Implementing Family First Prevention Services Act residential placement practice requirements (effective Sept. 30, 2021)

Implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) begins a new era in child welfare services, with the new provisions focusing on preventing out-of-home placement. When out-of-home placement is necessary, FFPSA encourages use of family foster homes as the primary placement setting. The intent of FFPSA is to limit use of congregate settings by establishing new requirements for responsible social service agencies and residential facilities to assess children’s needs, develop services that meet specialized needs of children, and court reviews. These new requirements are established to transform the child welfare system to keep children and families together, and preserve family connections when residential placements are necessary.

Aysha E. Schomburg, associate commissioner, Children’s Bureau, in an Oct. 12, 2021, letter summarized implementation of FFPSA as follows: “I want to note that Oct. 1, 2021, is significant for the child welfare field in another way. That date marks the first day when all states may apply to participate in the TitIe IV-E Prevention Services program and when federal provisions seeking to reduce the child welfare system’s reliance on congregate care are required to go into effect nationwide. Successful implementation of these provisions will have a direct and meaningful impact on our collective goals to advance equity and inclusion in the field of child welfare, helping to ensure that children and youth remain connected to family, and ultimately reduce the number of youth who face aging out of foster care.”

This website provides county, Initiative tribes, and other stakeholders with a place to find up-to-date information on the implementation of residential placement practices, including training and how to register.

For information regarding qualified individuals, please see: Minnesota’s Family First Qualified Indiviudal Program

For information regarding prevention services, please see: Prevention candidates and placement prevention services

Announcements

Discharge and aftercare practice guide. Department staff convened a Discharge and Aftercare Workgroup that met between April and June, 2022. The work group was comprised of youth with lived experience in residential treatment services, parents, residential facility staff, and county and tribal social services staff. Approximately 30 individuals participated in the meetings. Key learnings from the workgroup conversations were: The importance of engaging a child in their own discharge planning to ensure their input and opinions are truly heard; The importance of meeting a family where they are at and ensuring community resources are in place to support the child and their parents when the child returns home; The importance of ensuring facility staff and case workers are trained and practicing person-centered and trauma-informed care and case planning. The workgroup discussions and policy requirements are the foundation of the practice guide that informs case management and QRTP facility staff about discharge planning and aftercare processes.

QRTP Discharge Planning and Aftercare Support Practice Guide for Children in Foster Care Required training for direct contact staff in certified settings serving sex trafficked, commercially sexually exploited and at risk youth (ST/CSE/At Risk youth) (PDF) – Available now!
Required training for direct contact staff in certified settings serving sex trafficked, commercially sexually exploited and at risk youth (ST/CSE/At Risk youth)- Available now! All direct contact staff working in certified residential settings for ST/CSE/At Risk youth are required by statute to take the new commissioner-approved training, which is now available here. The training is made up of 12 sub-modules and takes less than four hours to complete. Please see the training website for more information about timelines and details for completion.
Residential facilities with QRTP and specialized settings certifications. The requirements were effective Sept. 30, 2021, and apply to the following child care institutions: Children’s residential treatment; Group homes, and Foster residence settings (commonly known as corporate foster homes). Applications for QRTP and specialized setting are being processed by the department's Licensing Division staff. Use Licenisng Information Lookup to find up-to-date information on certified settings. To assist with access to licensing information, Child Safety and Permanency Division staff will update the attached document weekly from Licensing information on approved certifications. For more information pertaining to QRTP or specialized settings certifications, please contact FFPSA.Setting.Certification.DHS@state.mn.us

The information on federal requirements for residential facilities is housed within the Title IV-E Foster Care Per Diem Rates & Percentages Report located at the bottom of the page, click the quarter you need and the information you are seeking is located in the last column labeled Specialized Setting Type.

For more information pertaining to QRTP or specialized settings certifications, please contact FFPSA.Setting.Certification.DHS@state.mn.us

Training

Webinars and published guidance are available for agency staff to understand and implement required federal changes on the Child Welfare Training Academy’s FFPSA webpage at https://mnchildwelfaretraining.com/more/ffpsa/.

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Implementing Family First Prevention Services Act residential placement practice requirements (effective Sept. 30, 2021)

Announcements

Training

Bulletins and publications

Practice guides

Other publications

Questions