingerprint authorization forms to prospective adoptive parents and all required household members, and direct them to take the form to a location that will complete hard fingerprint cards, such as a local law enforcement or sheriff’s office. The agency who completed the foster care home study for a family must complete a home study update upon receiving the adoption-only background study results.
When submitting Adoption Placement Agreements (APA) to DHS staff in this situation, results from both types of background studies (emergency and adoption-only) must be submitted with the APA.
If you have questions about this option, contact Kathleen Hiniker, permanency unit supervisor, at kathleen.a.hiniker@state.mn.us.
This information was also published in the SSIS Permanency Update, April 1, 2021.
Family First Prevention Services Act
The Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) requires that all staff working in a Title IV-E Group Children’s Residential Facility (CRF) receive fingerprint-based “Adam Walsh” background checks in order to meet Title IV-E child safety requirements.
To assist counties and initiative tribes with claiming Title IV-E reimbursements for these placements, we will periodically update the list of facilities that have met the background checks safety requirements.
Click here for an updated list of facilities in compliance
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