Child Wellbeing Update - July 13, 2020

 Non-Covid related Bulletins
This section includes non covid related bulletins and corrected guidance. 

• Opioid Response Fund - Change in Allocation
• In response to a question during the latest Child Wellbeing and Child Saftey and Permanency meeting, DHS shared that the funding available through the opioid response fund allocation would be approximately â…“ of the funding amounts previously shared.  This is due to a funding shortfall to the opioid response fund - which was established in 2019 through legislation and was amended in 2020.  The fund is primarily funded through pharmaceutical manufacturer fees.  Reference:  Minnesota StarTribune article - July 4th. 
• The opioid response fund shortfall will impact both 2020 and 2021 grant cycles. MACSSA is working with DHS in the hopes of getting more information, clarifying information and guidance and exploring opportunities to stabilize the funding levels.
• More information will be shared on Wednesday, July 15th - the call will be held during the first hour of the cwb/csp meeting from 2 - 3 p.m. and is open to all counties: 
• Webex:  Meeting Number - 146 649 7067; Meeting Password: 6H8bkk5QxMP; Phone only: +1-415-655-0003,,1466497067## United States Toll 

• Policy Changes re: 2020 Session:
• DHS confirmed on July 8th that draft guidance was being produced to reflect changes to statute during the 2020 special session.  By statue, counties should receive guidance on both the prenatal alcohol screening  and facilitated calls between parents and children provisions by August 1, 2020.
• DHS confirmed that efforts were underway to construct a workgroup that will focus on the 260d provisions that are impacted by the qualified residential treatment programs (QRTP) provisions that passed in the DHS policy bill and are directly tied to the implementation of Family First.  A meeting is expected to be announced by the end of July.
• Parent/Child Visitation: Recognizing that facilitating parent/child visitation can be challenging in normal times, let alone during a pandemic response when physical distancing is recommended, in late June DHS enlisted the assistance of Collaborative Safety to conduct three Systems Learning Review (SLR) sessions.  Initial findings from the SLR process were shared with the Child Wellbeing committee on July 8th and will be shared with the broader membership on July 23rd during MACSSA’s monthly forum.  More information on fostering birth and parent relationships may be found here.

•  Technology and Health and Safety Supports:
• Health related supplies and technology - CARES Act IVB Funding
• As part of the CARES act, funds were dedicated to the state to be utilized in child welfare.  The funds are IVB eligible, with the state seeking to use these funds to assist counties in funding technology and health related supples.  150K will be utilized to support counties technology related needs - once the funds are received, DHS will announce it and provide a process to apply via the county link website. 
• Additionally, the state anticipates funding additional health and safety supports for county staff with the funding.  These supports will be distributed using the workforce survey, with the intention being to ship supplies directly out to county Directors.  Should funds allow, the proposal will also account for additional supplies to be shared with children and families during in person visits. More information will be shared in the coming weeks

•  Family First Prevention and Services Act :
• The planning work for the Family First Prevention and Services Act (FFPSA), led largely by the Department of Human Services continues.  DHS will conduct this work through a series of sub-workgroups in the areas of prevention and residential placement (QRTP) with the sub-workgroups reporting back through DHS, who will then review and make final decisions about what is included in the Minnesota prevention plan. 
• Leaders in child wellbeing continue to meet and discuss the best path forward to ensure that our vision, as documented in the MACSSA white paper lives on through Family First and other initiatives.   This steering committee has recently accepted assistance from Casey Family Programs and the Center for the Study of Social Policy in consideration of our candidacy definition and the resulting prevention services array.  Of note, while counties are embarking on this work, the work requires collaboration and partnership with the department and stakeholders across the state.  As a key principle, counties will continue to seek opportunities to partner and collaborate with all partners in this work.  
•  A summary of the QRTP workgroups may be found here. 
• Family First information, including child welfare financing and candidacy resources may be found on MACSSA website, in the Family First Prevention and Services Act area.

• FamilyFirstAct.org
• Upcoming Child Welfare Sessions
• Child Welfare Financing - Annie E. Casey
• Resources to support Children’s Emotional Well-Being Amid Anti-Black Racism, Racial Violence, and Trauma
• Reopening your county?  Consider this resource.
• Quality Parenting Initiative: Information and Resources
• Information on DHS’s Grants and RFP’s  
• Tableau Server Guide - a guide to access the Tableau server, a platform that analyzes SSIS information on a frequent (now weekly) basis including topical dashboards and user applicability for child protective service indicators. 
• In consultation with the Child Safety Permanency Team and MACSSA’s Child Wellbeing Committee, adaptations to the Tableau server were made and went “live” on May 18th.  These adaptations will track data indicators during this time of pandemic, and are updated weekly during the pandemic.  The Tableau server is expected to be very helpful to you in providing budget and workforce recommendations.  Staff at DHS are available to assist and support your usage - including logging in and beginning to use Tableau. Please direct inquiries for assistance to this email - dhs.csp.research@state.mn.us