Featured Event
2025 PERMANENCY & CHILD WELFARE FALL CONFERENCE
Connecting the Dots, Completing the Circle
OCTOBER 14-15, 2025
Radisson Blu Mall of America
2100 Killebrew Dr, Bloomington, MN 55425
As we confront the evolving challenges of permanency and child welfare, this dynamic two-day conference will unite child welfare professionals and advocates in a shared mission: to deepen their expertise and sharpen their strategies for addressing the diverse and often competing needs of children, youth, and families. Together, we’ll explore innovative solutions and forge stronger pathways to lasting stability and well-being.
“Connecting the Dots, Completing the Circle” emphasizes the importance of maintaining connections between children and their families while reinforcing the long-term goals of permanency and stability in child welfare. It also demonstrates a focus on strategies and practices that support family unity and lasting positive outcomes for children.
Please join the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare as we delve into the complexities of permanency and child welfare this October.
Additional conference information and registration details coming soon!
Interested in a stipend?
CASCW is pleased to be able to support 130 conference attendees from Greater Minnesota areas who are traveling a distance of 75+ miles one way to attend the conference. As a part of supporting those attendees, CASCW will provide a 2-night stay at the conference hotel (Radisson Blu Mall of America) as well as a stipend check (post-conference) of up to $400*.
Traveling attendees must be in a Minnesota County, State or Tribal child welfare role OR private agency workers who provide services within a specific program for children/youth in out-of-home placement and/or have an active contract with the county/Tribe.
How it works:
- Hopeful travelers fill out this CASCW Fall Permanency Conference Stipend Form.
- The CASCW Operations team and event coordinators will review and approve applications.
- If approved, stipend recipients will receive instructions to complete their Whova registration**.
- Upon completion of the Whova registration, recipients will receive instructions in their confirmation to complete their lodging reservations.
- Post-conference, stipend checks will be mailed to recipients who have verified their attendance each day at the check-in table.
Conference Stipend Application
*Stipend check amount is based on days of attendance, and whether or not an attendee is choosing to commute daily or stay overnight in the hotel.
**The Greater Minnesota conference registration ticket will not be accessible except to stipend recipients who have completed the application and received approval.
Funding for this event is made available through the Department of Children, Youth, and Families through grant #252014.
Upcoming Events
Holding Complexity: A Grounded Approach to Working with Intimate Partner Violence - July 24
Thursday, July 24, 2025
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. CST
In-person at the Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy
1711 County B Rd W Suite 200N, Roseville, MN 55113
Training Room Location: Esther Wattenberg Conference Center
FREE BOSW CEUs AVAILABLE!
This comprehensive training will include widely applicable content and will benefit all child welfare professionals. Those who work in county and Tribal child welfare, private agencies, non-profit organizations, and allied professions are encouraged to attend.
Presenters
Dr. Lynette M. Renner
Dr. Renner’s research focuses on interpersonal violence occurring in home and school environments, including child maltreatment, adult intimate partner violence (IPV), children’s exposure to IPV, and peer victimization.
Dr. Renner is a Professor; the Director of the PhD Program; and the Director of Graduate Studies at the School of Social Work at the University of Minnesota.
Domestic Abuse Project
DAP is one of Minnesota’s only providers of domestic abuse therapy that work with all members of the family - victim survivors, child witnesses, and those who use violence - to end the cycle of abuse.
Asset Mapping for Child Welfare - July 29
Tuesday, July 29, 2025
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. CST
In-person at the Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy
1711 County B Rd W Suite 200N, Roseville, MN 55113
Training Room Location: Esther Wattenberg Conference Center
FREE BOSW CEUs AVAILABLE!
Child welfare workers are often tasked with addressing complex needs under challenging circumstances. This interactive workshop introduces community asset mapping as a practical, strengths-based tool to support children, youth, and families through deeper community connection. Rather than focusing on what is missing or needed, asset mapping highlights the resources, relationships, and capacities already present in a community.
Participants will:
- Identify the core components of asset-based community development
- Apply asset mapping tools
- Integrate asset mapping into case planning, collaboration, and advocacy
Presenter
Dr. Ceema Samimi
Dr. Ceema Samimi, PhD, MPA, MSSW, LGSW studies youth power. They have worked as a peer counselor, youth worker, community organizer and a Forensic Social Worker in the New York City family court. Ceema currently works with communities across Minnesota to identify alternatives to punitive and criminal consequences for youth, including supporting restorative practices.
Past Events
Refresh your knowledge from past events hosted by the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare. Contact [email protected] to request information or materials from past events.
2025 Spring Conference - Tensions and Trade-offs: Child Welfare and the Evolving Role of Technology
2025 Spring Conference
Tensions and Trade-offs: Child Welfare and the Evolving Role of Technology
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Heritage Center in Brooklyn Center, MN
On Tuesday, April 15, the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare hosted its 25th Annual Spring Conference - Child Welfare and the Evolving Role of Technology. Areas of focus for the day included Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality & Simulation, and Technology Platforms. Participants heard about the different opportunities and limitations impacting child welfare today and into the future.
Events included a keynote address from Lauri Goldkind, PhD, editor in chief of the Journal of Technology in Human Services, on AI tools in the child protective services arena. She also led a presentation titled The Future of AI in Child & Family Services: Policy and Practice Considerations. Also, Melanie Sage, PhD, MSW, of Sage Training and Consulting led an engaging session on Social Media: Navigating Opportunities, Risks, and Ethics. There was also a Live VR Demonstration from the Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy.
Presentations:
Melanie Sage, PhD, MSW - Social Media: Navigating Opportunities, Risks, and Ethics
2024 Esther Wattenberg Policy Forum
2024 Esther Wattenberg Policy Forum
In honor of the late Esther Wattenberg, the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare and the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) will host the 2024 Esther Wattenberg Policy Forum.
Thursday, December 12, 8:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
Humber H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs
Hubert Humphrey Atrium
2024 Esther Wattenberg Policy Award Recipient - Nikki Villavicencio
The Esther Wattenberg Policy Award recognizes exemplary policy work and contributions impacting children and families in Minnesota. We will honor the 2024 Esther Wattenberg Policy Award recipient, Nikki Villavicencio, the disability culture and leadership specialist at Advocating Change Together. She is also the chair of the Minnesota Council on Disability, a disability rights advocate, and a Maplewood, Minnesota city council member.
2024 Keynote Speaker - Dr. Marjorie Aunos
Dr. Marjorie Aunos will deliver the keynote address. Dr. Aunos is a researcher, speaker, and consultant on accessibility and inclusion. She teaches organizations and educators to solution-find and build environments that are accessible, inclusive, and welcoming to families with disabilities - in particular families headed by parents with disabilities.
2024 Be@School Conference
2024 Be@School Conference
From Awareness to Action:
Uniting Efforts to Address the Attendance Crisis
August 1, 2024 – 9:00 to 4:00
McNamara Alumni Center
2024 Spring Conference - COVID-19's Impact on the Delivery of Child Welfare Services
The Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare is pleased to announce our 24th Annual Spring Child Welfare Conference. On Tuesday, April 23, we will host a half-day conference on COVID-19’s impact on families, the workforce, and the delivery of child welfare services.
Participants will hear from a variety of speakers, as well as each other, as we explore lessons learned related to crisis response, child maltreatment, virtual engagement, family preservation, emerging promising practices and more. We hope to better understand how this collective experience over the past few years has both shaped and informed the current landscape of child welfare work. The conference will be in-person, with an opportunity for groups to stream live.
Conference Agenda
| Time | Topic |
|---|---|
| 8:30-9 | Registration, Breakfast and Networking |
| 9-9:15 | Welcome |
| 9:15-9:30 | Morning Reflections |
| 9:30-10:30 | A Workforce in Transition: We're Better Together (Amelia Franck Meyer) |
| 10:30-10:45 | Break |
| 10:45-noon | Panel Presentation - Lessons Learned from Minnesota Service Providers |
| Noon-12:45 | Child Protection and the COVID Pandemic: The Forgotten Frontline Responders (Stacy Hennen) |
| 12:45-1 | Closing and Evaluation |
2023 Permanency and Child Welfare Fall Conference
The 2023 Permanency & Child Welfare Fall Conference took place November 14-16, 2023 at the Radisson Blu Mall of America in Bloomington.
This conference brings together professionals and advocates alike to expand perspectives on what permanency means, the “what” and “who”, as well as how modern advances in many areas impact the relationships children and youth have with their family – birth adopted, and/or chosen. In centering the advancement of child/youth wellbeing, we’ll talk through the layers of permanency from reunification, policy and legalities of permanency, and TPR or aspects of parental rights to workforce development, complex needs, and the impact of areas such as sexual health and technology in development of identity and relationships.
Reach out to [email protected] for more information and materials from the conference.
2023 Be@School Conference: Nothing About Us Without Us
2023 Be@School Conference: Nothing About Us Without Us participants will hear current and former student’s reflections on their experience with the education system and what they need from adults, particularly related to school attendance. We’ll also dig into the results from the 2022 Minnesota Student Survey. A current teacher will reflect on how he uses student input to engage middle school youth. There will be opportunities for discussion and networking with other professionals. A light breakfast and lunch will be provided.
Conference Materials
Examining Haaland v. Brackeen
On November 9, 2023, SCOTUS heard the case of Haaland v. Brackeen regarding the future of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) in the United States. While many, many child welfare professionals and advocates support upholding ICWA, the approach to legal arguments can be complex and difficult to understand. CASCW hosted a forum in which speakers helped attendees understand what is at stake in this case as well as broke down the arguments each side presented to the court both written and oral. Tribal perspective and judicial perspectives also played a vital role in this forum.
2022 CASCW Annual Spring Conference
The 2022 Spring virtual CASCW conference featured speakers and panelists as they explore how child welfare workers can best facilitate and support birth and foster parent relationships to improve outcomes for children and families. The audience learned current strategies and best practices from those with professional and personal experience.
Day 1
What is Your Why with Shrounda Selivanoff and Katie Biron
It's Possible: Cultivating Positive Relationships Between Birth and Foster Parents with Dr. Ericka Lewis
Relationships Matter: Building Lasting Birth and Foster Parent Partnerships with Robyn Robbins, Jody Rodgers, Paula Bibbs-Samuels and Marquetta King
Day 2
Quality Parenting Initiative Minnesota Panel Discussion
Respecting and Protecting Communities of Color Involved in the Family Regulation System with Maleeka Jihad
Family Connections: Linking Parents and Family to Support Children in Care with Renee Banas and Patrick Pisani
Indinawemaagan: You Are All My Relations (Closing remarks by Minnesota Associate Justice Anne K. McKeig)
Resources
Training, Videos, Podcasts
Why Relationships Matter - a training course from Amara Family Connections that explains why investing time and energy into relationships is essential to protecting children who have entered the foster care system
A series of four videos from Amara Family Connections discussing how birth parents and caregivers developed support systems with and for each other to coparent for the well-being of system-involved children:
- Yuvia’s Story
- A Network of Family
- The Power of Relationships: Sarah, Josh, and Samantha
- Grayson’s Story
Seen Out Loud Podcasts by Institute for Family ( Episodes 2 and 4)
Voices from the Field Audio Series by Casey Family Programs “How can birth and foster parents partner to achieve reunification?”
Video about Including Fathers produced by the University of Washington that addresses the barriers that fathers and male family members face when building and maintaining relationships with children.
Caregivers, Families and Substance Use Disorder
Family Connections Program training course to help gain understanding about SUD, what the science tells us about recovery and tips for partnering with parents struggling with SUD.
Video Role of Resource Parents in Supporting Family Recovery and Reunification produced by Children and Family Futures that outlines how Family Treatment Courts are engaging resource parents to better support families affected by parental substance use.
Supporting Family Relationships for Incarcerated Parents-Parenting Inside Out - Parenting Inside Out (PIO) Curriculum developed for criminal justice involved parents that focuses on rebuilding and improving family relationships and parenting skills.
Protecting Relationships During Transitions Training Video - QPI workshop that gives tips on the elements and implementation of effective transition plans for seamless transitions of a child from one caregiver to another. Examples of tips include how to maintain relationships between child, relatives, and caregivers.
Article from Rise Magazine - Structures of Oppression in the U.S. Child Welfare System: Reflections of Administrative Barriers to Equity. Authors illustrate how systems of oppression in regulating family life that take the form of practices, policies, and laws or regulations contribute to racial disparities, reinforce economic hardships and support policies of family separation.
Organizations and Programs
Quality Parenting Initiative - A strategy of the Youth Law Center that focuses on strengthening foster care and refocusing on excellent parenting for all children in the child welfare system.
More on QPI from Casey Family Programs
CHERISH Kindering - Program offering services to promote the social and emotional well being of children involved in the child welfare system that are in out-of-home placements. Services are for birth parents, relative caregivers and resource parents.
Children and Family Futures - Provides consulting, technical assistance, strategic planning, evaluation and training for child welfare, courts and substance use disorder treatment.
Children’s Trust Fund Alliance - National membership organization for state children’s trust funds. The Children’s Trust Fund Alliance provides support to state children’s trust and prevention funds.
Family Connections Program - A collaboration among parents, caregivers, and child welfare organizations designed to build and support relationships between the people in a child’s life experiencing out-of-home-placement.
Foster Kinship - Nevada based organization that provides evidence informed programs that strengthen kinship caregivers capacity to provide safe, permanent and nurturing homes. Foster Kinship provides kinship caregivers with information, advocacy, case management, and training to help caregivers access legal, financial and support services.
Research and Evaluation
Children and Families Affected by Parental Substance Use Disorders - National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare’s highlighted resource to help reduce the stigma of Substance Use Disorders.
CoParenting and Healthy Relationship and Marriage Education for Dads (CHaRMED) - ChildTrends Federal evaluation effort designed to better understand how Responsible Fatherhood Programs support healthy marriages/relationships and coparenting. This study helped to identify gaps in services, and outline recommendations for addressing gaps.
Structures of Oppression in the U.S. Child Welfare System: Reflections of Administrative Barriers to Equity - Authors illustrate how systems of oppression in regulating family life that take the form of practices, policies, and laws or regulations contribute to racial disparities, reinforce economic hardships and support policies of family separation.
Supporting Successful Reunifications - Child Welfare Information Gateway’s bulletin for professionals providing examples of frameworks and practices that support family reunification. The bulletin also provides resources for casework frameworks and practices, parent support systems, and legal system involvement.
2020 Be@School Three-part Webinar Series
Part One: Inequitable School Absenteeism Policies: Causes, Consequences, and Strategies for Reform
In many school districts, White students get their tardies and absences excused more often than do students of color. In this webinar we document the scope of the inequity in five large Minnesota school districts, describe how it is caused by normal, day-to-day implementation of colorblind attendance policies, and suggest some initial remedies. The presentation will be followed by breakout sessions to develop and share additional ideas for immediate and long-term strategies to eliminate the structural racism embedded in attendance policies.
Clea McNeely, DrPH, has been studying truancy policies and interventions in Ramsey County, Minnesota since 2015. Her research has been funded by the National Institute of Justice and the Spencer Foundation.
Part Two: Making it Work: Serving Students with Disabilities During COVID-19
Join us for a closer look at special education for students with disabilities during COVID-19. This presentation will include a brief overview of the legal framework schools operate within, including an update on the most recent COVID-19 guidance from the Minnesota Department of Education. With our colleague, Christina Gonzalez, we take a pragmatic look at how schools and service providers are getting it right based on real-world examples. We will also discuss the challenges schools are facing. Please bring your questions and big ideas for making it work!
- Laura Tubbs Booth, Attorney, Ratwik, Roszak & Maloney, P.A.
- Elizabeth M. Meske, Associate Attorney, Ratwik, Roszak & Maloney, P.A.
- Christina Gonzalez, LCSW, Director of Student Support Services, Richfield Public Schools
Part Three: Education Partnerships for County-Involved Youth During COVID-19
Join us for a closer look at special education for students with disabilities during COVID-19. This presentation will include a brief overview of the legal framework schools operate within, including an update on the most recent COVID-19 guidance from the Minnesota Department of Education. With our colleague, Christina Gonzalez, we take a pragmatic look at how schools and service providers are getting it right based on real-world examples. We will also discuss the challenges schools are facing. Please bring your questions and big ideas for making it work!
Lynne Penke, Youth Education, Hennepin County Health and Human Services