African American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act established

A new law establishes the “Minnesota African American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act” that is intended to provide protections to keep more Minnesota families together.

Sponsored by Rep. Esther Agbaje (DFL-Mpls) and Senate President Bobby Joe Champion (DFL-Mpls), the law is mostly effective Jan. 1, 2027.

It sets new requirements for how social services agencies and courts are to serve African American and other children disproportionately represented in the child protection system.

Among those, it will require responsible social services agencies to undertake “active efforts” to try to prevent out-of-home placements, such as working to locate the child’s noncustodial or non-adjudicated parent or relatives before a removal, continuously involving a child's family in all services, and considering an African American or a disproportionately represented child's family's social and cultural values at all times.

Other provisions include:

• declaring a preference for transfer of permanent legal and physical custody to a relative or noncustodial parent;

• limiting the court’s ability to terminate parental rights for African American or other disproportionately represented children;

• modifying circumstances and timelines for petitions for reestablishment of the legal parent and child relationship;

• promoting stability and security by establishing minimum standards to prevent arbitrary and unnecessary removal of children from their families;

• giving training in cultural competency to people working in the child welfare system; and

• establishing a number of reporting, compliance and oversight requirements.

The new requirements are to be implemented initially through a phase-in program in Hennepin and Ramsey counties, developed by the Department of Human Services, effective Jan. 1, 2025. A working group would provide guidance and oversight for the phase-in program, and provide an interim report and implementation plan.

The two counties will split a $5 million General Fund appropriation to pay for those efforts. Best practices learned during the phase-in implementation could then help guide the statewide rollout beginning in 2027.

Other appropriations include $2.37 million in fiscal year 2025 for the department to implement the act, followed by a base appropriation of $3.25 million in 2026 and $3.11 million in 2027; and $1 million to the department for a grant program.

HF912/SF716*/CH117

SF0716* / HF0912 / CH117