Child Foster Care
The Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families, Family Support and Placement Services Unit offers support and guidance on policy and practice about case planning, recruitment and retention of foster homes, relative search and engagement, placement decisions, permanency planning, Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS)/entry of placement, Northstar Care for Children foster care maintenance payments and clothing allowance and caseworker visits with foster children, their parents and foster families.
How to contact us
Foster care policy and practice: dcyf.csp.fostercare@state.mn.us
Additional contacts
Qualified Residential Treatment Programs (QRTPs) or Qualified Individuals (QIs): ffpsa.qualifiedindividual.DHS@state.mn.us
Foster care licensing: dhs.fostercarelicensing@state.mn.us
Adoption, kinship and permanency: northstar.benefits@state.mn.us
Adolescent Services: dcyf.csp.foster.youth.transitions@state.mn.us
Minnesota Rules and Statutes pertaining to foster care
Minnesota Statutes 260 – Juvenile Court, Child Placement, Compacts
- Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 260 includes statutes pertaining to: placement prevention, Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) and the Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act (MIFPA).
Minnesota Statutes 260C – Juvenile Safety and Placement
- Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 260C includes statues pertaining to: Sibling Bill of Rights, jurisdiction, Safe Place for Newborns, emergency removal, out-of-home placement plans (OHPP), recruitment of foster families, relative search and engagement, concurrent permanency planning, voluntary foster care, permanency proceedings, adoption and Qualified Residential Treatment Programs (QRTPs).
Minnesota Statutes 260D – Child in Voluntary Foster Care for Treatment
Minnesota Statutes 142B.06– Unlicensed Emergency Relative Placement
Minnesota Statutes 142A.60 - 142A.612 - Northstar Care for Children
Minnesota Rules 9560 – Social Services for Children
Minnesota Rules 2960 - Licensure and Certification of Programs for Children
Foster Care Community of Practice
Foster Care Community of Practice
Foster Youth Transitions
See Foster Youth Transitions for information regarding foster youth ages 14 to 26, including extended foster care.
Training and Webinars
Recruitment and Retention
Practice Guides and Additional Resources
Foster care and case planning
- Legally and Financially Responsible Agency Roles for Children in Foster Care (DHS-3822)
- Engaging and Assessing Noncustodial or Unadjudicated Parents: A Child Welfare Practice Guide (DHS-8689B)
- Out-of-home Placement Plan Practice Guide (DHS-8689C)
- Best Practice Response to Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Children and Youth (DHS-7641Z)
- MA for Children in Foster Care and Receiving Northstar Kinship Assistance
- Concurrent Permanency Planning Practice Guide (DHS-4778)
- Practice Guide for Maintaining Family Connections for Children in Foster Care (DHS-5552)
- Minnesota Assessment of Parenting for Children and Youth (MAPCY) Practice Guide (DHS-7060)
- Initial Foster Care Phone Calls: Practice Guide for Social Services Agencies (DHS-7295A)
- Quality child care and early education for children involved with child welfare services (DHS-7353A)
- Minnesota’s Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard Guidance (DHS-7684)
- Children in Foster Care Relative Visitation and Alternative Care Guidelines (DHS-7830A)
- Caseworker and Child Visits Best Practice Guide (DHS-7987)
- Entering Child Foster Care Placement in the Social Services Information System: Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) Practice Guide (DHS-8119C)
- Special Immigrant Juvenile Status for Children Involved with Child Welfare Services (DHS-8501A)
- Placing Children with Complex Needs PowerPoint (PDF)
- Income and Resources for Children in Foster Care: 2025 Legislative Report
- Sibling Bill of Rights Form (DHS-8068) (PDF)
Foster parents
- Respite Care for Children (DHS-8604)
- Resource Family and Caseworker Visit Discussion Tool (DHS-7889)
- Initial Foster Care Phone Calls: Information for Parent, Foster Parents and Facility Staff (DHS-7295B)
- Guide to State District Court Proceedings for Relatives and Foster Parents (DHS-8016)
- Children in Foster Care: Babysitting Guidelines (DHS-7830)
- Minnesota Child Foster Care Licensing Guidelines (DHS-8517)
- Foster parent recruitment toolkit
Relative search and engagement
- Child foster care notice to relatives (DHS-3799)
- Basics for relatives of foster children (DHS-3799A)
- Practice Guide on Relative Search, Notice, Engagement and Placement Consideration for Children in Foster Care (DHS-3799D)
- Unlicensed Emergency Relative Placement Practice Guide (DHS-3799E)
Permanency
- Child foster care notice to relatives: Permanency (DHS-3799B)
- Northstar Care for Children Practice Guide (DHS-7024)
- Paths to Permanency – Adoption for Children in Foster Care (DHS-7024A)
- Paths to Permanency – Transfer of Permanent Legal and Physical Custody (DHS-7024B)
- Finding Permanency for Children in Foster Care: Transfer of Permanent Legal and Physical Custody to a Relative (DHS-7591)
Working with adolescents and youth in foster care
Qualified Residential Treatment Programs (QRTPs) and Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA)
- QRTP Assessment Flow Chart
- Qualified Individual Practice Guide: Standards for Qualified Residential Treatment Program Assessment
- FFPSA Specialized Residential Settings Overview and Decision Chart: Youth who experienced, or at risk of sex trafficking or commercial sexual exploitation (DHS-8119A)
- Juvenile Treatment Screening Team Practice Guide (DHS-8120A)
- Family and Permanency Team for Placements in a Qualified Residential Treatment Program Practice Guide (DHS-8120B)
- Qualified Residential Treatment Programs (QRTP): A Guide for Families (DHS-8442)
GovDelivery communications
- Feb. 17, 2026: Empowering Youth Update
- Dec. 1, 2025: Child Foster Care Update (PDF)
- Sept. 4, 2025: Child Foster Care Update
- Aug. 29, 2025: Empowering Youth Update (PDF)
- May, 2025: May is National Foster Care month (PDF)
- April, 2025 Empowering Youth Update, Spring 2025 (PDF)
- February, 2025 Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) Foster Care Community of Practice Meeting (PDF)
- Jan. 10, 2025: Empowering Youth Update (PDF)
- Nov. 21, 2024: Foster Care Program Updates (PDF)
- Fall 2024: Empowering Youth Update (PDF)
- Feb. 29, 2024 New practice guides released and foster care resources
- Aug. 22, 2024: Foster Care Program Updates (PDF)
- May 2024: May is National Foster Care Month
- Sept. 30, 2022: Update on plan for kinship navigator program
- Aug. 24, 2022: Announcement: Oct. 18 webinar on changes to relative engagement and relative search practices for children in foster care
- Oct. 14, 2021: Foster care maintenance payments and foster residences
Additional GovDelivery communications
Bulletins
To sign up for bulletins or view all available bulletins, visit the Minnesota Department of Human Services webpage.
- Clarification on foster care records provided to children and youth (Bulletin #26-68-04)
- Legally and Financially Responsible Agency Roles for Children in Foster Care (Bulletin #25-68-25)
- Foster Care Maintenance Payments for Children with their Parent in Residential Family-Based Substance Use Disorder Treatment Programs (Bulletin #25-68-16)
- Child Welfare Court Report Templates (Bulletin #25-68-11)
- Child Welfare Requirements to Support Parents with Disabilities (Bulletin #25-68-12)
- DYCYF Publishes Guide to Housing Resources for Foster Youth(Bulletin #25-68-10)
- Child Welfare Court Report Templates (Bulletin #25-68-11)
- Out-of-Home Placement Plan Summary (Bulletin #25-68-04)
- New requirements for agencies receiving federal cash benefits for children in foster care (Bulletin #24-68-16)
- Clarifying When Disability Waiver Community Residential Services are Foster Care Placements for Children and Youth (Bulletin #24-68-05)
- Program Information and Allocations for Adolescent Independent Living Skills (Bulletin #24-68-07)
- Program Information and Application for Adolescent Independent Living Skills Funding (Bulletin #23-68-03)
- Extended Foster Care Best Practice Guide (Bulletin #23-68-11)
- Practice Guide on Relative Search, Notice, Engagement and Placement Considerations for Foster Care Children (Bulletin 23-68-12)
- Revised Federal Requirements for Responding to Children and Youth Missing from Foster Care (Bulletin #23-68-14)
- Program Changes and Allocations for Adolescent Independent Living Skills (Bulletin #22-68-08)
- Corrected #22-68-09: Extended Qualified Residential Treatment Program (QRTP) Placement Reviews (Bulletin #22-68-09C)
- Guidance for the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) (Bulletin #22-68-10)
Forms
Report to Court Non-ICWA, Non-MIFPA (DHS-8248) (PDF)
Qualified Residential Treatment Program (QRTP) Placement Addendum to the Report to the Court (DHS-8249) (PDF)
Voluntary Placement Addendum to the Report to Court (DHS-8250) (PDF)
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