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February 2, 2023
Proposed Department of Children, Youth and Families
February 2, 2023
To Special Education Directors and Early Childhood Special Education Leaders:
As many of you have heard, the Walz-Flanagan Administration is recommending creating a Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) that reimagines our state government structures to elevate child, youth, and family priorities and funding needs. This proposed new state agency will provide focused leadership in our executive branch and with the Legislature. In addition, this will move us closer to ensuring every child has a safe place to call home, no child goes hungry, and youth have the resources and supports to succeed inside and outside of the classroom. This new agency will bring together holistic supports for families, including core programs from early childhood and education through youth.
This proposal is based on feedback from governance reports, agency staff, service providers, and, most importantly, families – the Walz Administration has concluded that it’s time for Minnesota to more formally consider a proposal to create an agency centered on children, similar to governance structures in more than half of states.
The current thinking for the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) is a focus and scope that includes most of Children and Family Services at the Department of Human Services; most of the programs and services of Early Learning Services at the Minnesota Department of Education and proposed older youth programs, as well as small components of the Minnesota Departments of Health, Public Safety and Department of Corrections.
The WHY… to create a sustainable, public face for children’s issues in state government with aligned outcomes, policy; focus local partners on improving the front door for services; ease access and navigation for families; improve service; and sharpen the focus of current agencies.
Key Principles: Whole child and family - focus on a child throughout their life, from intentional prevention to downstream services; consolidation of early childhood and education programs; ease navigation of services (a “front door” for families); and cross-agency coordination.
Opportunity to:
- Improve coordination of child care and early learning provider registration, communication, payment, and ongoing regulatory requirements;
- Align administration that allows for centralized funding prioritization, including building reimbursement methodologies for child care to better support that critical sector; and
- Create a common application and entry point for families to apply for and be referred to early childhood programs and services.
At this time, the proposal includes state oversight of Part C in the new agency of Children, Youth and Families. Part B 619 has federal requirements to be housed in the Education Agency for each state. There are a few states who explored how to partner between the Education Agency and other state agencies providing services to young children for the delivery of Part B 619 services, and these will be explored in Minnesota as well.
The Governor is committed to an intentional planning and transition process and engaging community and local government partners in thinking through the development of this new agency. The proposal creates a transition process for the new agency – to take our time and do it right. The process means obtaining authority and resources to support transition to a new agency in the 2023 Legislature, leading to a two-year process to plan and transition to the new agency. The intent is to build upon the current benefits for children and families, and to maintain staffing and supports at current levels.
In the interim, we are happy to collect questions and will share them with those who will be responsible for the planning of this new agency, should the proposal pass the Legislature. We will do our best to keep everyone apprised of information as it becomes available. Please reach out to the Early Childhood Special Education team at mde.ecse@state.mn.us to submit your questions and thoughts as they will be key to including your voice in the planning and transition process.
Sincerely,
Bobbie Burnham
Assistant Commissioner, Office of Teaching and Learning
Minnesota Department of Education
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