Relative permanency services: Reducing time in foster care

The Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families has expanded efforts to engage, support, and work with relatives and kin of children under state or tribal guardianship. Contracted agencies assist with home study services for identified relatives and kin, including outreach to assist in the licensing application process. If a child is placed in a relative’s home, contracted agencies provide placement services until reunification or finalization. Relative Concurrent Permanency Planning focuses on children who enter foster care where caseworkers vigorously pursue family reunification while also developing alternative permanency plans, if safe reunification is not achievable within legal timelines. By planning concurrently early on, rather than sequentially, temporary foster care placements can be shortened, and children and youth can thrive in safe, stable, permanent families. 

Children need stability 

Because all children need stable, loving, permanent families for healthy growth and development, the number of children requiring out-of-home care and the number of months children spend in care are important measures. On any given day, approximately 5,865 children and youth are in foster care in Minnesota. In most cases, the uncertainty and unpredictability of lengthy foster care placements do not promote children’s healthy growth and development. 

Children enter foster care for a variety of reasons 

During 2024, approximately 5,865 children and youth entered out-of-home placement. The most common reasons they were removed from their homes include:  

• Caretaker drug abuse (25.6%), allegations of neglect (14.5%), allegations of physical abuse (11.8%), child mental health (9.4%); these were largely voluntary placements for children 12 years and older

Removing children from people they love and environments that are familiar to them can be traumatizing. When children must leave their homes, placement with relatives is considered first. In 2024, 66% of children in family foster care on any given day were placed with relatives. Of the 5,865 children and youth entered out-of-home placement approximately: 

• 37% white, 26% two or more races, 18% American Indian/Alaska Native, 15% African American/Black, 2%Asian/Pacific Islander, 11% Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, of any race
• From homes that speak a variety of languages. English, Spanish, Somali and Hmong are the most frequently listed primary languages.
• Youth ages 14-21, are more than one-quarter of children in foster care