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MAAFPCWDA

As part of the Minnesota African American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act (MAAFPCWDA), training has been developed by the Training Academy for child welfare professionals to better understand this new legislation, how it will be implemented into their work, and what will be expected of Minnesota county agencies.

This in-person, instructor-led course is called Active Efforts Training: Family Preservation and the MAAFPCWDA Framework (CWTA X221). Trainings are currently available (but not required) for all Minnesota agency child protection workers and supervisors.

Vendor Selected to Develop New MAAFPCWDA Curriculum

In 2024, the Minnesota African American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act (MAAFPCWDA) was passed. An important part of this legislation includes effective workforce training. To that end, the Training Academy brought together the MAAFPCWDA Vendor Selection Committee to name a curriculum developer through a competitive proposal process. After careful deliberation of eleven proposals, Public Knowledge from Lakewood New Jersey was selected to design and build the training curriculum for a course to be called Cultural Responsiveness. Work began in November 2025 and training is anticipated to begin in June 2026.

Understanding the MAAFPCWDA Requirement

With regard to the Minnesota African American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act (MAAFPCWDA), there has been some confusion about the training requirement. During Summer 2026, the Training Academy will launch a new Cultural Responsiveness training that will be required of all Minnesota agency child protection workers and supervisors. The Active Efforts Training: Family Preservation and the MAAFPCWDA Framework (CWTA X221) training that is currently offered is an optional course for county staff but is recommended in preparation for MAAFPCWDA rollout. It does not replace the required cultural competence training launching this summer. If you have questions, contact us.

Intercultural Exchange Newsletter

Minnesota State Statute 260.69 under the Minnesota African American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act requires cultural competency training for all individuals working with African American and disproportionately represented children in the child welfare system. The Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy will be providing the Intercultural Exchange, a monthly curated selection of resources and trainings, that can be utilized to satisfy this training requirement while the statewide training is being developed. 

MAAFPCWDA Blog Posts

The Training Academy has developed and shared a number of stories about the MAAFPCWDA implementation: