The main piece (in my opinion) of Chapter 108 (the session law that was the omnibus Health & Human Services Finance bill) is Article 17, which establishes Chapter 256N in Minnesota Statutes, Northstar Care for Children. As I said in an earlier blog post on Northstar Care for Children, this program will make foster care, relative guardian/custody assistance (guardianship assistance), and adoption assistance payments equitable so as to improve permanency for children and youth receiving child welfare interventions. (Currently, foster care rates can be more than double the rates for adoption and relative custody assistance, providing a disincentive for permanency through guardianship or adoption.)

Statutory reorganization

Foster care benefits, guardianship assistance, and adoption assistance will all be housed under Minn. Stat. 256N, effective January 1, 2015. After November 26, 2014, no new adoption assistance agreements will be made under the pre-Northstar Care for Children Minn. Stat. 259A.

This also means that there will be greater statutory guidance on guardianship assistance, also known as relative guardian assistance. Pre-Northstar Care for Children, relative guardian/custody assistance was referenced under Relative Custody and some mentions were in Minn. Stat. 260C.5151. Minnesota DHS also had a fact sheet from 2008 on the topic.

Assessments, special assessments, and reassessments

Before a child is able to receive any of the three benefits, the child must first be assessed to determine the type of benefit and the amount. The assessment tool is yet to be established but must meet certain requirements; for example, “The assessment tool must take into consideration the strengths and needs of the child and the extra parenting provided by the caregiver to meet the child’s needs” (Minn. Stat. 256N.24 Subd. 2, or Article 17, section 11 under Chapter 108). The initial assessment must occur within 30 days of placement in foster care.

If a child was not in foster care with a prospective relative custodian or prospective adoptive parent prior to the negotiation of the guardianship assistance agreement or adoption assistance agreement, then a special assessment is required. Special assessments may also be required when a child transitions from a pre-Northstar Care for Children program into Northstar Care for Children.

A child can be reassessed if the child had been identified as an at-risk child under guardianship or adoption assistance agreements and the child manifests a disability. Reassessments are also required every six months when a child is continuously in foster care or when requested by the legally or financially responsible agency, the commissioner, or the caregiver (under certain circumstances).

Rate schedules

Northstar Care for Children delineates what a child’s monthly maintenance payment will be, which is based on the assessment previously discussed and makes up both the basic rate and the supplemental difficulty of care rate.

Northstar Care for Children explicitly states that funding for guardianship assistance and adoption assistance will be provided to children who meet eligibility criteria, even if they do not meet criteria specific to title IV-E.

For children under the age of six who enter a guardianship or adoption assistance agreement, both the basic monthly rate and the supplemental difficulty of care rate are reduced by 50 percent. This is a reflection of the fact that this age group is more likely to find permanency than older youth.

Additionally, a child care allowance is available in addition to the two rates for children age twelve and under, provided that all available adult caregivers are employed or attending an educational or vocational training program and the family does not receive child care assistance. To read more about this, please see Minn. Stat. 256N.24 Subd. 3 (section 11 under Article 17 of Chapter 108).

Basic monthly rate

  • Ages 0-5: $565/month
  • Ages 6-12: $670/month
  • Ages 13+: $790/month

Difficulty of care supplemental monthly rate

In addition to the basic monthly rate, some will receive a supplemental rate “consistent with the care a parent provides a child with special needs and not the equivalent of a purchased service.” Rates are assigned at different levels, ordered A-O.

Level A is the “at-risk” category; this level is assigned to children who are at risk of manifesting a disability based on their genetic relationship to someone with an inheritable disability or on their background (for example, if they were maltreated). This level appears to apply only to children under guardianship or adoption assistance agreements. Children assigned to Level A do not receive the basic or supplemental rates; rather, they automatically receive $1/month “unless and until” a disability manifests. At that point the child is to be reassessed and the agreement renegotiated. Children under Level A must also be considered for medical assistance.

The supplemental monthly rate begins at $0 at Level B and continues in $100 increments until Level O, which is $1,500 per month. One example of a child assigned to Level O could be a medically fragile child.

Transitions from pre-Northstar Care for Children

Children in foster care or under relative custody or adoption assistance agreements prior to January 1, 2015 will continue to receive pre-Northstar Care for Children benefits as long as they stay with the same caregivers. If a child changes foster placements or obtains permanency, or the commissioner initiates a transition, then the child will receive benefits under Northstar Care for Children. The commissioner may initiate a transition under certain circumstances, including financial and budgetary constraints. It is my understanding that should a commissioner-initiated transition occur for guardianship assistance, benefits may not be reduced.

Northstar Care for Children, in a nutshell—What do you think of this new program? How do you see it impacting your practice or your life?

If I missed something crucial or if you have questions about Northstar Care for Children, please comment below or send me an email at skal0044@umn.edu.

1Thanks to Mary Regan of the Minnesota Council of Child Caring Agencies for the statutory heads-up for relative custody assistance.