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A new webinar has been added to the DHS Family First webinar series.
Join us October 6, 2021, from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. for “Title IV-E and FFPSA”. The purpose of this webinar is to provide information on the fiscal impact that Family First Prevention Services Act Public Law 115-123 (FFPSA) will have on placements of children/youth in children’s residential facilities and family foster homes.
Registration is required. This webinar will be recorded and posted for future reference.
To learn more about FFPSA, view previously recorded webinars, DHS bulletins and publications, visit the Minnesota Department of Human Services website.
The Improve Group invites all child welfare/protection caseworkers to complete a 15-minute survey as part of the DHS Caseload Study by Friday, October 19. Results from this study will be reported to the Minnesota State Legislature and used to develop a process for ongoing workload monitoring. Reach out to Karissa Propson with any questions at karissap@theimprovegroup.com.
Take the survey now and please share with your colleagues! https://wh1.snapsurveys.com/s.asp?k=163181415185
SSIS is seeking three agencies to pilot SSIS version 21.4 (v21.4).
Pilot dates are October 27 through November 29, 2021; statewide release is scheduled for November 30, 2021.
Pilot agencies receive weekly phone calls, priority response from the SSIS help desk, and provide application input during the piloting period.
V21.4 will include:
- Relative Search
- APS – counties will no longer receive phone calls when Emergency Protective Services are requested. Instead, they will receive an automatic email notification to an address they specify.
Contact Lisa Litchfield if your agency is interested in piloting.
A new SUD Treatment Coordination Job Aid has been posted to the SSIS Resource page under Fiscal Documentation/Healthcare Claiming.
The Minnesota Maltreatment of Minors Act requires child welfare agencies to make face to face contact immediately, or no more than 24 hours from the date and time a maltreatment report was received, with the alleged child victim in reports of sexual abuse and substantial child endangerment [Minn. Stat. § 260E.20, subd. 2(b)]. Beginning July 1, 2021, exceptions were added allowing delayed contact for reports of sexual abuse or substantial child endangerment. The new exceptions allow child welfare agencies to have face to face contact with the child within five calendar days when:
- The child resides in a location that is confirmed to restrict access with the alleged offender, or
- The child welfare agency is pursuing a court order for the caregiver to produce the child for questioning.
The updated statutory language requires the commissioner for the Department of Human Services to issue guidance, which is outlined in bulletin 21-68-12, for implementation by child welfare agencies.
The current SSIS waiver activity ended on June 30, 2021. In place, SSIS staff developed a temporary new activity that will allow agencies to record the information and the rationale for the delay in response time when initial face to face contact is postponed In accordance to Minn. Stat. § 260E.20, subd. 2(b).
- A new SSIS Activity: “CP Timeline Exception” was made available on July 1, 2021.
- The new Activity is associate to the following BRASS Code and should be used on Staff time Records:
- 104 (Child Protection Investigation) and;
- 108 (Family Assessment Response)
- Workers can go back and adjust the time record now that the new “CP timeline exception” activity is available.
- Note: If the time record is locked, a request should be submitted to the SSIS Help Desk for a data fix to unlock the time record and update the time records
A permanent SSIS solution for the exception is expected to be included in an SSIS release later this year. Please reach out to the SSIS Help Desk if you need any technical assistance.
*Note: Agencies should not select this Activity for the “Initial child observation/interview”, to avoid complications with correctly closing the child maltreatment report.
The 2021 Minnesota Legislature authorized a number of rate and budget increases for home and community-based services. The following service rate and monthly budget increases became effective Oct. 1, 2021:
- 3.16 percent increase to Elderly Waiver (EW), Alternative Care (AC), and EW and AC Consumer Directed Community Supports (CDCS) monthly case mix budget caps
- 1.58 percent increase to CDCS budgets under the Brain Injury (BI), Community Alternative Care (CAC), Community Access for Disability Inclusion (CADI) and Developmental Disabilities (DD) waiver programs
For more information and resources related to these changes, review the Long-term services and supports (LTSS) rate changes page. DHS also updated:
The SSIS Webinar Materials (state.mn.us) found on the SSIS Resource Page is updated with links to the Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy website and previously recorded webinars, along with a link to the newly added Family First Prevention Services Act Webinar Series.
The SSIS Adult Protection Worker course follows the life of a vulnerable adult maltreatment case starting with the intake received from the Minnesota Adult Abuse Reporting Center (MAARC) through the investigation and closing of a case. This is a technical training designed to provide overview of data entry as related to Adult Protective Services (APS) into SSIS. Training is offered in two half-day virtual classes and is designed for new adult protection workers, SSIS Mentors, and for those seeking refresher.
Training dates and registration information can be found on the SSIS Adult Protection Worker Training page.
The SSIS Child Protection (CP) Basics courses focus on data entry requirements for caseworkers using a “life of a case” model and various activities pertaining to learning content. These courses are designed for new staff or support staff that enter data into SSIS. This training is also available for new SSIS Mentors and for those seeking a refresher. Classes can be taken as a series or individuals can choose which course(s) to take based on the work they do for their agency.
Class schedules, prerequisites, and registration details can be found here.
As reflected in the SSIS Release notes for V21.3 Statewide Release, based on AFCARS II reporting purposes related to Family First Prevention Services Act, two placement settings in SSIS were created or modified: “Foster home-corporate/shift staff – Legacy” and “Foster family home – kin.”
It was determined that for those children whose placements were entered in as “Foster home-corporate/shift staff – Legacy” and “Foster family home – kin,” users were unable to complete a MAPCY to support those placements.
Related to the “Foster home-corporate/shift staff – Legacy’” placements, SSIS deployed a database script to correct this issue allowing users to complete a MAPCY to support the placements. The database script deployed September 30, 2021.
For placements entered as “Foster family home – kin,” within the same database script deployment, the placement setting “Foster family home – kin” was set to “Inactive”. Users are no longer able to select that setting for new placements, and will need to change the setting on any existing placements with that setting to “Foster family home – relative” in order to complete a MAPCY to support the placements. Upon release of SSIS V21.4, the placement setting for “Foster family home – kin” will be set back to active and the MAPCY will be updated to work with that setting.
Questions can be directed to the SSIS Helpdesk, 651-431-4801, or to Jody McElroy, 651-431-4730.
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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