Adoption, Foster Care and Kinship Supports

Adoption and kinship are similar. Adoption places a child permanently in the home of a loving family. A kin member can be a relative, tribe or clan member, godparent, grandparent, stepparent or other adult with a close relationship to the child. Kinship care places a child permanently in the home of a kin member.

Information about the adoption process is described in Completing an Adoption in Minnesota  DHS-3206 (PDF). It reviews the responsibilities of birth parents, adoptive parents and agencies in completing an adoption. Answers to Your Questions about Adoption DHS-0698 (PDF) is intended for adoptive parents, birth parents and adopted children.

Foster Adopt Minnesota (FAM) provides information, resources, education, public awareness and support to find stable and permanent homes for children.

If you want to form a permanent relationship with your foster child, Paths to Permanency (PDF) outlines different reimbursement options for foster families choosing between adoption or kinship.

Financial support for children is available to eligible families through a program called Northstar Care for Children. Various supports are available depending on a family's situation. Northstar Adoption Assistance or Northstar Kinship Assistance were enacted in 2015 to address the evolving needs of Minnesota families. A former program addressed adoptive families financial supports prior to 2015. The Benefits Information Portal (BIP) is an online tool for adoptive and kinship families to access information about their benefits and to submit reimbursement requests.

Crisis counseling referrals are available through Foster Adopt Minnesota.

Minnesota law allows any adopted person born in Minnesota who is 18 or older to get their original birth record. Changes in law effective July 1, 2024 include:

• Birth parent’s preferences won’t control adopted people’s access to original birth records anymore.
• Adopted people 18 and older born outside Minnesota, but adopted in Minnesota, can ask the supervising  adoption agency for information.
• Genetic siblings age 18 and older can also request identifying information from the adoption agency.
• Completed Birth Parent Contact Preference forms will be attached to all past and future original birth records and provided to adoptees who request the records. Birth parents can change contact preferences at any time.
• Regardless of the contact preference expressed by birth parents, adopted people will still be able to get information on their original birth records.

New mothers, or someone with their permission, can leave their newborn at certain locations under the state's Safe Place for Newborns law, if their newborn is one week old or younger and unharmed.

Program brochures

• Answers to Your Questions About Adoption DHS-0698 (PDF)
• Completing a Private Domestic Adoption in Minnesota DHS-3206(PDF)  For translations: Hmong, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Vietnamese
• Paths to Permanency - Adoption of Children in Foster Care DHS-7024A (PDF)
• Paths to Permanency - Transfer of Permanent Legal and Physical Custody of Children in Foster Care  DHS-7024B (PDF)
• Practice Guide for Post Adoption Search Services DHS-4701 (PDF)

Fact sheets

• Adoption support: Working together to help families DHS-4923 (PDF)
• Adoption: Finding families for Minnesota's waiting children DHS-4746 (PDF)
• Permanency support services for adoptive, foster and kinship families DHS-4925 (PDF)
• Relative permanency services: Reducing time in foster care DHS-4926 (PDF)
• Northstar Care for Children: Encouraging safe, permanent homes for children DHS-6736 (PDF)

Reports

• Minnesota Child Welfare Disparities DHS-6056 (PDF)
• Minnesota's Out-of-home Care and Permanency Report 2021 DHS-5408Na (PDF)
• Minnesota's Out-of-home Care and Permanency Report 2020 DHS-5408Ma (PDF)
• Minnesota's Out-of-home Care and Permanency Report 2019 DHS-5408La (PDF)
• Minnesota's Child Maltreatment Report 2021 DHS-5408N (PDF)
• Minnesota's Child Maltreatment Report 2020 DHS-5408M (PDF)
• Minnesota's Child Maltreatment Report 2019 DHS-5408L (PDF)

Forms

• Birth Parent Contact Preference form (PDF)

   

Foster parents play a crucial role in supporting children and their families through challenging times. When a child needs foster care, ideally they can be cared for by family or friends. When that’s not possible, they need foster parents who will help keep them connected to people and places that are important to them. Minnesota is especially in need of foster parents:

• Able to keep sibling groups together
• Committed to supporting youth affected by trauma and mental health conditions
• Excited about helping teenagers navigate identity and independence needs
• Who reflect the ethnic and racial diversity of children who are in need of foster and adoptive homes.

Learn the steps to become a foster parent in Minnesota. 

• Agreement Between Foster Parents and Licensing Agency DHS-0139 (PDF)
• Summary of Child Foster Care Responsible Agency Requirements DHS-0139A (PDF)
• Instructions for Completing a Social and Medical History for a Child in Foster Care DHS-6754 (PDF)
• Basics for relatives of foster children DHS-3799A (PDF)
• Children in Foster Care: Using relative visits and alternative child care arrangements DHS-7830A (PDF)

Training for foster parents is available online and in person through the Minnesota Child Welfare Training System.

The Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act amended federal foster care Title IV-E, requiring states to support normalcy for all children in foster care. Children and youth in foster care need to experience the same types of developmentally appropriate and social activities that their friends, families and classmates — who are not in care — experience. This law permits foster parents, designated staff at children’s residential facilities, group homes and foster residence settings (formerly known as corporate foster care homes) to allow foster children to participate in normal childhood activities by applying the Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard.

Training is required for child welfare case managers of foster care placements, child foster care licensing staff, child foster care parents, and designated staff at children’s residential facilities, group homes and foster residence settings. 

When children enter foster care, reunification with their family is the primary goal. When a child is unable to return home, paths to permanency include adoption or a transfer of permanent legal and physical custody with a relative whenever possible.

Financial support for children is available to eligible families through a program called Northstar Care for Children. This program assists families caring for children in foster care and supports permanency through adoption or transfer of permanent legal and physical custody (TPLPC) for eligible children who cannot be reunified with their parents.

Other available resources for foster parents:

• Permanency support services for adoptive, foster and kinship families (DHS-4925)
• Relative permanency services: Reducing time in foster care (DHS-4926).

Brochures

• Extended Foster Care DHS-6530A (PDF)
• Adoption of children in foster care (DHS-7024A)
• Transfer of Permanent Legal and Physical Custody of Children in Foster Care (DHS-7024B)

Fact sheets

• Foster care: temporary out-of-home care for children DHS-4760 (PDF)
• Northstar Care for Children DHS-6736 (PDF)

Forms

• Background and Health History (DHS-3235)
• Resource Family and Caseworker Visit Discussion Tool (DHS-7889)

Practice Guides

• Working with gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and two-spirit youth in the child welfare system (DHS-6500 English) In translation: Hmong, Somali, Spanish
• Caseworker and child visits best practice guide (DHS-7987)

Reports

• Minnesota Child and Family Services Plan DHS-4465C (PDF)
• Minnesota's Out-of-home Care and Permanency Report 2021, DHS-5408Na (PDF)
• Minnesota's Out-of-home Care and Permanency Report 2020, DHS-5408Ma (PDF)
• Minnesota's Out-of-home Care and Permanency Report 2019, DHS-5408La (PDF)