The culmination of several years of work in the legislature has resulted in a fully executed Joint Powers Agreement between the MN Department of Human Services (DHS) and the University of Minnesota. DHS’ existing child welfare training system will partner with the School of Social Work’s Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare (CASCW) to co-create a statewide Child Welfare Training Academy.  The first-year funding of $2.25 million will support training activities, staffing, and the acquisition of a new centralized training space.

The four-year development period will include critical involvement from counties, tribes, providers, community members, and a myriad of interdisciplinary professionals. It will result in new supervisor training, revised and enhanced new worker training, and more robust offerings of advanced practice training. Professionals’ ability to work effectively cross-culturally and a targeted focus on addressing bias, discrimination, and the tremendous racial disparities within the system will be a core element throughout all aspects of training.