Programs Directory

In order to better coordinate and resource the systems that service children, youth, and families, the Department of Children, Youth, and Families is taking a Whole Family Approach to our work. A Whole Family Approach is an approach to practice, program and policy decision making that recognizes and addresses the needs of children and the adults in their lives simultaneously. This approach recognizes that families come in all different shapes and sizes and that families define themselves.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training (SNAP E&T) program helps SNAP recipients improve their employment opportunities by offering individualized career planning, short-term training for in-demand jobs, support with job searching, and financial assistance to overcome employment barriers.

The Diversionary Work Program (DWP) is a four-month program that helps Minnesota caregivers find jobs. The goal is to help caregivers quickly find work so that they do not need to go on the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP). Caregivers get help paying for housing and other bills, along with employment services to help them find full-time work.

Families with low incomes experiencing household emergencies such as evictions, foreclosures, utility shutoffs, or other household emergencies may qualify for this cash-grant program.

Minnesota offers benefits loaded on an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card, which looks and works like a debit card. The card can be used at point-of-sale machines for cash or food purchases, or at ATMs for cash only.

The Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) helps families with children meet their basic needs, while helping parents move to financial stability through work. Caregivers are expected to work and are supported with both cash and food assistance.

The Federal Treasury Offset Program (TOP) collects federal income to repay past due (delinquent) debts owed to federal government agencies.

The department uses TOP to collect overpayments to the state's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the food portion of the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP).