| Minn. Stat. § 260C.215
Minnesota
Statutes
Public Welfare and Related Activities (Ch. 245-267)
Chapter
260C. Child Protection Disposition
260C.215. Welfare of
children
Subdivision
1. Recruitment of foster families.
Each authorized child-placing agency shall make special efforts to recruit
a foster family from among the child's relatives, except as authorized
in section 260C.193, subdivision 3. In recruiting placements for each
child, the agency must focus on that child's particular needs and the
capacities of the particular prospective foster parents to meet those
needs. Each agency shall provide for diligent recruitment of potential
foster families that reflect the ethnic and racial diversity of the children
in the state for whom foster homes are needed. Special efforts include
contacting and working with community organizations and religious organizations
and may include contracting with these organizations, utilizing local
media and other local resources, conducting outreach activities, and increasing
the number of minority recruitment staff employed by the
agency. The requirement of special efforts to locate relatives in this
section is satisfied on the earlier of the following occasions:
(1)
when the child is placed with a relative who is interested in providing
a permanent placement for the child; or
(2)
when the responsible child-placing agency has made special efforts for
six months following the child's placement in a residential facility and
the court approves the agency's efforts pursuant to section 260C.201,
subdivision 10. The agency may accept any gifts, grants, offers of services,
and other contributions to use in making special recruitment efforts.
Subd.
2. Duties of commissioner.
The commissioner of human services shall:
(1)
in cooperation with child-placing agencies, develop a cost-effective campaign
using radio and television to recruit adoptive and foster families that
reflect the ethnic and racial diversity of children in the state for whom
adoptive and foster homes are needed; and
(2)
require that agency staff people who work in the area of adoption and
foster family recruitment participate in cultural competency training.
Subd.
3. Recruitment specialist.
The commissioner shall designate a permanent professional staff position
for recruitment of foster and adoptive families. The recruitment specialist
shall provide services to child-placing agencies seeking to recruit adoptive
and foster care families and qualified professional staff. The recruitment
specialist shall:
(1)
develop materials for use by the agencies in training staff;
(2)
conduct in-service workshops for agency personnel;
(3)
provide consultation, technical assistance, and other appropriate services
to agencies to strengthen and improve service delivery to diverse populations;
and
(4)
conduct workshops for foster care and adoption recruiters to evaluate
the effectiveness of techniques for recruiting foster and adoptive families;
and
(5)
perform other duties as assigned by the commissioner to implement the
Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act, sections 260.751 to 260.835.
The commissioner may contract
for portions of these services.
Subd.
4. Consultation with representatives.
The commissioner of human services, after seeking and considering advice
from representatives reflecting diverse populations from the councils
established under sections 3.922, 3.9223,
3.9225, and 3.9226, and other state, local, and community organizations
shall:
(1)
review and, where necessary, revise the department of human services social
service manual and practice guide to reflect federal and state policy
direction on placement of children;
(2)
develop criteria for determining whether a prospective adoptive or foster
family has the ability to understand and validate the child's cultural
background;
(3)
develop a standardized training curriculum for adoption and foster care
workers, family-based providers, and administrators who work with children.
Training must address the following objectives:
(a)
developing and maintaining sensitivity to all cultures;
(b)
assessing values and their cultural implications; and
(c)
making individualized decisions that advance the best interests of a particular
child under section 260C.212, subdivision 2;
(4)
develop a training curriculum for family and extended family members of
adoptive and foster children. The curriculum must address issues relating
to cross-cultural placements as well as issues that arise after a foster
or adoptive placement is made; and
(5)
develop and provide to agencies an assessment tool to be used in combination
with group interviews and other preplacement activities to evaluate prospective
adoptive and foster families. The tool must assess problem-solving skills;
identify parenting skills; and evaluate the degree to which the prospective
family has the ability to understand and validate the child's cultural
background.
Subd.
5. Placement reports.
Beginning December 1, 1996, the commissioner shall provide to the Indian
affairs council, the council on affairs of Chicano/Latino people, the
council on Black Minnesotans, and the council on Asian-Pacific Minnesotans
the annual report required under section 257.0725.
Subd.
6. Duties of child-placing agencies.
(a) Each authorized child-placing agency must:
(1)
develop and follow procedures for implementing the requirements of section
260C.193, subdivision 3, and the Indian Child Welfare Act, United States
Code, title 25, sections 1901 to 1923;
(2)
have a written plan for recruiting adoptive and foster families that reflect
the ethnic and racial diversity of children who are in need of foster
and
adoptive homes. The plan must include (i) strategies for using existing
resources in diverse communities, (ii) use of diverse outreach staff wherever
possible, (iii) use of diverse foster homes for placements after birth
and before adoption, and (iv) other techniques as appropriate;
(3)
have a written plan for training adoptive and foster families;
(4)
have a written plan for employing staff in adoption and foster care who
have the capacity to assess the foster and adoptive parents' ability to
understand and validate a child's cultural needs, and to advance the best
interests of the child. The plan must include staffing goals and objectives;
(5)
ensure that adoption and foster care workers attend training offered or
approved by the department of human services regarding cultural diversity
and the needs of special needs children; and
(6)
develop and implement procedures for implementing the requirements of
the Indian Child Welfare Act and the Minnesota Indian Family Preservation
Act.
(b)
In determining the suitability of a proposed placement of an Indian child,
the standards to be applied must be the prevailing social and cultural
standards of the Indian child's community, and the agency shall defer
to tribal judgment as to suitability of a particular home when the tribe
has intervened pursuant to the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Subd.
7. Reporting requirements.
Each authorized child-placing agency shall provide to the commissioner
of human services all data needed by the commissioner for the report required
by section 257.0725. The agency shall provide the data within 15 days
of the end of the period for which the data is applicable.
Subd.
8. Rules. The
commissioner of human services shall adopt rules to establish standards
for conducting relative searches, recruiting foster and adoptive
families, evaluating the role of relative status in the reconsideration
of disqualifications under chapter 245C and granting variances of licensing
requirements under section 245A.04, subdivision 9, in licensing or approving
an individual related to a child.
CREDIT(S)
Laws 1999, c. 139, art.
3, § 28. Amended by Laws 2001, c. 178, art. 1, § 32; Laws 2003,
c. 15, art. 1, § 33.
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