|
Content submission deadline: Nov. 24, 2022
Submit ideas, articles, and feedback on the Permanency Support Update via email: Contracts.Adoption.DHS@state.mn.us
The Permanency Support Update is a collaborative effort by Permanency Support Unit staff.
A DHS policy bulletin providing an overview of 2022 Minnesota law changes that impact permanency (#22-68-11) was published on Oct. 18, 2022. The purpose of the bulletin is to provide guidance on legislative changes that affect permanency for children in foster care when they cannot be reunified with their parents or custodians. All changes outlined in the bulletin were effective July 1, 2022.
Two policies were also updated on the Adoption/Guardianship and TPLPC CountyLink webpage:
- Policy on sibling placement, separation, visitation, and contact in permanency (HTML or PDF)
- Policy on adoptive placement decisions for children under guardianship of the commissioner (HTML or PDF)
The Minnesota Department of Human Services contracts with six child-placing agencies to provide adoption and adoption-related services for children under guardianship of the commissioner of human services or tribal guardianship. View the PPAI contract services announcement for more information. Contracting agencies have primarily provided the following services: Pre-adoption education, adoption home studies, adoption home study updates, child-specific recruitment services, relative concurrent permanency planning, child placement services and post-adoption services.
A new PPAI contract started in July 2022. Each month, we will highlight a PPAI contract service and agency to help professionals gain a deeper understanding of the PPAI contract.
PPAI contract service: Adoptive placement services
As part of the PPAI contract service array, PPAI agencies are available to assist county and tribal workers in supporting children and families throughout the adoption process. This includes placement preparation of the adoptive family and collaboration with the county to provide full disclosure as well as transition planning. Following adoptive placement, PPAI agency staff visit monthly with the child and the adoptive family, providing support and resources as well as comprehensive education about how to access resources following finalization.
In order to be eligible, most PPAI services require a child to be under guardianship of the commissioner or tribal guardianship. Concurrent services are available for relatives if the child to be placed in a relative’s or kin’s care is age 8 or older at the time of placement. If children to be placed in a relative’s or kin’s care are part of a sibling group, at least one of them has to be age 8 or older at time of placement, in order to be eligible for relative services. Specific questions regarding PPAI eligibility can be directed to Michelle Frazier at michelle.frazier@state.mn.us.
North Homes offers a continuum of care to support children and families within their community which includes, but is not limited to, foster care and adoption. Since 1998, NHCFS has successfully provided adoption services for children from birth to age 17, who are under state or tribal guardianship, with a focus on children and youth ages 12 and older.
NHCFS is licensed by the Minnesota Department of Human Services and offers child foster care licensing and case management. In addition, NHCFS follows and promotes Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI) practices which is rooted in three principles: Prioritization of excellent parenting and meaningful relationships; use of research; and putting those with lived experiences at the center of policy change. NHCFS works with both relative and non-relative applicants across the state of Minnesota with office locations in Bemidji, Grand Rapids, and Duluth.
- Supportive and personalized case management services
- Access to NHCFS continuum of care to help families and children be successful
- Resource dollars to help cover training and licensing costs
- Virtual and in-person trainings and support groups (free of charge)
- 24/7 on-call support
- Adoptive placement and child-specific services at virtually no cost to provider through PPAI grant funding
- Access to Peer Mentor Program
- Post-adoption services
- Child-specific recruitment services
For more information about NHCFS services or to learn more about becoming licensed, please visit the NHCFS website or call (218) 327-3000 and ask to speak with a foster care/adoption licensor.
The Permanency Support Unit has been working with The 220 Experience to review child-specific recruitment services, practices, and policy in Minnesota. As part of the consultation work, The 220 Experience will conduct monthly webinars focused on older youth recruitment. The following presentation will occur in November:
-
The Art of Presenting Teens Series: Address the WHY. This series begins to unpack the challenges of placing teens and offers five tips to presenting youth because it is all about the presentation! MN ADOPT will host this session on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Register here.
The Permanency Support Unit offers trainings several times a year on Northstar Adoption Assistance, Northstar Kinship Assistance, and other permanency-related topics.
Registration is now available for the following trainings:
Training listings for the Permanency Support Unit can also be found on the Child protection, foster care, adoption: Training page. Just scroll down under Conferences, trainings and webinars, and select Training to access the links to register.
If these offerings do not meet your agency’s needs, please reach out to the Permanency Quality Assurance Team (PQAT) to request trainings or suggest training topics that would benefit your permanency work. PQAT also offers technical assistance for the permanency process, including policy questions, case consultations, the Northstar eligibility process, and documentation/form requirements.
Training requests, training suggestions, and requests for technical assistance can be sent to PQAT at northstar.benefits@state.mn.us.
Sponsored by MN ADOPT, Circus of the Heart is a collaboration of state, county, and private agencies devoted to supporting Minnesota children finding permanency with families growing through adoption and kinship. This virtual celebration will be on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. to honor families who have grown through adoption and kinship care while also providing information about adopting children and youth under state guardianship. Find more information here.
Child Safety and Permanency Division staff offered a statewide webinar on Oct. 18, 2022, for child welfare professionals to enhance knowledge and learn more about significant changes made to relative search, notice, engagement, and placement considerations during the 2022 legislative session. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen attendee capacity issues, many interested individuals were unable to attend the live presentation.
The webinar recording and presentation slides are now posted on the Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy’s website. While not directly related to the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA), a decision was made to keep policy webinars on the same webpage at https://mnchildwelfaretraining.com/more/ffpsa/. A question and answer page will be posted soon.
Under Minnesota Statutes, section 260C.515, subdivision 4, a party to a child’s permanency proceeding is able to file a petition to transfer permanent legal and physical custody (TPLPC) to a relative. Additionally, a judge may grant a TPLPC petition regardless of a child’s eligibility for Northstar Kinship Assistance.
One of the primary eligibility factors for Northstar Kinship Assistance is that a child’s legally responsible agency has made certain determinations, including that:
- Reunification and adoption are not appropriate permanency options for the child
- Child has a strong attachment to the proposed relative custodian
- Proposed relative custodian is committed to caring permanently for the child.
These determinations must have been made prior to a TPLPC petition being granted; they cannot be made after the fact. Moreover, the court cannot make these determinations on behalf of the agency. Consequently, if a judge grants a TPLPC petition that was not filed by the legally responsible agency, it is unlikely that the child will be able to meet Northstar Kinship Assistance eligibility requirements.
Questions about this can be directed to the Permanency Quality Assurance Team at northstar.benefits@state.mn.us.
The Minnesota Department of Human Services Child Safety and Permanency Division’s African-American Child Well-being (AACWB) Unit is establishing an African-American Child Well-being Advisory Council to help develop and implement prevention and family preservation strategies to keep children from entering foster care and support families staying together.
The AACWB is currently seeking council representatives from diverse backgrounds who have personal and/or professional connections to and/or experiences within African-American and African heritage communities to join the council. This council will also intentionally include those with lived child welfare experience, such as parents, youth, relative caregivers, and others as valued members who can provide in-depth knowledge and understanding of the challenges impacting children, families, and communities.
To learn more about the council, please join AACWB staff for an in-person informational workshop on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022, 6-7:30 p.m., at the Rondo Community Library (Rondo Multipurpose Room), 461 Dale St. N., St. Paul, MN 55103.
For more information, visit https://mn.gov/dhs/general-public/about-dhs/public-participation/ or contact Susan McPherson, African American Child Well-Being Advisory Council consultant, at Susan.McPherson@state.mn.us.
On Nov. 9, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) will hear the case of Haaland vs. Brackeen regarding the future of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) in the United States. We previously discussed this case in our August 2022 update.
Staff from the Minnesota Department of Human Services Child Safety and Permanency Division’s American Indian Child Wellbeing Unit are participating in an online forum on Nov. 15, 2022, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m, titled Examining Haaland v. Brackeen: Understanding legal arguments at SCOTUS and their impact and hosted by the University of Minnesota’s Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare. Speakers will help attendees understand what is at stake in this case as well as break down the arguments each side presented to the court, both written and oral. Tribal perspective and judicial perspectives will also play a vital role in this forum.
Speakers for this forum are:
- Jessica Ryan, Tribal Attorney and former Tribal Court Judge
- Shannon Smith and staff attorneys, ICWA Law Center
- Reanna Jacobs and Cindi Miller, MN DHS American Indian Child Wellbeing Unit
- Justice Anne McKeig, Minnesota Supreme Court
This section includes information and resources from partners and stakeholders.
November is National Adoption Month
November is National Adoption Month, and the Children’s Bureau theme is focusing on how Small Steps Open Doors for youth along their journey to permanency. Agencies can use the Official Outreach Toolkit from the Children’s Bureau in partnership with the Child Welfare Information Gateway to spread the word on the need for adoptive families.
MN ADOPT recruitment opportunities
MN ADOPT recruitment opportunities are available. Fill out a recruitment request via the State Adoption Exchange. Recruitment opportunities include: A print feature in 56 newspapers around the state, All About Me feature, MN ADOPT’s Insider Newsletter, and TCL – Kid Connection. Contact Kim Sacay with questions at ksacay@mnadopt.org.
Reflective consultation opportunity for child welfare supervisors
The Center for Early Education and Development (CEED) along with the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare (CASCW) is offering 11 months of free reflective consultation to child welfare supervisors or administrators. Interested individuals should complete this form and contact Alyssa Meuwissen (asm@umn.edu) with any questions.
- The Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare (CASCW) is hosting an online forum titled Examining Haaland v. Brackeen: Understanding legal arguments at SCOTUS and their impact on Nov. 15, 2022, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. For more information and to register, visit the forum webpage.
- The Fall Training Series from Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health (MACMH) runs from September through December and features workshops on supporting indigenous children and families, working with challenging parents, healing after a suicide death, and more.
-
Children’s Home Society is offering foster care adoption education classes online in November 2022 and December 2022.
- The 5th Annual Infant & Early Childhood Conference from MACMH is still open for registration for online attendance only. It will be held in Coon Rapids, MN, and via live stream, between Nov. 6-8, 2022. View the conference webpage for more information and to register.
- The 2023 NACAC Conference will be July 18-21, 2023, in person in Kansas City, MO. View the conference webpage for more information and to submit a proposal.
- Registration is open for the MN ADOPT Fall Forum, which will be on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022, and Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022. The Fall Forum will include two full days of educational opportunities geared toward professionals, foster, kinship, and adoptive parents. Registration is now open on the MN ADOPT website.
- Proposals are being accepted for the Minnesota Social Service Association (MSSA) conference, for both the live conference held March 15-17, 2023, at the Hilton Minneapolis, and a virtual conference component, with webinars being hosted on Thursdays in April 2023. Deadline to submit a conference session proposal is Nov. 2, 2022.
- Registration is now open for the 41st Annual Protecting Our Children Conference from the National Indian Child Welfare Association. This conference will be held in person at the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino in Reno, Nevada, between April 2-5, 2023. Learn more and register at the NICWA conference webpage.
- Save the date for the 23rd National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN), sponsored by the Children’s Bureau. This conference will be held virtually between April 11-13 and April 18-20 in 2023.
|
