Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA)
To ensure child well-being for all children and youth that are placed in a children’s residential facility and/or a foster residence setting, stakeholders from around Minnesota changed the law to model the federal 2018 Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA). FFPSA added protections to ensure that the placement of children/youth outside of a family home while under placement authority of an Initiative Tribe or a local social service agency is only done after children/youth receive the treatment and services they need within their family, a foster care setting or in their community. They are only placed in a Qualified Residential Treatment Program (QRTP) children’s residential facilities or a foster residence setting after a qualified individual recommendation and court approval.
This page was created to help youth and children by sharing information, resources, and training about the Family First Prevention Services Act. A number of FFPSA policy webinars and SSIS coffee talks took place in August and September. Recordings of those webinars are posted below.
Be sure to subscribe to the DHS Family First Prevention Services Act News and Updates newsletter.
Webinar Recordings
If you need to receive proof of training, please use this FFPSA Webinar Completion Form. A few minutes after hitting "Submit" you will receive and email with a copy of the form indicated the session you attended. Please save this email for your records. The Training Academy will not keep record of attendance for this webinar series.
- FFPSA Placement Process Changes (08/05/21)
- FFPSA Juvenile Treatment Screening Team Process and Documentation (08/12/21)
- QRTP Assessment Process and Qualified Individual Requirements (08/17/21)
- Out of Home Placement Plan (08/24/21)
- AFCARS Facility Classification Documentation in SSIS (08/31/21)
- Family and Permanency Team’s Role in Assessment and Placement (09/02/21)
- Court Review for Placement and Extended Placement in QRTP (09/09/21)
- Specialized Residential Settings for Youth who have been or At Risk for Sex Trafficking (09/14/21)
- FFPSA and Expectant and Parenting Youth Overview (09/23/21)
- Specialized Residential Independent Living Facilities for Youth Age 18 Years and Older (09/28/21)
- Title IV-E and FFPSA (10/06/21)
- SSIS and the Relative Search (11/30/21)
- FFPSA Documentation of Residential Placements in SSIS (07/19/22)
- Relative Search, Notice, Engagement and Placement Consideration (10/18/2022)
Resources
- The Minnesota Department of Human Services has more information about opportunities to learn about new federal requirements for child care institutions.
- A practitioner’s guide to the Family First Prevention Services Act (1.0 hrs) - This one-hour module provides viewers with a practitioner-focused overview of the Family First Prevention Services Act.
- Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) online training from the Colorado Department of Human Services by the Colorado Child Welfare Training System.
- Five Ways to Better Serve Adolescents and Young Adults through the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) - This brief highlights opportunities within the Families First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) for states to build a prevention continuum that includes a focus on healthy adolescent development and that recognizes and helps rectify disparate opportunities and outcomes for Black, Latinx/e, and Native American youth, and youth who identify as LGBTQ+.
- Understanding the Qualified Individual Program (Video with Marvin Davis from DHS)
- Sample Minnesota Out-of-Home Placement Plan template and Tutorial Guide developed by department staff, Devon Gilchrist
- DHS Bulletin - Family First Prevention Services Act: Prevention services (July 12, 2022)