Audience: This course is only available for Minnesota county agencies and tribes that carry cases in child welfare and/or child protection. You will need a Training Portal profile to access the course, and completion will be recorded in your training transcript.

About the Course

In 2023, the DHS Permanency Support unit staff will hold regional permanency training at the new Regional Learning Centers across Minnesota. Each regional training will be in person; space will be limited to the room size at each location. These offerings are designed for county and tribal child welfare and/or child protection workers. If you do not yet have a Training Portal profile, ask your supervisor or tribal leader to send you an invitation. If that is not an option, visit our website and complete the New User Account Request Form (located on the LOGIN/REGISTER page). Once you have a profile, you will be able to register in the Training Catalog.

Please note: this course is a full day commitment from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. The agenda for the day is as follows:

Morning session:

The Minnesota Assessment of Parenting for Children and Youth (MAPCY) and the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) process.

  • The Minnesota Assessment of Parenting for Children and Youth (MAPCY), is the assessment tool used with Minnesota’s Northstar Care for Children program. The MAPCY determines the supplemental benefit rates for Minnesota’s children in foster care, adoption and kinship. The session will provide an overview of the tool, including policy and SSIS functionality.
  • The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) is the mechanism we have to ensure protection and services to children who are placed across state lines for foster care, adoption, parental, relative and residential placements. The ICPC portion of this training will include when the ICPC applies/does not apply, types of request that can be made, responsibilities of sending agency vs. receiving agency, process and timeframes, and various pieces of information that will be helpful for caseworkers or those that use the ICPC.

Afternoon session:

  • Northstar Adoption Assistance and Northstar Kinship Assistance, including a review of the differences between the two programs, submission of an adoption placement agreement to DHS, eligibility determinations, and benefit agreements.
  • This training will provide a general overview from start to finish of the Northstar Adoption and Northstar Kinship Assistance programs. We will review the Northstar permanency process including; differences between Northstar Adoption & Kinship Assistance; discuss submission of an adoption or kinship placement agreement, an eligibility determination, and a benefit agreement; and will provide tips and tricks to use in order to help achieve timely permanency for children in out-of-home placement.

This offering will be held at regional training sites across the state. Below are the dates (all trainings will take place from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.):

Contacts

For questions about the content and resources in this course, please email the following:

For technical assistance or support with this course or the Canvas Website, visit the University of Minnesota Technology Support site to report an issue.