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Message The Minnesota Promise ReportA Foster-led vision for child welfare systems change
This report was created by Foster Advocates through engagement with the MN Foster community between 2022-2025. Copyright © 2025 by Foster AdvocatesAll rights reservedFirst released as an online PDF 2025For informaon about permissions to reproduce selecons from this report, contact Foster Advocates at 2550 University Ave W 200 N, St Paul, MN or email info@fosteradvocates.orgISBN: 979-8-218-71001-9 (online PDF)Compiled by: Foster AdvocatesResearch and data analysis by: Je Severns Guntzel and Elena LeomiWrien and edited by: Je Severns Guntzel and Elena LeomiAddional eding by: Whitney Behle, Sarah Blouin, Lorrie Bortuzzo, Ariana Chamoun, and Donté WilkinsDesign by: Cathy Solarana of Wheelhouse Collecve
MN PROMISE REPORT 1START HERE Minnesota’s Collecve Promise to Fosters A Leer and Self-Care Oering from the MN Promise Commiee Foster Care Impacts All of Us How to Read this ReportCLOSING THOUGHTS Notes from our Researcher, Board, Founder, and Team Looking Forward: Minnesota Promise 2035 Glossary & ResourcesDIVE DEEP Secons do not have to be read in order Common Threads Access to Informaon and Resources Health and Wellbeing Educaon Housing Siblings and Relaonships Permanency Normalcy Navigang Life aer Care Other Areas of IdentyTable of Contents
MN PROMISE REPORT 3To Fosters: Thank YouFor those Fosters who parcipated in the MN Promise campaign, through listening sessions, strategy meengs, and feedback on every dra of this report, we hope we have done right by you and the trust you put in us through this report, and that this honors and reects the visions and collecve eorts of Fosters from across the state.For Fosters new to MN Promise, welcome! This is a living vision that we know will grow over me, driven by the contribuons of Fosters like you. However you choose to engage with MN Promise, we want you to know that your experience and experse maer and that we are here to oer you community and partnership.And to all Fosters reading this report: We hope you feel seen, heard, valued, and cared for. MN Promise I was in a room with other Fosters and it wasn’t something to be ashamed of or hide.MN PROMISE REPORT 3Ariana ChamounInterim Execuve Director Elena LeomiManaging Director of Movement Building
MN PROMISE REPORT 5Minnesota’s to FostersIt is a promise the state struggles and, too oen, fails to keep.We see this in the stories of our Foster leaders and in statewide data on Foster outcomes. The reality is that the current child welfare system status quo is not meeng our collecve promise to Fosters.All Minnesotans have a collecve responsibility for the successes and failures of the child welfare system, but Fosters live them, and when that system is failing them, they are suering and unsafe.The disparies and sgmas Fosters experience are not new. They have faced injusces across generaons and cultures. These injusces are predictable but never inevitable. And, with collecve will and Foster-informed acon, they are preventable. To achieve a shi in imaginaon and outcomes, we must listen to Fosters.This report holds within it a grounding vision for the Foster Movement in Minnesota; vision that holds the dreams and demands of Fosters, for themselves, their peers, and future generaons. Their experiences and experse inform the vision for the Movement, in which all Minnesotans have a role.MN Promise is the rst statewide campaign envisioned and led by Fosters to gather and share their bold ideas for systems change. As far as we know, it is also the rst such campaign in the country.MN Promise is a call to acon, not just a catalog of harms. It is a roadmap for change and a testament to the resilience, hope, and vision of those who have lived through the foster care system and are living through it now.Fosters are demanding a future where they are seen, valued, uplied, and loved — not discarded. This report is a BOLD demand for jusce, and a detailed picture of what jusce looks like.Now, we hope you will join us in turning this vision into reality.MN PROMISE REPORT 5
MN PROMISE REPORT 7At Foster Advocates, we believe those closest to the problems are also closest to the solutions. StatewideWe held 11 in-person sessions and three virtual sessions, reaching 122 Fosters state-wide who broadly reect the demographics of the the state's foster care system: over 70 percent were Fosters of color, over 30 percent had a disability, over 30 percent were LGBTQ+ or Two-spirit. This report is built from experse shared and ideas gathered what is and is not working within the child welfare system. The gap between Fosters’ needs and the care they receive is not due to a lack of soluons; but a failure to engage and center those with lived experse, to priorize them, and to take bold, collecve acon. Those who have been impacted must be given true power to direct systems change, while not being le alone in change-making work.A Foster-led Vision Status QuoMany of us have heard phrases thrown around such as “the system is broken” or “there are cracks in the system.” At Foster Advocates, we disagree—the system is doing exactly what it was designed to do. So why do we connue to priorize investments towards the system as it currently stands? Is this really the only way?.Where Do The acons and visions in this report are bigger than just Foster Advocates. This is a guide for a larger Foster Movement in Minne-sota. By engaging Foster leaders and a broad network of community partners, we ensure this change-making work extends beyond our sta and organizaon. Fosters have shared their vision for fullling our collecve promise — how will you help bring it to life?While most sessions focused on transion-age Fosters ages 18-28, we focused one in-person session on 14-17-year-olds in the Metro and one virtual session for Fosters aged 28 and older.ReachIn all, MN Promise parcipants had foster care experience in over 50 of Minnesota's 87 counes.of parcipants experienced adopon. Roughly half of those were failed adopons.of parcipants also experienced the juvenile jusce system.of parcipants had recent experiences with homelessness.2023We hit the road, traveling to St. Cloud, Bemidji, Duluth, Moorhead, Rochester, and Mankato.2024We wrapped our nal sessions, including an in-person and virtual session focused on Nave Fosters. 2022We held our rst three sessions in the Twin Cies Metro.0%%%MN PROMISE REPORT 7
MN PROMISE REPORT 9 This commiee has shied over me, incorporang new Foster leaders as our road trip progressed. The commiee supported session recruitment and peer follow-up, report feedback and design, and planning for the public launch of this report! The following is a leer from spring 2025 commiee members:Being part of the MN Promise commiee, seeing all the steps on the backend to bring this report together and contribung to the bigger picture of change, has been excing. We love that Fosters get to have their voices heard aer so many years of being silenced. Our hope is that you — all Minnesotans — will be able to truly see what we’ve gone through, what we’ve already accomplished, and what support we need moving forward. We know some of the things in the report may be hard to read, or seem unbelievable, but we refuse to sugar coat the foster care system. We need you to come to the hard truths in this report with open minds, pung aside any stereotypes or biases you have about Fosters. We need you to truly take in the data from our experse and try to understand this glimpse into what life in the foster care system, and aerwards, is like for us.Every Fosters’ story is dierent, and all of them are valid. And we hope you recognize that if just one Foster experienced a system failure, that is one Foster too many. These are our stories, and they are undeniable.This is the rst report like this that we know of, created for Fosters, by Fosters. Fosters are not presenng their stories for sympathy, or pity, but to make sure what happened to us doesn’t happen again, and to make things right for the Fosters coming up behind us. We hope this report inspires the community to join Fosters so that we can all advocate and support youth in the foster care system. This report shows where the harms and challenge points are, AND where the praise and possibilies are. As you read through this report, ask yourself: what can I do to support the change Fosters are asking for? As Foster leaders, we welcome you to the table to be a part of that change. Throughout the report you’ll see lots of ways you can engage, and being a part of the movement will look dierent for everyone. No one has to do everything, everyone can do something. This report is a starng point for conversaons and acon, to discuss how we make things beer and where we go from here. We all need to be working together to change the system. It is not going to happen overnight — but we believe with connuous eort one day that promise will be fullled.Your spring 2025 MN Promise Commiee:Alayna, Aleesha, Izzy, Jessica, Mariah Thank you to 2023 & 2024 commiee members:Ada, Audriana, Deddtrease, Dezarae, Ja-Vay, Kaliyah, Karen, Katelyn, Lauryn, Lexi, My-Kia, Nia, Ryn, Sage, Shane, Vincent, and Vivianna
MN PROMISE REPORT 11Put your hand on your heart as you take a deep breath in for four counts, hold for four counts, out for four, hold for four.This report holds a mix of hopes and harms. Reading this, especially for those sll healing from their foster care journey, may be hard. We urge you to create space and call in support to care for yourself as you dive in. A few oerings for grounding: Care Note for FostersRemember, you do not have to read this report in order, or in one sing! If you nd yourself acvated UP with anxiety or other ooded emoons, move around and shake, or rub both your arms and pat your legs. Try drinking cold water, or pung a cold washcloth on the back of your neck.If you nd yourself acvated DOWN feeling numb or dissociated, try a gentle walk around the room or rocking where you’re sing. Blow bubbles through a straw, or name three things in the room around you. Remember, Foster Advocates and our Minnesota network of Fosters are a resource as you need! Come have a seat at the table with us. Every system is perfectly designed to get the results that it does. Given child welfare’s history, it is no surprise that we see deeply embedded disparies. In the 250 years since the rst case of child abuse was prosecuted in the United States (using animal abuse laws, since those were in place before child abuse in this country), family separaon has been wielded as a means of control, punishment, or genocide. Sixteen American Indian Boarding schools separated children from their families and culture starng in 1871 in Minnesota, with forced assimilaon causing intergenera-onal trauma to many Nave communies across the state, Minnesota was a key site for Orphan Trains from the mid 1800s-1920s, where children from immigrant or low-income families — oen not actually orphaned —were shipped from eastern cies to the Midwest to support farms. Group homes and social safety nets were created for poor white children, excluding Black youth and various immigrant groups over the 1800-1900s. Do you know your child welfare history?Minnesota children experienced out-of-2024, and thousands Do a body scan from your toes up to your head. What parts of your body are acve? Which parts need aenon? How can you tune back into your body aer each secon?What music will support you in the background? Are there smells to help ground you? What sensory supports (dgets, blankets, crunchy, or so foods) do you need? Where will you be comfortable? Have you had enough water? food? movement? sunshine? Who can you process with aer you read?
MN PROMISE REPORT 13 Foster Care Every Minnesotan has been a child. That is a statement so obvious that it might sound ridiculous. As adults, every Minnesotan has been a parent or aunt or uncle or neighbor to a child. You already know a lot about what can help and what might harm them.In this way, the issues and vision discussed in this report are for every Minnesotan. Our standards of caring for Fosters should be dened the same as they are for any child. Instead, Fosters are subjected to an oen disjointed, disconnected, and dehumanizing system.The deciencies of the child welfare system are not the fault of any one group or individual. There are many individuals serving in many dierent roles, who are working every day to protect Fosters and families, oer guidance, and improve their lives. However, right now Fosters receive that quality care based on luck — and that is not good enough. We all have a role to play in creang a child welfare system that truly serves Fosters. When the system does right by Fosters, it uplis all those around them.As you read this report and contemplate Fosters’ bold ideas and acon steps for the Minnesota Foster Movement, know this: all are welcome — and needed.These are our stories. Systems changeis a process. Join us!MN PROMISE REPORT 13
MN PROMISE REPORT 15many birth parents are also Fosters. Our Foster leaders encourage birth families to never give up hope of changing the system for future families. Fosters are asking for caregivers to support them as allies, not as saviors, and to be open to learning from new perspecves and experiences. You all hold an inmate knowledge of the system from the per-specve of a supporve adult, and have a powerful opportunity to support Fosters raising their voice for systems change. To Frontline Whether you are a county caseworker, aorney, group home manager, guardian ad litem, Family Resource Navigator, or judge, you came to this work for a reason. We hope the “why” of this report will connect in some way to the “why” of your personal and professional commitment to the work. Fosters hold the deep complexity of recognizing both when adults connect-ed to the system didn’t do right by them or fully meet their needs, and also where supporve adults were doing the best within the parameters of the systems and supervisors above them. The system failures may not be your fault, but they are your responsibility. We hope you can be reminded of your “why” and role within that complexity. To the For those who have not been closely connected to the child welfare system unl now, we hope this report helps you to gain a sense of the range of Foster experiences and the power of their voices and bold ideas. This informaon may challenge some assumpons and public stories about foster care and we hope you can lean into learnings that may be new to you. Whatever the focus of your services, you are serving Fosters — you just may not realize it. Fosters are a part of every subpopulaon, and deserve to be served as a priority populaon in a way that meets their individual cultural needs and addresses system-specic barriers. All community partners have not just the opportunity, but the responsibility to become Foster-informed in their services. It is a failure of our systems of support that family separaon ever occurs. While this report focuses on the perspecves of Fosters from their me in out-of-home care and beyond, families of origin also have stories that deserve to be heard. The failures of the child welfare system create intergeneraonal cycles of foster care, and it is important to recognize that In Minnesota’s child welfare system, the state makes the laws and provides funding, and the counes manage the work. Leaders at both levels experience blurred lines of accountability and duplicated or redundant work. Fosters have seen how, when boundaries of accountability are unclear, neither side acts. This is another failure point in the system. In this report, Fosters describe their experiences of accountability and responsibility gaps with the hope that state and county leaders will take this as an opportunity to change the relaonships, policies, pracces, and resources within your sphere of control.For legislators who oversee the promise inherent in the system of laws governing child welfare, Fosters have oered their bold, detailed, and wide-ranging ideas for systems change. These aconable, experience-based proposals come from a constuency that, while in many cases cannot vote, can be easily seen and heard through this report.Ulmately, this report is meant for all of us, collecvely, as Minnesotans. Our acons maer. Every decision, every policy, every moment, every word or lack thereof, maers. We are the village — and it is me we built it to be one that cares for every child as we would our own. The me to act is now.When we know do better.in Minnesota experience .1
MN PROMISE REPORT 17There is no single “system” for Fosters, whose experiences overlap with or weave in and out of child welfare, the educaon system, public assistance, and the courts.Fosters live inside a web of intertwined but not always interconnected systems. In this report, when this report refers to “the system” we are referring to this web. This shorthand also recognizes how, for Fosters, it is somemes impossible to see or feel where one system ends and the other begins.On the other hand, when we use “foster care system” we are referring to experiences aer one has been placed in out-of-home care by the state. When we use “child welfare system” we are referring to the broader process of family invesgaon and separaon by the state. You will not read the words “foster child,” “foster alum,” or any variaon of these in this report about the experiences and rights of children, adolescents, and young adults in the foster care system.When those children, adolescents, and young adults in the system transion out of it, they will carry its impacts for the rest of their lives — as adults, in middle age, and in their elder years.In these pages, a person with experience in out-of-home care, at any age or stage, is a “Foster,” capitalized. This identy, chosen by many whose voices and experiences carry this report, is not bound by a developmental stage and, crucially, is not found in laws, guidelines, or the system’s innite and scaered paper trail.Whoever else an individual becomes — when they apply for jobs, school and nancial aid, housing or food assistance, a name change, a copy of their social security card or birth cercate — they are a Foster. While every individual impacted by out-of-home care deserves the agency to self-idenfy, at Foster Advocates we name and claim that Foster identy in order to beer organize around it. In our listening sessions, Fosters described the ways in which they have been harmed by the child welfare system, and we have worked to communicate those harms in this report. We encourage readers to treat every descripon of harm as an opportunity to imagine what its opposite might look like. When Fosters describe their experiences of harm, they are illuminang what they believe they deserve, just as when they describe what has helped. In every MN Promise listening session, Fosters drew from their experiences of harm and oered bold ideas to upli, enact, and expand their rights. Those bold ideas have informed every paragraph of this report, and are distributed throughout it. They are an invitaon to advocacy by individuals, commu-nies, organizaons, legislators, agency heads, and others who wish to join the Foster Movement.How to Read This Report When a child is removed from their biological parents or legal guardians, all the responsibil-ies of parenng are transferred to the State of Minnesota. The state becomes a parent, and the child becomes its “ward.”Parenng is a promise to protect and provide as best we are able. In the wake of the upheaval and trauma of a child’s removal from their family of origin, the state takes that promise and porons it out to counes, social workers, group home sta, foster families, and others.With each poroning of the promise, more people and paperwork are wedged between the child and where they came from. For the promise to survive, it must be durable, robust, responsive, accountable, and informed at every turn by the individuals who have lived through the system. In modeling a Foster-centered process, this report is intended to be a tool for Foster-informed individuals and enes who want to support the state of Minnesota in making and keeping a mean-ingful and resilient promise.
MN PROMISE REPORT 19What to know about Minnesota is one of nine states with a state-funded and county-administered child welfare system, and has the largest number of child welfare agencies, with 87 counes and three iniave tribes (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Red Lake Naon, and White Earth Naon; Red Lake also retains sovereignty over data about their tribal children and families). What does this mean in pracce? The same program, like Extended Foster Care (see glossary for denion of this and other systems terms throughout the report) can be experi-enced completely dierently depending on whether you are a Foster in Hennepin or St. Louis or Oer Tail County. Almost ten thousand young people experienced out-of-home care in Minnesota in 2024 under the purview of the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF). And there are uncounted numbers of Fosters who have le the system, whether through reunicaon, guardianship transfer, adopon, or aging out. And while Minnesota has seen a decline in the number of Fosters entering care each year, the number of “connuers” in care has stayed stagnant.What about There is very lile about prevenon in this report. Invesng in prevenon is crical to transforming the child welfare system. However, our focus is on those who have already experienced family separaon. There are many examples of prevenon eorts with demonstrated impacts including the federal Child Tax Credit, expanded access to food benets and Medicaid, accessible and aordable childcare, and aenon to other parts of the social safety net such as housing, health care, and basic day-to-day needs.We hope to see Minnesota invest more in prevenon as well as in Fosters already in the system.Minnesota has one of the highest rates of racial disparies in care in the country. American Indian youth are 16 mes more likely to be in care than their white peers — a data point that has not budged in decades. Black youth are two mes as likely to be in care, a rate that has dropped from eight mes —but only as the rate of mulracial youth has risen from two to eight mes. Hispanic youth are also twice as likely to experience care. And while the state does not measure this, Foster Advocates has documented LGBTQ+ and Two-spirit youth as overrepresented in care, at ve to ten mes the rate of their peers. 36%One-quarter of all placements in the state are due to caretakers’ substance or alcohol addicon, and een percent are due to neglect. Roughly een percent of young people who enter the foster care system are there because of physical abuse or sexual assault. The Foster populaon is evenly divided across four age groups: ages 1 to 3, 3 to 8, 9 to 14, and 15 and older. Fiy-seven percent of 15- to 17-year-olds who enter care (voluntarily or involuntarily) due to child behavioral health and related reasons.Did you knowStatewide numbersMINNESOTA FOSTERSALL MINNESOTA YOUTH%%18%%%%%%%%%%WhiteTwo or More RacesHispanicAsainIf you don’t even you know what’s best for me?”
MN PROMISE REPORT 21Fosters name the deep challenge of facing incomplete public narraves about foster care and the sgmas that many people have about Fosters in their head. They have been told that they are just angry, or failures, or problem children. That there is a reason people give up kids, that they are just like their birth parents. That they are irresponsible, or must have mental health issues. That they cannot be trusted. That they carry baggage. That they cannot graduate, or go to college, or get a stable job. That they are too young to understand or do not know what they are talking about when it comes to their own child welfare case. These negave assumpons have made many Fosters hide this part of their identy, or queson themselves and their abilies. Fosters are asking everyone reading this report to approach it with an open mind, and recognize and challenge preconceivednoons of the Foster experience that bring up defensiveness or disbelief. They ask when you think of a Foster to not automacally assume that young person is a problem to be xed. That you recognize the range of foster care experiences: good, bad, and indierent. That you believe the examples of real harm happening right now, and also join Fosters in their capacity for innite hope to dream outside of the current system’s limits and forge new paths. MN PROMISE COMMITTEEThat these are organic experiences from Minnesotans who have lived in the foster system.How underserved the Foster community is, and how many fundamental issues there are within it.That Fosters are actual people requesng certain needs, wants, and desires to be met.How we all need to do beer. Not just saying that we will, but taking acon.That Fosters are sll human!That Fosters may need protecon but are not helpless.That the “problem” is not solved when kids are removed from their homes, and that the foster care system needs constant and iterave oversight, reecon, and acon.What do Fosters want Minnesotans to take TAKE AWAYS
MN PROMISE REPORT 23Fosters describe something far less linear, a journey marked by the intersecons of their experiences and idenes. Across our MN Promise sessions, certain areas of experience and identy emerged that are explored in depth in the next secon. These are not experi-enced in isolaon or as stages, and do not have to be read in order. Underlying all those areas are the common threads described below. As you connue with this report, whether reading about educaon or healthcare or juvenile jusce, recognize that these threads are woven across the Foster journey. Family separaon is the child welfare system’s primary intervenon tool for families and youth in crisis, and it is inherently traumac. The loss of autonomy is another form of trauma, one that shapes Fosters' ability to build stability in adulthood. Fosters also face ongoing and layered experiences of the foster care system, as well as state and structural violence, making them vulnerable to economic and other systemic injusces as they transion to adulthood, no maer how they exit care. Let us be heard. A lot of times we’re just told how things are gonna be and we’re not really given choices.MN PROMISE REPORT 23
MN PROMISE REPORT 25 The path of a Foster in the system is not a straight-lined journey, and there is no map. Point A does not always lead to point B. Somemes, it is A to G to B, and the points will almost certainly intersect or repeat themselves. To use child welfare system terminology, a foster or group home is a placement. A placement can last years, months, weeks, or just days. For many Fosters, there is not just one foster home. There may be three placements in as many months or six in as many years.The only thing certain for Fosters is that nothing is certain. For most, their road, however straight or winding, is barely visible and somemes only truly clear in the rearview mirror.Fosters navigate a constant state of uncertainty — frequent placement changes, inconsistent caseworkers, and a lack of control over major life decisions, which can be described as a lack of agency. Fosters describe how these disrupons erode trust and create a cycle where they must repeatedly adapt to new environments, new rules, and new caretakers, all while having lile or no power in the decision- making. Many describe being placed in homes that were emoonally or physically unsafe, where their concerns were ignored or dismissed. They describe a feeling of powerlessness around access to personal belongings, nancial resources, or common social acvies. Every Foster experiences the system through an entanglement of relaonships they do not choose — with foster parents, facility sta, case managers, social workers, therapists, guardians ad litem, child protec-on lawyers, judges, and somemes police. Few of these relaonships have any permanence, and fewer oer Fosters any power or agency at all over the terms or boundaries or even the feeling of the relaonship — loving or hosle, caring or indierent, safe or unsafe.Relaonships happen in family and group homes, facilies and other placements, oce buildings, waing areas, clinics, facilies, and courtrooms, in unfamiliar or uncomfortable spaces, at long tables, in squeaky chairs, and at service windows.Somemes, these relaonships are with people who look just like you, but more oen, the people look nothing like you at all.Beyond all of these places and faces, there are relaonships at school and in their communies, at places of worship, and in social gatherings — contexts where your experience is barely known and even less understood. Fosters are always aware of the sgmas and stereotypes through which they are viewed and unsure when or how to talk about who they are, or how they are.Inside the system, every relaonship is documented on paper, in digital records, or as data points in le cabinets or on computers scaered across agencies and oces, which may have no direct connecon or communicaon among them. In a system as complex and dispersed as the child welfare system, accountability — for basic services, harm reducon, and protecon from emoonal, physical, and sexual abuse — can rest with a single person or a chain of people and enes. Gaps in oversight are everywhere, and integrity in accountability measures has no standard or shared denion.A Search for AnswersBeing a Foster is being in a constant state of not-knowing. Most things that impact their lives — from the day-to-day to their long-term care — are decided in places they cannot see and in a language they do not understand, with few opportunies to ask and even fewer opportunies to be truly heard.”for a support system that could help us both physically and emotion-ally. That’s what we all found that we lacked.Our MN Promise sessions spanned across the state to reach Fosters where they were at and to see if there were any region-specic challenges. While some issues, especially related to resources, were more prevalent in greater Minnesota, there was no region that was untouched by these common threads or areas of experience. Fosters who didn’t experience certain issues recognized they were the “lucky” ones. Meeng our collecve promise to Fosters should not depend on luck or jusce by geography. Luck of the Draw
MN PROMISE REPORT 27 We need a simple intro to the system, something that explains your rights, gives you resources right away, and shows you a clear plan.MN PROMISE REPORT 27The informaon kept about Fosters — and, as many experienced, kept from them — is oen the same: records of every placement, therapy session, medical procedure, payments to foster placements, school transcripts, and court les. “Keeping from them” can be the denial of a Foster’s request for their records, or lost records, or records a case manager or other accountable professional fails to make known, through indierence, ignorance, or lack of iniave.By the me a Foster becomes an adult, this and other informaon is oen scaered across mulple counes, each with their own methods of managing and granng access to records.Access to informaon about resources or opportunies for guidance, empowerment, and other crical support is oen limited for Fosters, either by adults who act as gatekeepers or a literal lack of access to the world beyond their placement. Such resources are pathways to healing, personal power, self compassion, and the agency to live a story beyond the one the system had wrien them into.
MN PROMISE REPORT 29 ResourcesFosters describe resource areas they learned about too late, and especially around transioning to independent living, with or without ongoing nancial and other system support. Fosters describe challenges in navigang and advocang for themselves in the legal aspects of the system, including understanding their rights and accessing legal support in general and through court proceedings.Access to Vital Records Fosters describe diculty in accessing their own records, such as birth cercates, medical records, and Social Security informaon, which are oen withheld, redacted, or dicult to obtain, creang barriers to crical needs like obtaining housing or applying for benets. and AccessFosters describe unequal access to resources, oen depending on where they live or the experience or biases of their case managers. Fosters describe struggles to access informaon and resources, tailored to specic mental health, cultural, identy-based, and geographic needs (such as urban or rural). Fosters describe a desire for easily accessible plaorms, such as hotlines or websites, where they can quickly access informaon and support during mes of crisis.Fosters describe a lack of regular meengs where they are briefed on their case developments and pathways, ensuring they are well-informed and able to advocate for themselves throughout their system experience.What Fosters DescribeWhat should happen in Minnesota?Fosters emphasized frustraon that their social workers did not provide them with informaon and empathy due to burdens of caseload size. While there are ways the system can and should improve caseworker communicaon to Fosters, there are also opportunies to make sure all Fosters and supporve adults have other pathways to resources. Fosters also agged the inconsistency of services like STAY depending on where they were placed, and what counes would approve out of possible STAY funding requests.Fosters can access independent Minnesota has not increased STAY ”If we don't know what resources we the phone and
MN PROMISE REPORT 31 Establish mentorship programs where current or former Fosters can guide and support those currently in the system, providing advice and praccal help based on shared experiences.Tailored Resource Collaborate with experts, advocates, and Fosters, to create Foster-specic resource packages customized for individualized needs, including mental health services, housing assistance, educaonal support, and transion planning for adulthood.Know Your Create clear guides for Fosters, foster parents, and other workers of Fosters’ rights, related to their case, access to services and healthcare, educaon, and more. Design comprehensive and mandatory training for foster parents on trauma- informed care, understanding the specic needs of Fosters, and how to connect them to appropriate resources. Foster-Centered Design and implement regular meengs where Fosters are briefed on their case developments and pathways, ensuring they are well-informed and able to advocate for themselves throughout their foster care experience.Cultural and Resource NetworksEstablish cultural or identy-specic support networks, that provide resources tailored to the specic idenes and communies of Fosters. Create spaces for Fosters to connect with other Fosters, or supporve communies that could provide emoonal support and relaonships. federal standard for contact with children %people adopted inMinnesota have the adoption records.How do Fosters react?In our 28+ MN Promise session, older Fosters echoed the desire for mentorship opportunies, wishing they could provide the advice, resources, and hope that they didn’t receive while in the system or transioning to adulthood. Below are some of their thoughts when asked what they would say to younger Fosters:“There are Foster elders out there. Connect. Community is so important.” “Don’t give up! Prove ‘em all wrong and become the best version of yourself.” “It is okay to be mad about being in the system. Don’t let that cloud of anger follow your journey.”MN PROMISE REPORT 31
MN PROMISE REPORT 33All Minnesotans Think about the importance of access to resources and informaon for Fosters who seek support from dierent organi-zaons. What ways can you advocate to ensure that community resources are informed by the experiences and needs of Fosters? All Minnesotans can be a resource if you become more Foster- informed — because you never know when you are interacng with a Foster. Speaking openly and oen and making Foster-specic resources visible and accessible makes it easier and safer for more Fosters to access them. Are you aware of Foster-specic resources available in Minnesota, like the Fostering Independence Grants or the Ombuds Oce for Foster Youth? You do not need to be an expert — but just knowing where to start can make a real dierence for a Foster in your life.If a Foster asked you, would you help or accompany them to access resources (like you would your own child)? What person-al preparaon would you need to do to walk alongside them as an advocate?Stakeholders System Workers and Community Partners Reect on how you share informaon with Fosters and how you respond when they ask for help nding resources. What support do you need from supervisors, the County, or the state to beer answer Foster quesons about their case, available resources, or accessing important documents?Counes What resources are already centralized for easy access by social workers, foster parents, and Fosters? What resources are dicult to stay current on because of capacity or other obstacles? Are non-child welfare county sta educated on how to answer a Foster’s quesons about paperwork and records access aer they have exited care? Do you have public and easily accessible resources providing guidance for Fosters seeking to access their personal documents? DCYF Standardize the process for Fosters seeking to access their county case and court records. Create a central state access point for Fosters to get proof of foster care documentaon as needed. Currently, when Fosters request their foster care records, counes have no formal or systemac guidance for what they are required to provide. What to release or redact is up to the individual, and it is up to each county to decide whether and what they charge Fosters for access to their own informaon. For those experiencing adopon or a dissolved adopon, there are dierent processes for accessing records depending on the adopon agency. For Fosters aging out of care at 18, there are federal requirements for documents the county has to provide (like vital records), but there is no requirement for the agency to keep a copy if the Foster needs to access those documents again in the future. And there is no centralized state process for Fosters to receive proof of foster care documentaon.What should happen in Minnesota? Supporng passage of Minnesota Foster Bill of Rights, led by the Ombuds Oce for Foster Youth. Creang intergeneraonal connecon and mentoring opportunies for Fosters across Minnesota. Building a website to centralize a Foster resources directory, creang a map of Foster-serving organizaons across Minnesota, and creang a calendar of Foster-specic events across the state.Legislators Pass the Foster Bill of Rights proposed by the Ombuds Oce for Foster Youth. Develop and pass legislaon to clarify and expand the list of documents counes are required to provide Fosters when they exit care, and through every other permanency pathway. Ensure Foster access to those documents throughout their lives.
MN PROMISE REPORT 35MN Promise Report 3Health & Fosters described having lile say over their care, diagnoses, or the narrave passed from system to provider or provider to paper. They told of major health decisions happening around them instead of with them, and of fear — the fear that prescribed pills might lead to addicon, that wrong or missed diagnoses will cause harm.Fosters call for real, informed consent around medicaons, a say in reproducve health decisions, and safe, consistent access to therapy that is not driven by quick xes. They want the right to challenge a prescripon if it feels dangerous, the chance to review their records, and the extended health coverage guarantee as they enter adulthood. These ideas are rooted in experience, in harm felt, and in the belief that Fosters deserve more than a prescripon slip or a dismissive nod.MN PROMISE REPORT 35You’re the one that knows what’s going on with you. You might not know what it is, but you’re the one that feels it.
MN PROMISE REPORT 37 in Medical CareFosters describe signicant gaps in connuity of medical care, especially when transioning out of foster care. This includes issues with transferring medical records, nding providers that take state insurance, nding aordable health care, re-establishing relaonships with former providers, and making connecons with new providers. Fosters describe experiencing unwanted birth control measures and a lack of agency around reproducve health. They highlight the long-term health and ferlity implicaons of forced contracepon, nong the lack of educaon and autonomy around these life-impacng decisions made without their consent. Fosters describe feeling sgmazed as “troubled youth” who need to be controlled rather than supported, without consider-aon of the stress and trauma they endure in the foster system itself, reinforcing negave cycles and behaviors. Many experience these labels driving medicaon decisions being made without proper evaluaons.Mental Health Access Fosters describe the diculty of accessing mental health services tailored to their needs. They report a lack of connuity in care, compounded by frequent placement changes and overmedicaon as a default soluon. Many feel that therapeuc services, when they are provided, are forced upon them. Culturally competent, accessible therapy remains a signicant gap, especially for Fosters aging out of the system. Medical RecordsFosters describe frustraon in accessing medical records, parcularly aer aging out of the system. They say obtaining their complete health informaon is oen challenging, with many unable to prove past diagnoses or treatments. This lack of connuity hinders eecve health care and contributes to redundant evaluaons and delays in care. and SupportFosters describe barriers to accessing clear informaon about their health rights, treatment opons, and ongoing avenues of support. System transparency is limited, oen leaving Fosters to navigate the bureaucracies of health and mental health therapy on their own — a reality that contributes to their distrust of both health care providers and social services. Fosters describe a lack of autonomy over their medical treatments, with frequent feelings and fears of being overmedicated. Fosters report that their concerns about the eecveness or impact of their medicaons are oen ignored or dismissed, highlighng a need for informed consent and Foster-informed dialogue with health care providers. They describe overprescripon as a gateway to dependency, oen feeling forced to take medicaons that can lead to addicon or unsafe behaviors later in life.Did you know? in Health DecisionsFosters describe a dynamic where foster parents oen have excessive control over health decisions, including medicaon and therapy. This dynamic can lead to coerced treatments and a lack of independent consultaon, with some Fosters reporng neglect or mismanagement of their health care needs by their caregivers. Health Care DecisionsFosters describe a lack of accountability in health care. Many Fosters believe that social workers, therapists, and foster parents should be more accountable for how they manage Foster health choices.Child welfare agencies are responsible for Fosters’ healthcare, ensuring they receive adequate care as well as determining when biological parents, social workers, foster parents, or the court give consent for health care. Fosters can consent for their own health care without guardian consent on the same basis as other youth in Minnesota, but many do not know those rights. If a Foster is in care at 18, they are automacally eligible for, but not automacally enrolled in, state health insurance through age 26. Many Fosters do not know they are eligible and have delayed medical procedures aer age 18 due to lack of insurance.What Fosters Describe
MN PROMISE REPORT 39Youth-Controlled Health DecisionsAllow Fosters greater control and agency over health-related decisions, parcularly in regard to mental health medicaons and reproducve health decisions, including requiring informed consent and educaon on potenal side eects and long-term impacts of treatment. for FostersEnsure Fosters have the autonomy to make their own choices regarding birth control and reproducve health, alongside access to comprehensive educaon on long-term health impacts and contracepve opons. Records AccessCreate a secure, centralized system to give Fosters direct access to their medical records, ensuring connuity of care and easy retrieval of health history —especially useful for those transioning out of care.Instead of relying on psychotropic drugs as primary treatments, oer Fosters access to holisc health services and non-medicaon treatments as rst-line opons, such as therapy, peer support, and wellness programs.Extended Health Extend Medicaid or equivalent health coverage unl age 26 (or beyond) for Fosters, similar to coverage under a family’s insurance, ensuring mental and physical health connuity during the transion to independent living. Extend mental health services and support to foster families, to create a healthier home environment and reduce the trauma or stress related to placement and adjustment. Provide Fosters with developmentally appropriate resources and workshops on their rights, including health and mental health rights, with a focus on equipping Fosters with the knowledge to advocate for themselves and access necessary health and support services.Establish regular sessions with Fosters, social workers, and advocates, where Fosters can review, understand, and even challenge inaccuracies in their health records to ensure fairness and transparency in their documented history. 2%Nine states have examples of “health care passports” for Fosters to ensure connuity of their medical care between placements, easy access to medical records, and increased Foster agency. Some of these examples are paper packets that “travel” with a Foster, while others are electronic and integrated into the state healthcare system. New Jersey’s program is parcularly robust, looping in embedded nursing sta within child welfare oces to coordinate passports, help Fosters navigate medical access, and review and monitor medical records and treatment.What works in other states?MN PROMISE REPORT 39
MN PROMISE REPORT 41All Minnesotans Think about What can you do to elevate Fosters in state and community discussions around health care?Advocate for connued and expanded medical coverage for Fosters, including support for the network of dental providers serving Medicaid recipients.Stakeholders System Workers How are you including or empowering Fosters as much as possible in health care decisions? How are you educang and supporng Fosters, their families of origin, and their foster care placements? What are your knowledge gaps around Foster rights related to health care?Health Care Agencies Provide Foster- informed training to your sta and ensure comprehensive data collecon on the foster care history of those you are serving.Community Partners Create new mental health services opportunies for Fosters, including holisc and non-medicaon- based resources. Support Fosters in understanding medical insurance, their health care rights and consent opportuni-es, and in advocang for themselves in the medical decision-making process. Encourage counes and the state to create resources that are easy for workers, Fosters, and families to access.Counes Start a partnership with your county public health agency to support praconers in locang and reviewing records with Fosters and sta. Provide medical navigaon support for Fosters and their families. Train workers and foster parents on Fosters’ medical rights in care to ensure they are supported by all adults involved in their child welfare case.DCYF Ensure state child welfare funds can be used to support holisc mental health services for Fosters and families not covered by insurance. Create a DCYF policy or advocate for a state law to create Foster Health Care Passports. While there is no Minnesota data, studies from other states show Fosters are overprescribed psycho-tropic drugs (andepressants, an-anxiety medicaons, smulants, anpsychocs, and mood stabilizers) at three to four mes the rate of their non-Foster peers, and are more likely to experience polypharmacy (mulple prescripons). Several states have taken acon related to this in recent years, creang state oversight processes to reduce overprescripon, judicial review pracces for prescripons, and pharmacist oversight commiees. What do the numbers say? Legislators Update legislaon to ensure Fosters’ reproducve, mental health, and other health care rights are protected within Minnesota law, and to add requirements around educang Fosters on their health care rights. Create accountability pracces to ensure medical consent is honored. Expand Cered Peer Specialist Services so that street outreach workers can be qualied, allowing for non-diagnosis based mental health services to be charged to insurance. Create state oversight processes through the courts and pharmaceucal board to reduce overprescripon for Fosters. Building internal healing and wellness capacity, resources, and events for our sta and Foster network.Working with academic partners ready to dive into Foster-centered psychotropic drug overmedicaon research and assess best pracces from other states to bring to Minnesota.Advocang for medical insurance opt-out vs opt-in for eligible Fosters.Fosters are more likely than their peers but have less access to dental care.
MN PROMISE REPORT 43In K-12 educaon, constants for Fosters include low expectaons, being uprooted mid-year or from one year to the next (which results in more fractured or disappeared relaonships), and missing out on sports, clubs, and eld trips because of placement rules, lack of transportaon, or lack of appropriate care.During the transion to college, Fosters describe obstacles like poor preparaon, lack of mentorship and guidance, internalized messages about their potenal from system actors and society, and challenges acquiring crucial paperwork spread across counes and even states.Despite all this, Fosters oen describe school as a stable community amidst placement changes outside of their control. Fosters also illuminated the dierence-makers: consistent academic support, supporve school environments, and educators trained to understand the foster care system. Or that one teacher, counselor, or social worker showed them what was possible and helped them believe in themselves. I only got to where I am because some people saw possibility and engaged me. But it wasn’t the norm.MN PROMISE REPORT 43
MN PROMISE REPORT 45 Financial Needs Fosters describe a stark disparity in nancial and material support compared to their non-Foster peers. Fosters oen lack the basic needs that are crical for focusing on educaon, like safe and stable housing, transportaon, and nancial security, which aects their academic performance.Financial and Fosters describe challenges in accessing nancial aid or dealing with logiscal hurdles related to educaon. These include issues in managing expenses like college applicaons, transportaon, and school supplies. Guidance on Career Readiness Fosters describe not receiving adequate guidance or informaon about second-ary educaon opons like college or vocaonal paths. There is oen no one to introduce them to the process, help them ll out applicaons, or to accompany them through the campus visit process and other exploratory steps. Fosters describe persistent percepon that they are not expected to complete high school or pursue further educaon, with minimal support oered to help them envision or achieve higher educaon. Fosters describe tradional school sengs failing to meet their needs. Their individual challenges are not recognized or addressed, leading to a lack of tailored support or intervenons to help them succeed academically.Fosters describe feeling isolated from normal school acvies, such as sports and social clubs, due to restricons within their placements, exacerbang feelings of being dierent and disconnected from peers. Fosters describe frequent disrupons in their schooling, such as mulple placements and relocaons, leading to gaps in educaon and a lack of connuity that signicantly aects their ability to succeed and graduate.Fosters describe struggling to secure housing near campus when on-campus housing is not oered or unavailable. and Role Models Fosters describe mentorship as essenal for success, parcularly in navigang the complexies of goal-seng and decision- making, but also name a lack of available Foster-informed mentors. Fosters describe the emoonal burden and trauma from foster care impeding educaonal progress, leading to dropping out or failing to graduate.Did you know?Every school district must have a designated Foster Care Point of Contact responsible for ensuring the educaonal stability and rights of students in foster care.What Fosters Describe 2.7x
MN PROMISE REPORT 47Teach Fosters About Create opportunies in schools to educate Fosters about their legal rights in the foster care system, ensuring they are empowered to advocate for themselves.Recruit Counselors with Social Work Employ counselors in schools who are trained in social work to provide beer emoonal and praccal support for Fosters while educang Fosters on privacy and disclosure pracces. Ensure that Fosters have the ability to join sports teams and clubs outside of their foster home or facility, providing a more normalized school experience. Ensure access to programs and personalized guidance to help Fosters recover lost credits due to frequent school changes, and provide tailored academic support with college and trade school preparaons in mind. Support Fosters in the applicaon process, in communicaons with schools, and provide campus tour funding, transportaon, and accompaniment.When on-campus housing is not oered or unavailable, provide special funding and other support (apartment search, nancial coaching, tenants rights educaon) for near-campus housing. for FostersProvide tutoring services and facilitate Foster-specic support groups to help migate the negave academic eects of frequent placement changes, school transions, and in independent living scenarios as young adults and beyond.It is not possible to address education In 2021, Foster Advocates advocated for the law that created the Fostering Independence Grants (FIG), which cover the full cost of aendance at Minnesota colleges and universies for anyone who has experienced out-of-home foster care in Minnesota aer the age of 13. This bold idea came from our 2020-2021 Educaon Equity Leaders, and FIG is doing what it set out to: providing funding so that Fosters can get to college and have the same access to opportunies as their non-Foster peers.in Minnesota?By law, every eort should be made to keep Fosters in their school of origin. If a Foster has to switch schools, they must be enrolled in the new school or educaonal facility within seven days. Once tracking began in Minnesota — a requirement of the Foster Advocates’ Keeping Fosters in School Act — 34 percent of placements resulted in a school change, and 80 percent of those moves were mely.Did you know?MN PROMISE REPORT 47
MN PROMISE REPORT 49All Minnesotans Think about Do you know about the educaonal rights, challenges, and op-portunies for Fosters? In what ways can you advocate with your district to make local educaon services Foster-informed? Are your elected school board ocials Foster-informed and aware of Fosters’ educaon rights and graduaon rates at district schools? What conversaons can you have with school-age children in your life about foster care to reduce sgma and bullying experiences for Fosters in school?Stakeholders School Districts What partnerships do you have with your local county child welfare agency? Do you track district graduaon rates for Fosters? How can you develop wrap-around educaonal support for Fosters? Community Partners Can you oer discounts or transportaon support to reduce program barriers for Fosters? Do you have informaon about FIG, ETV, and other Foster resources readily available, so Fosters do not have to self-disclose to get access?Counes Are you tracking graduaon and prociency rates across the Fosters you serve? Are you communicang with partner districts about Foster rights and resources? What is your pracce to sup-port all Fosters, regardless of placement, with extracurricular acvies and college preparaon?DCYF and MDE There is a deep need for more K-12 Foster data, and DCYF and the Minnesota Department of Educaon should invest in collaborave research to beer understand educaon outcomes by county and other Foster demographics as well as partner to ensure group and resi-denal facilies align with state educaon standards and credits transfer.Legislators Start college savings accounts for every Foster when they enter care. Ensure Fosters are a priority populaon for Headstart and early childhood educaon programs. Learn about statewide campus support programs for Fosters to prepare for future legislave proposals to implement similar models. Spearheading a network of Foster-specic campus support programs. As FIG brings more Fosters to colleges, they deserve the support of campus resources related to academics, basic needs, networking, and social connecons. Foster leaders are building a statewide network through our expanding College Ambassadors program to connect Fosters across campuses and provide peer social and support opportunies. Supporng colleges and partners in the Twin Cies Metro with an annual Foster- specic college resource fair. Preparing for district and regional community conversaons about Foster K-12 data to beer understand local challenges and opportunies.of Minnesota Fosters %Fosters report that while they may have access to a college and career readiness program at their school, these programs are not Foster- informed, which makes them dicult to engage with. For example, when school, college, and career centers have informaon about the Northstar Promise Grant, but not about Fostering Independence Grants, Fosters say it is hard to trust that they will be understood or their needs will be met.How do Fosters react?
MN PROMISE REPORT 51 For Fosters, no denion of “home” is sucient to describe their experiences. Placements only somemes become something like what outsiders would think of as home. And many Fosters experience mulple, frequent placement changes, disrupng the possibility of a stable sense of home, inside or outside the system.Older Fosters talk more about housing than home. They describe leaving care with nowhere to go, forced into franc searches for rentals that require credit history, deposits, or a co-signer. Many Fosters have none of these.Some cycle from one short-term arrangement to another and are in a constant struggle against me as they also navigate employment, educaon, and crises of adjustment.MN PROMISE REPORT 51Ever since I aged out... It’s been constant moving around, constant not knowing where my next housing is going to be.
MN PROMISE REPORT 53 Fosters describe diculty securing housing once they age out of care, largely due to a lack of rental history, credit history, cosigners, or stable income. They somemes face discriminaon from landlords and must navigate the housing market with lile to no support.Support Gaps Fosters describe the sudden loss of support aer aging out, when many resources and services are no longer available. Without extended housing support or guidance, fosters can be vulnerable to homelessness and nancial instability. Fosters describe a desire for greater autonomy and agency when it comes to their housing while in the foster care system, sharing how they oen have lile say in where they are placed, parcularly when it comes to living with peers or in culturally relevant environments. Fosters describe frequent moves and housing instability as a core challenge, oen feeling uprooted and unsure about where they will live next with no safety net.What do the numbers say? Fosters are more likely to experience homelessness no maer how they exit care. At least 40 percent of Fosters in the Midwest experience homelessness within two years of exing the foster care system. Naonally, half of homeless young adults who spent me in foster care exited care through reunicaon or adopon. Fosters describe the emoonal toll of housing instability, with stress and anxiety increasing as they try to balance nding safe and stable housing with managing other aspects of life, such as work, interpersonal relaonships, educaon, and basic needs like food security. Mental health support is oen insucient in these transions. Fosters describe a need for more transional and emergency housing opons with no barriers to access, parcularly during mes of crisis or between placements.What Fosters DescribeA Foster who has not experienced homeless-ness is the exception. predictable is also incredibly preventable Fosters as a priority population.
MN PROMISE REPORT 55Half of Fosters experience more than one foster care experience three or more moves.In 2022, around 44 percent of Fosters entered into relave care (foster home or pre-kinshippre- adopve). One third were in a stranger foster care home, 15 percent in a group home or residenal treatment center, and 6 percent were in a juvenile correconal facility. The Family First and Prevenon Services Act of 2018 reduced the use of congregate (group/residenal) care.What do the numbers say? When Fosters in care reach the age of 17½, they must create a transion plan with their social worker. Many Fosters come to nd that these plans are not realisc, their social workers are not housing experts and are not able to support them on this part of their journey, or that Fosters are penalized for not being able to navigate the housing system. If a Foster chooses to enter Extended Foster Care (EFC), they receive a living spend — if they have safe housing and are either working part me or in school — or their group home or foster parent receives the spend on their behalf. EFC delays homelessness, but it does not prevent it.Did you know?MN PROMISE REPORT 55Accessible Create an emergency housing network for Fosters, providing informaon and support, ensuring that no one faces homelessness during transions or crises. Ensure that all Fosters transioning out of care are automacally eligible for housing support without having to apply or qualify separately. Provide mental health therapy alongside housing services to help Fosters cope with the emoonal stress of transioning out of care. Develop housing programs that speci-cally cater to Fosters exing treatment programs to prevent homelessness and support connuity of care.Create a Dedicated Create an online hub to serve as a central locaon where Fosters can access resources and support, including lisngs, nancial support, relevant organizaons, and emergency housing opons. Fund and promote emergency temporary housing opons for at least one month while Fosters work to secure safe and stable housing. for All Fosters Develop a state-wide rental assistance program specically for former Fosters, guaranteeing rental subsidies for a set number of years. Introduce a lifelong housing voucher system for Fosters, ensuring they always have the support they need to nd a secure place to live.
MN PROMISE REPORT 57All Minnesotans Think about Do you know which local organizaons provide Foster-informed housing services? As you engage with local aordable housing discussions or look at housing data, are you integrang a person’s foster care history or the overlap between the child welfare system and homelessness? Support legislators who believe that Fosters should be a priority populaon for vouchers and other housing services.Stakeholders Foster Parents, Caseworkers, and STAY Workers Fosters understand the limits of placements while in care, as well as the limited resources aer age 18. And there are sll many ways Fosters’ agency can be supported. How can you oer transparency around those limits and support Fosters however possible in decision-making for their placements? Fosters oen need someone in their corner as they step into housing navigaon — someone to come with them to meet a landlord so they are not taken advantage of, or something as simple as an address to list on applicaons. Judges You have the power to ensure Fosters have reasonable and realisc transion and backup plans to support their housing stability as they exit care. What training and resources do you need to understand how to assess that?Community Partners In what ways are your housing services Foster-informed, or supporng Fosters as a priority populaon? How are you assessing foster care history in housing programs and shelters? Do all sta know about Foster-specic challenges and resources within the housing systems?Counes and DCYF How can you partner with housing authories to ensure Fosters are a priority populaon for homelessness prevenon and intervenon services? What is needed to make Foster-specic vouchers like Foster Youth to Indepen-dence (FYI) easier to obtain, or to oer cercates like Rentwise to all transion- age Fosters? Can you collect and advocate for more cross-data on this topic (housing data collecng foster care history, and child welfare systems tracking housing status of current and former Fosters)? Legislators There are many ways to reduce barriers for Fosters by centering them as a priority populaon in state housing reform. Some of these include: changing rental history requirements to allow Fosters to list the county as their reference; creang state housing vouchers for Fosters in Extended Foster Care unl they can access FYI vouchers; mandang priority access to FYI or other housing vouchers for any Foster aging out of care; and pilong direct cash transfers to prevent homelessness for transion-age Fosters. Fosters in Hennepin 0% Creang a series of Foster-informed housing resources, including understanding tenant rights and vouchers. Advocang for Foster-specic direct cash transfer programs at the county and state level. Exploring a future directory of landlords commied and trained to provide “Foster- friendly housing” across the state.Fosters name signicant challenges with nancial planning, including budgeng for bills, managing daily and monthly expenses, and handling large sums of money from sources like nancial aid. Even when they have the funds to secure housing, many Fosters say they don’t know how to search for an apartment, determine what makes it aordable, or idenfy hidden costs. They oen don’t know what quesons to ask a landlord or how to secure a lease without a rental history or cosigner — all things they see their non- Foster peers navigang with support.How do Fosters react?
MN PROMISE REPORT 59Fosters with siblings, including half- and step-siblings, describe an unbreakable bond, even when that bond is complex and even painful.Siblings represent a real history of family when much of their story feels like a con constructed in real-me by a system incapable of truly seeing Fosters, their deepest individual needs, and their fears.When those siblings are also in the system but placed apart from a Foster, there can be anxiety, alienaon, and a deep longing for connecon — to know their siblings are okay, to visit them, to talk with them on the phone, or just to know where they are.When those needs are ignored or acvely denied, Fosters have explained, the system is not just failing an individual, it is failing a family.At their best, sibling relaonships can be a lifeline for Fosters, who describe those relaonships as an opportunity to nurture and be nurtured, to protect and to be protected. Family is an identy in a system that assigns and scrambles identy.I was depressed and [acting out] and they’re like, ‘You don’t get to see your brothers.’ It was constantly being used as a punishment.MN PROMISE REPORT 59
MN PROMISE REPORT 61 Fosters describe a lack of awareness about sibling rights inside the system and advocate for robust implementaon and enforcement of the “Sibling Bill of Rights” and similar policies, including clear communicaon about these rights and accountability when they are violated. and StrainFosters describe the challenges in sibling relaonships, too. These include misun-derstandings, jealousy, or compeon for resources and aenon in care. These issues can be magnied by the system, which may place siblings in unequal or inequitable circumstances, deepening relaonal tensions. Fosters describe the pain of being separated from their siblings during placements, oen without consultaon or even communicaon of basic informaon about their siblings. Many describe this loss of family connecons as one of the most traumac aspects of entering care. Fosters describe a system that does not priorize keeping siblings together, instead favoring convenience or other factors. They want the system to recognize and act from the understanding that sibling relaonships can be integral to their well-being. Fosters describe challenges with staying in touch with their siblings, and a lack of opportunies to connect through calls, visits, or virtual plaorms. They also describe a lack of infor-maon about their siblings, beyond what can be learned through visits and other forms of direct communicaon.What Fosters Describe Fosters describe how sibling relaonships evolve as they age out of care. Those aging out can face barriers to staying connected with younger siblings sll in the system, such as restricted access or logiscal challenges. and SupportFosters describe the value of sibling visits but say they are infrequent and poorly supported. Many advocate for structured sibling visitaon plans, similar to parent visitaon schedules, and funding for transportaon and facilitaon to ensure visits happen reliably and meaningfully.The Minnesota was passed in 2018.”would be around the corner. No one had told me out from my brothers who were confused why I wasn’t at the funeral.
MN PROMISE REPORT 63 while in care, and 85% 0%It would be easier to communicate to a been with my sister wouldn’t have this loss and trauma connected to them.”Did you know? What works in other states?In 2008, the Fostering Connecons to Success and Increasing Adopons Act was the rst federal law to recognize the importance of keeping siblings together. It required states to make reasonable eorts to maintain sibling connecons unless there is documentaon stang why that connecon is not in the best interest of the children.Several states have models drawing on highly trained, professional caregivers to expand placement opons and supports for large sibling groups.MN PROMISE REPORT 63 Create mandatory visitaon schedules backed by funding for transportaon and other logiscal support. Visits should not depend on the foster parents’ willing-ness but should be a guaranteed right.. Create opportunies to support sibling bonds through reunicaon programs. These could include sibling-focused events or camps where separated siblings can reconnect in a safe, supporve seng. Fosters emphasize the need for clear communicaon about their sibling rights. They advocate for youth-friendly educaonal materials that explain sibling placement policies and how to challenge decisions that separate siblings unnecessarily.
MN PROMISE REPORT 65All Minnesotans Think about Do you know Fosters’ rights for connecon to their siblings while in and out of care? How would you support a Foster in your life to maintain sibling relaonships? What would you do if you heard a young person in your life was denied a sibling visit (hint: direct them to the Ombuds Oce for Foster Youth).Encourage your network to provide emergency or long-term foster care placements. The more foster homes there are, the more likely counes will be able to nd placements for siblings to stay together.Stakeholders Foster Parents and Caseworkers How are you educang Fosters about their rights related to sibling visitaon beyond when they rst enter care? How are you ensuring that sibling visitaons are not used as an incenve nor being taken away as a behavior-related punishment? Older siblings oen take on parental roles leading up to or while in foster care to protect their younger siblings. How are you reseng these roles and allowing that child to sll be a child?Lawyers and Judges Counes, foster parents, and kinship families need support to facilitate transportaon, logiscs, and opons for regular sibling connecon. What programs, acvies, resources, or events can facilitate this across a range of ages? What would it look like if sibling connecons were held in a supporve and posive community seng, instead of in child welfare oces? What restorave sibling reunicaon events and healing resources can you provide for those under 18 and for those who are older?DCYF What support can you provide counes to keep siblings together? Several states have created networks of homes that are open to large sibling groups who can be kept on “retainer” through addional funding alongside addional requirements and training.Legislators Fosters have agged experiences where the Sibling Bill of Rights was not followed. Use legislaon to address implementaon challenges, and require annual reporng on Sibling Bill of Rights nocaons, sibling placements and separaons, and sibling connecons.Per the Sibling Bill of Rights, Fosters should be acve in each other’s lives if they choose, including frequent and meaningful contact, sharing celebraons and other milestones, being informed about changes in each other’s placements, and being included in permanency planning decisions for their siblings. It is best pracce that Fosters of all ages are included acvely in decision-making about placements and connecons with their siblings.In feedback sessions, Fosters reected on several addional challenges: wanng to become a guardian for younger siblings and not being supported by the system for that; or turning 18 and then being prevented from seeing siblings who were sll in care. There is more to explore on system barriers — intenonal and unintenonal — that need to be addressed to support relaonships across Fosters’ journey through care.Fosters react Creang more Foster connecon and healing opportunies for siblings, especially aer age 18, to engage and reconnect. Exploring research partnerships to idenfy programs, resources, and best pracces to support reunicaon with siblings aer a long separaon, such as a Foster adopted as a toddler who reconnects with their siblings as a young adult; or a Foster separated from siblings in placements for mulple years.What would it look like if there was a community space for visitation with haven’t seen each other ”What should happen in Minnesota?
MN PROMISE REPORT 67This rigidity can somemes include a stubborn, years-long focus on adopon or despite observable and documented red ags or complicaons, pursuing versions of permanency without consulng or even informing the Foster, or otherwise informing them suddenly that they were up for adopon or facing some other imminent, seismic change. Others felt that the push for reunicaon lingered so long that it kept them from exploring real opportunies for stability. They told stories of reunicaon without mental health support and of being alone to navigate complicated feelings and trauma, and of reunicaon with families unable to support them physically or emoonally.Fosters themselves described permanency as not about paperwork or legal statuses but about genuine, lasng relaonships. It is about being surrounded by people you trust and who will not disappear with the next court order. It is about building a durable network that can support a Foster through all stages of care and into adulthood. MN PROMISE REPORT 67Permanency can be a confusing word, what it really means is helping people build lasting and permanent relationships as the end goal.
MN PROMISE REPORT 69 Fosters describe their relaonships within temporary placements as eeng and oen tenuous. They report an ongoing struggle to form genuine aachments, knowing that placements are likely to change. This cycle of aachment and loss could impact their capacity to trust and build relaonships later on. Fosters describe kin placements as comforng yet complex, with family es both providing familiarity and also surfacing past traumas or unresolved dynamics. Many Fosters express relief at remaining within their cultural or familial communies, even as they may be navigat-ing emoonally charged relaonships with kin caregivers. Fosters describe the state’s promises of quality of care as oen unfullled, with unmet expectaons around safety, stability, and support. This theme of broken promises, from inial placements through adopon failures and other stages, result in a sense of betrayal that shapes Fosters’ views of the system.Fosters describe a pervasive sense of disconnecon from both biological and foster families, oen intensied by frequent moves and placement changes. This lack of sustained relaonships creates feelings of isolaon and weakens connec-ons to cultural roots, contribung to a fragmented sense of self and belonging. Fosters describe limited control over decisions that aect their lives throughout their system experiences. From placement choices to medical intervenons, they oen feel their voices are overlooked, leading to feelings of disempowerment and exclusion in a system that should be supporng them. Fosters describe the inial transion into care as disorienng, marked by unfamiliar environments and rounes. The lack of clear orientaon or guidance on their new circumstances can leave Fosters feeling lost, struggling to adjust to the system’s demands while yearning for stability. What Fosters Describe Fosters describe hopes for permanency —through adopon or reunicaon — frequently met with disappointment when placements fail. Failed adopons and re-entries into care are experienced as deep emoonal setbacks, which can reinforce their sense of instability and uncertainty in nding a permanent home. and Self-WorthFosters describe an ongoing quest for self-identy and self-worth, complicated by limited control over their lives and disrupons in family connecons. Without consistent relaonships or cultural grounding, Fosters oen struggle to form a stable identy and sense of personal agency and value. Fosters describe aging out as one of the most challenging stages of foster care due to the somemes abrupt end of structured support and interpersonal relaonships, as well as limited guidance in building life skills. The lack of gradual transions leaves many Fosters feeling unprepared for the nancial and emoonal demands of independent living. In recent years, Minnesota has increased placement connecons with relaves and community, with 66 percent of total foster care days spent in kinship care. While 52 percent of placements end through reunicaon, there is a clear gap in post-reunicaon services, as 16 percent of Fosters re-enter foster care within a year of reunicaon. Post-reunicaon pracces from other states include permanent supporve housing and wraparound housing stabilizaon supports, as well as 12-month post-reunicaon plans that include child-parent therapies, in-home services, and parent mentors.What should happen in Minnesota?
MN PROMISE REPORT 71Create mandatory programs that educate Fosters on their rights and provide opportunies to pracce self-advocacy. This includes teaching young Fosters, in a developmentally appropriate manner, about legal rights and how to exercise agency within placements and case planning. Develop intake processes that allow Fosters to voice their placement preferences and arculate their needs to establish and model agency and reduce early trauma upon entering care.Guaranteed Mental Health Assign dedicated mental health professionals who specialize in trauma-informed care to provide immediate support to Fosters during the inial placement phase.Guaranteed Mental Health Include a series of mandatory therapy sessions as part of every placement move to address the emoonal impact, help the Foster process the transion, and migate the trauma of frequent disrupons.Allow Fosters to parcipate acvely in planning for goals and next steps, including adopon or reunicaon pathways, by including them in court hearings or family team meengs.Improve adopon tracking and transparency by giving Fosters the opon of regular updates on their status and the adopve family selecon process. This should include the opportunity for Fosters to provide documented and integrated input. Monitor disrupted and dissolved adopons to oer immediate support and potenally avoid re-entry into the system. Develop a program that focuses on stabilizing placements post-adopon.of Fosters in the state are %of Minnesota Fosters 18 were in foster care %What do the numbers say?There is no state or naonal tracking of adopon breakdowns, which happen via disrupon — ending before adopon is legalized — or dissoluon — which means ending aer legalizaon. The best esmates for Minnesota are that at least 20 percent of adopons experience breakdowns, with naonal research showing that the largest reason for breakdowns is unrealisc expectaons, lack of exibility from adopve parents, and lack of system support post-adopon.MN PROMISE REPORT 71
MN PROMISE REPORT 73Fosters who exit care without permanent legal relaonships face numerous barriers. Without those relaonships, Black, Hispanic, and mulracial youth are more likely to leave care. The SOUL Family program establishes a legal connecon between a young person (age 16 and older) and at least one caring adult, to ensure that Fosters aging out of care have a permanency support system as they transion to adulthood. Unlike adopon or guardianship, SOUL Family allows young people to make these new connecons without severing legal es with birth family and siblings. What works in other states?All Minnesotans Think about What are your preconcep-ons about reunicaon and adopon, and how will you educate yourself about the current realies in Minnesota beyond this report? Are you prepared to be a mentor for a Foster in your life? What would this look like for Fosters at dierent ages and stages, and what resources and support would you need to provide Foster-informed mentorship? Stakeholders Caseworkers and Supporve Adults How can you boost Fosters’ voices, involvement, and consent in the permanency decision process? A Foster can only legally consent at 14; for younger Fosters, how can they assent and have a voice in all parts of the process?Community Partners How can you partner with child welfare agencies to provide addional mental health support, placement changes, and upon reunicaon?Counes With federal legislaon leading to more kinship placements, how are child welfare agencies prepared to support healing and restorave pracces with immediate and extended kin? Are there local partnerships within county behavioral health units or with community partners to help ensure the success of reunicaon, guardianship, and adopon?DCYF Implement SOUL Family or another similar program to ensure Fosters have legal relaonships upon exing care. Support state and local contracts focused on mentorship relaonships for Fosters. Pilot expanded mental health services.Legislators There is a huge need for addional mental health and healing services across care, especially to support reunicaon. With legislave direcon and support, Minnesota could pilot programs that test “restorave circles” or other healing modalies that address factors leading to foster care reentry. Use legislaon to improve data collecon around reentry and adopon disrupon, and require that data be included in SSIS and annual reports. Ensure adopon subsidies follow the Foster if adopon dissoluon occurs. Expanding services within our own support and leadership programs to support Fosters in healing from their foster care journey, no maer how they choose to involve themselves with our systems change work. Expanding intenonal in-person and virtual community building opportunies for Fosters for the opportunity to build and maintain a larger “chosen family” network that includes identy peers. Advocang for the SOUL Family program to come to Minnesota.How can you partner with child welfare agencies to provide addional mental health support, in addion to therapy, for Fosters and families at the inial placement, during placement changes, and upon reunicaon?older in Minnesota to adoption.In feedback sessions, Fosters reected that there are not always mulple placement opons available and their caseworkers are faced with dicult decisions. They empha-sized the desire for caseworkers and other adults to be transparent about that diculty, and to give Fosters as much agency or choice as can be provided related to placements and placement moves.
MN PROMISE REPORT 75It is about wishing for and wondering about what you perceive as normal based on what you see in the lives of your peers. It is what you see all around you and do not have access to: aer school acvies, money for prom or sports equipment, a phone, a driver’s license, a car. The idea of normalcy is about more than just fairness; it is about belonging, stability, and having access to everyday experiences that shape identy and independence. Many Fosters report feeling excluded from aer-school acvies and unable to maintain friendships. And the struggle for normalcy connues into adulthood, where they must navigate the world without safety nets, mentors, or basic knowledge.What do my peers get to learn from their parents? Our parent is the state, and the state is teaching us. I wonder what other kids get to know.
MN PROMISE REPORT 77What Fosters Describe Fosters describe being treated dierently than their foster parents’ biological children, leaving many feeling like outsiders in their own homes. Fosters describe concerns about how some placements or caseworkers used funds intended for the Foster’s care, with common experiences noted of not having enough clothes or being required to pay for their own hygiene products or cell phone (even when they were not allowed or able to have a job). SupportsFosters describe a world of supports dropping o aer exing care, or if they are unable to (or decide not to) pursue college or vocaonal school.Access to Fosters describe experiencing barriers to parcipang in school events, extracurriculars, and social oungs.Fosters describe being denied opportunies to develop and maintain friendships and personal interests, making them feel even more isolated and dierent from their peers.Trusted Adults and MentorsFosters describe a desire to connect with an adult they can ask for advice, especially in young adulthood. Fosters describe feeling controlled rather than cared for when they are punished for normal teenage behaviors or denied access to normal teenage things, like phones, social media, and drivers educaon classes.in Hennepin reported <3%in Hennepin wanted to %Nine states have examples of “health care passports” for Fosters, to ensure connuity of their medical care between placements, easy access to medical records, and in-creased Foster agency. Some of these examples are paper passports, packets that “travel” with a Foster, and some of these examples are electronic and ed in with state healthcare system. New Jersey’s example is parcularly robust, looping in embedded nursing sta with child welfare oces to coordinate passport, navigate medical access, and review and monitor medical records and treatment.What do the numbers say?
MN PROMISE REPORT 79Fosters have to worry You have to be aware of all the problems down or remember to talk about them.” Ensure high school students have mely informaon around extracurriculars and related expenses, selecng classes, and college prep.Financial Support Create a fund for school sports equipment and expenses around special events like eld trips or prom.Guaranteed Provide guaranteed rides to jobs, events, friends’ homes, and family visits, including funding for rideshare services. Ensure all Fosters have access not only to drivers educaon but behind the wheel training and support geng their permit and insurance coverage.Guaranteed Provide a phone to every Foster above a certain age (if there are no technology safety concerns), to ensure connecon to friends, family, and resources. Oer classes for Fosters of all ages covering fundamentals like home and vehicle maintenance, nancial management, and personal well-being. SupportsOer special support for seng up and maintaining checking and savings accounts.of Midwest Fosters had 52%Washington DC provides a monthly personal allowance of $100 to youth between the ages of 15 and 21 to support their discreonary spending and ensure that monthly payments to placements cover basic necessies. In order to receive the allowance, Fosters are required to meet case planning, behavioral, and household engagement criteria.The Florida Keys to Independence Program supports the permit, training, license, and insurance requirements for Fosters to get a driver’s license, including covering costs for insurance. Results of the program have found Fosters with the license or permit are more likely to complete their GED, high school diploma, and enter college, and more likely to be employed than Fosters without a permit or license.What works in other states?MN PROMISE REPORT 79
MN PROMISE REPORT 81All Minnesotans Think about What conversaons can you have with coworkers, neighbors, and friends about foster care to normalize Fosters as members of our community and a priority populaon for services? For any service provided to a child in your life, how are you advocang for the state to ensure that same service is provided to a Foster? Are your local and state elected ocials Foster-informed and advocang for this equity in your community as well?Stakeholders Foster Parents and Supporve Adults Reasonable and prudent parenng laws support Fosters experiencing childhood in ways similar to their peers. Fosters should have the same opportunies as their non-Foster peers. How are you advocang for Fosters in your life around this expectaon? What support do you need to ensure Fosters have access to cultural acvies, food, and haircare products, extracurricular acvies, drivers licenses, and more?Caseworkers Are you familiar with Maya’s Law and the requirement to ensure Fosters are able to talk with you privately? Are you checking with Fosters directly on acvies they may want to do but are not being oered or allowed to do, especially for cultural connecons? Do you know Fosters’ rights around normalcy and how to support Foster parents in those decisions? Community Partners Are you familiar with your local STAY provider for referrals? How can you make services related to normalcy Foster-informed? How can you partner with counes to upli Fosters as a priority populaon for access to services? If you oer culturally-specic services or acvies, how can you support Fosters as a target populaon?Counes Fosters are extremely vulnerable to identy the during and aer care. Although Fosters over the age of 14 receive annual credit checks through DCYF, there is no system in place to protect them throughout the rest of the year. How are you supporng Fosters or foster parents with credit freezes or inial fraud alerts? Do you have partnerships with local banks or credit unions to support Fosters seng up checking and savings accounts?Judges and Lawyers How are you ensuring adherence to Minnesota’s Reasonable Prudent Parent Standard Guidance? What would it look like to create a “normalcy contract” as part of court hearings to document requirements for things like phone or bank account access?DCYF Pilot a program to ensure Fosters do not face barriers obtaining their drivers license and insurance. Research how many Fosters experience identy the while in or transioning out of care. Implement a monthly allowance program for Fosters to ensure equity across the state for Fosters’ discreonary spending and supporng nancial literacy. Legislators Sponsor a comprehensive normalcy bill for Fosters, that includes requirements for driver’s license and insurance support, nancial literacy training, extracurricular funding, phone access, and more.The California Lifeline Program ensures eligible Fosters ages 12 to 21 get a free phone and monthly service plan, ensuring access to texng, calls, and internet. Texas is pilong a program to provide bank accounts and nancial literacy mentorship to teenage Fosters across the state. States, counes, and cies across the country are partnering with local banks or credit unions to support Foster bank accounts, and 16 partner sites across the country implement Opportunity Passport, which includes a matched savings investment for Fosters who have moved through nancial literacy training and goal seng.What works in other states? <5% Working with nancial partners to create a network of Foster-informed nancial instuons across the state, as well as resources to support Fosters who are unbanked or underbanked.Advocang for increased funding for STAY and for future normalcy legislaon around supporng Fosters with driver’s license, bank accounts, and phone access.
MN PROMISE REPORT 83MN Promise Report 3But many feel like they are at a cli’s edge or staring into a thick fog. If services and other support exists, they do not know how or where to nd them. The list of things they wish somebody had prepared them for grows fast: How do I create a budget? How do I nd housing? What documentaon am I missing? If I’m in crisis, who do I call and what are the limits of what I can ask of them? I have heard there are organizaons and programs to help me, how do I nd them? How can they nd me?MN PROMISE REPORT 83for ongoing assistance. Many isolated and struggling into our 30s and beyond.
MN PROMISE REPORT 85 Financial Support Fosters describe the diculty of covering urgent nancial needs during their transion to independence, suggesng emergency spends or grants to help meet immediate expenses, especially during mes of crisis. Fosters describe inconsistent access to educaonal resources, parcularly for those who are not pursuing tradional college pathways. They report a lack of vocaonal training, job readiness programs, and educaonal support for those who are aging out or choosing alternave careers. Fosters describe transion programs that vary widely by county, leading to inconsistency in life skills educaon, making it dicult for Fosters to receive the training and resources they need to navigate adulthood, such as nancial literacy and independent living skills. Extended Foster Care (EFC) Fosters describe a lack of clear communicaon and consistency around Extended Foster Care opons and the support available beyond 18. Fosters in Extended Foster Care report limitaons in funding, support in nding indepen-dent living situaons, and confusion around eligibility criteria.Fosters describe signicant barriers in accessing housing support, parcularly during and aer the transion to adulthood, no maer how they exit care. Many have struggled with homelessness or unstable housing, cing a lack of informaon about transional housing programs or rental assistance.Healthcare and Fosters describe challenges in accessing healthcare as adults, somemes unaware of eligibility, unsure how to nd and connect with healthcare providers, and lacking experience managing their health records.Fosters describe feeling unprepared for adulthood, lacking training in essenal life skills such as budgeng, nding and securing housing, and managing nances. They emphasized the need for structured programs to help build these skills before aging out. SupportFosters describe the need for extended access to support, poinng to services such as housing, educaon, and mental health care. Ongoing mentorship and emoonal support were idened as crical to their success in transioning to independence.What Fosters DescribeThink aboutWhen should the state stop parenng? One in three non-Foster adults aged 18 to 34 live in their parents’ house, and 50 percent of parents provide regular nancial assistance, supporng adult kids’ monthly groceries, cell phones, and discreonary spending and vacaons.of Midwest Fosters experience 40%
MN PROMISE REPORT 87The Minnesota child welfare data system does not track how many Fosters in care at 18 are eligible for and ulize Extended Foster Care benets. Limited data does show that only one in four Fosters who parcipated in EFC remained in the program unl the maximum age of 21. Minnesota is also not tracking how many Fosters are reunied or adopted — achieving “permanency” in the eyes of the system — but then kicked out of their home as teenagers or young adults.What do the numbers say?MN PROMISE REPORT 87Financial Support Instead of a benets cli as a 21st birthday present, connue Extended Foster Care services and provide a ramp down of nancial assistance between age 21 and 26. Create direct cash transfer programs available for Fosters that are not eligible for EFC up to age 26 to support their transion to adulthood. ResourcesProvide trauma-informed healing circles and other restorave supports for Fosters, reconnecng with bio parents, siblings, and other extended family both while in care and aer they turn 18. Tailored Resource Collaborate with experts, advocates, and Fosters to create Foster-specic resource packages customized for individualized needs, including mental health services, housing assistance, educaonal support, and transion planning for adulthood.Extend Medicaid or equivalent health coverage unl age 26 (or beyond) for Fosters, similar to coverage under a family’s insurance, ensuring mental and physical health connuity during the transion to independent living. Provide mental health therapy alongside housing services, to help Fosters cope with the emoonal stress of transioning out of care. Introduce adult Fosters to legal support systems, including opportunies for free services and how to access them. Provide all aging-out Fosters with a life coach or mentor starng two years before they leave care, supporng them in building life and professional skills, connecng with resources, and navigang the transion to adulthood.Support Nave Fosters through ‘cultural connecon mentors’ as an idened person or agency they can go to for quesons, to facilitate connecons to tribal and cultural resources especially over the age of 18, and support them nding and going to dierent cultural events. 0%
MN PROMISE REPORT 89 All Minnesotans Think about What would you want and expect for your child, relave, or neighbor aer they turn 18? Which supports would you want to taper o and which would you want to end? How can you advocate for Fosters to be a priority populaon for prevenon and stabiliza-on services, so we invest in their transi-on to adulthood instead of opening the pathway to prison or homelessness?What skills or community resources do you need to learn about to support Fosters in their transion to adulthood, regardless of how they exit care?Stakeholders Caseworkers For teenage Fosters, are you starng transion conversaons before age 17 ½? If a Foster lives at a placement past 18, how can that placement set them up for success by providing “rental history” and teaching them how to budget their EFC spend between living expenses and other costs?Community Partners Fosters have broken support networks because of the system, and should be a priority populaon to support with networking for career planning, nancial stability, navigang resources, and connecon to cultural events and acvies like Juneteenth or the Annual Gathering for Our Children & Returning Adoptees Powwow. Counes What training, pracces, and policies support caseworkers and foster families to beer understand independent living planning and housing navigaon, so there are no gaps in EFC access or in housing stability? Judges What does a realisc transion plan look like, for those reunifying, being adopted, or aging out?DCYF What is the system’s responsibility to ensure post-permanency stability? Right now, Minnesota pays for the cost of supporng transion-age Fosters in shelters, emergency rooms, and jail. What would it look like to invest instead in extended life skills and transion support, regardless of how a Foster exited care?Legislators Pass a Minnesota “Beyond EFC” law to provide ramp-down support for Fosters exing EFC through age 26, implement a implement a state Foster tax credit, and create housing subsidies and direct cash transfers for transion-age Fosters.In feedback sessions, Fosters noted that even in cases where their parental rights were terminated, they were told by caseworkers that they expected the Foster to go back to their biological family at 18 as part of their transion. And for those reunied or adopted, many wished they had check-ins aer-wards, or knew who to reach out to for support if there were challenges with that permanency resoluon.Counes in California have started providing Fosters with direct cash as step-down support when they exit Extended Foster Care. Naonally, groups like Pointsource Youth and Chapin Hall have shown the impact of direct cash transfers as prevenon for homelessness for transion-age youth. History with foster care, no maer how someone exited care, should be a priority eligibility consid- eraon for direct cash programs. Fosters What works in other states? Advocang for Extended Foster Care to be opt-out versus opt-in to more eligible Fosters know about and access this service, and for eventual extension beyond age 21.Working with partners to increase inclusion of foster care history in data collecon, to beer understand the outcomes of transion-age Fosters based on the dierent ways they exited care. Connuing to expand our leadership programs, available to any transion-age Foster across the state, to help them build their individual and system advocacy skills.all on my own; ”
MN PROMISE REPORT 91 Fosters in Minnesota are as diverse as the state itself. In the MN Promise sessions, there were specic areas of identy that came up in powerful ways from individual experiences and need addional aenon and focus. In this rst stage of MN Promise, Foster Advocates was able to convene sessions specically for Nave Fosters — with or without Indian Child Welfare Act eligibility — as well as for Fosters ages 28 and up. In the work ahead, Foster Advocates plans to host sessions and leadership design programs for Fosters with the other specic idenes in this secon, and upli local organizaons focused on these intersecons. When I went into foster care, no one asked me what my identity is or what was important to me for a cultural connection and identity.MN PROMISE REPORT 91
MN PROMISE REPORT 93 A system that supports them to build stable lives for their children through parent educaon, community building, childcare, housing supports, nancial support, and legal protecons.Fosters DescribeYoung mothers being pushed out of placements and denied parenng resources, while young fathers are ignored enrely. Fosters who are also parents describe having invesgaons started just because they are Fosters, as well as being coerced into voluntary terminaon of parental rights or facing child removal without representaon or resources. Alongside all of this, they are sll experiencing the systemic harms common to all Fosters, and anxiety over the potenal short and long-term impacts on their lives.What do the numbers say? Minnesota does not track or report on the number of Fosters who become pregnant while sll in foster care or in Extended Foster Care, or how many parents involved with child welfare invesgaons are themselves Fosters. Without this data and a targeted look at prevenon and support for Fosters who become parents, we are reinforcing a cycle of family separaon. When you’re a teenager in foster care and then pregnant too, that’s a lot of stress. A lot. foster care in California are xMN PROMISE REPORT 93
MN PROMISE REPORT 95Fosters DescribeThe permanent consequences of going through the juvenile jusce system, including criminal records that can block future access to housing, jobs, and educaon. And they experience the punive nature of juvenile jusce in the context of a child welfare system that itself can feel like punishment.A system that defaults to expanded care rather than punishment and is constantly re-centering itself around stability, mental health support, alterna-ves to incarceraon, and addressing root causes of behaviors and acons.What should happen in Minnesota?A disturbing number of MN Promise parcipants revealed they had ended up in detenon facilies not because of something they did, but because there was no suitable foster care placement available. Some then caught a charge while in that detenon facility because of behaviors driven by self-defense. There is currently no Minnesota data on how many Fosters in locked facilies have a corresponding juvenile jusce record, but it is esmated naonally that 90 percent of crossover youth (those involved in juvenile jusce and foster care) originated from the child welfare system.MN PROMISE REPORT 95People just expect you to exist and not make mistakes. Many foster parents aren’t willing to guide you. It’s easy to get lost in the chaos of the world.
MN PROMISE REPORT 97Fosters DescribeBeing denied access to tribal connecons, language, and ceremonies, leaving them feeling isolated and disconnected from their identy.A system that priorizes culturally competent placements, Nave-led foster care programs, and protecons that ensure Nave youth grow up with open access to their heritage and tradions. It’s like we have to assimilate into mainstream culture, which is the opposite Native children.MN PROMISE REPORT 97Did you know?Recently, child welfare services for children and families living on Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Red Lake Naon, and White Earth Naon reservaons was transformed to a tribal delivery system. with your tribe or where you’re from ”
MN PROMISE REPORT 99Fosters DescribeA life in care where their bodies, culture, and voices are misunderstood or dismissed, with white families who do not know how to care for Black hair or skin, and where therapists and other providers do not share or relate to the experiences of Black Americans.A life in care where their dierences are honored, not erased. They imagine foster parents who understand the weight of identy, therapists who do not need racism explained to them, and an educaon system where “Black talk” is accepted and respected, not corrected. They see spaces where learning how to care for Black hair and skin is a given, not a bale. They imagine being placed with intenon, not out of convenience. MN PROMISE REPORT 99I’m Black, but I learned absolutely nothing about how to take care of my skin, my hair, any of that Did you know?The Minnesota African American Family Preservaon and Child Welfare Disproporonality Act (2024) establishes addional standards to address overrepresentaon in child welfare based on race, culture, ethnicity, income and disability.
MN PROMISE REPORT 101Fosters DescribePlacements where they faced hoslity, shaming, and isolaon because of their idenes. They describe a lack of mentorship and support that respects and arms them.Being placed with foster parents who share or can otherwise relate to their idenes and experiences, resources and supports that are readily available and do not have to be discovered or sought out by Fosters, and mentors with shared idenes or experiences. MN PROMISE REPORT 101of Minnesota Fosters <30%Even though I grew up in the system, I never met anyone who was like me.Did you know?Our 2022 LGBTQ2S+ Leaders created the rst Know Your Rights guide for LGBTQ2S+ Fosters in Minnesota, and presented recommendaons to DCYF including updang data, training, and policy guidelines. One BOLD idea from those leaders was establishing “LGBTQ2S+ champions” at the county, regional, or state level, so that anyone (from Foster to caseworker to foster parents) could call to get support for providing arming care and community resources.
MN PROMISE REPORT 103Future Areas Missing VoicesThe state fails its duty to Fosters with such a large foster care to prison pipeline, and those lost in it are uncounted. Foster Advocates plans to host future sessions with Fosters currently incarcerated and urges the state to improve data collecon on dual-system involvement. If a Foster runs away from care, it is for a valid reason. They believe they will be safer on their own than under the care provided to them by the state. While it is dicult to reach Fosters currently on the run, Foster Advocates aims to host future sessions for older Fosters with this experience while in care to illuminate the unique challenges and needs of this populaon. FostersWhile several MN Promise parcipants agged the importance of the state ensur-ing permanent cizenship status for eligible Fosters before they turn 18, there is a need for more state data and Foster stories to understand the experience of Fosters who enter care under a range of immigraon statuses.Fosters With While many Fosters talked about the impact of mental health and trauma, given that 30 percent of Fosters have a diagnosed disability there is a need for more state data and Fosters stories to understand the impact and opportunies with disabilies services as part of their foster care experience.Fosters Exited to Adult Foster CareOf Fosters in care at 18, roughly 30 percent are not ‘emancipated’ out of the system to either independence or Extended Foster Care, but exit straight to adult foster care. More state data and Foster stories are needed to assess how these decisions are made, when Fosters have agency around that decision, and how these Fosters can engage with peer supports and connecons.Fosters in Hospitals While this was a common experience among MN Promise parcipants, they named the importance of understanding current experi-ences of Fosters under this restricve care.Fosters Age is not a parameter for experse: Young people are experts now and deserve to be heard. There is much to learn from younger children if done in an age-appropriate way, and younger Fosters deserve to have Foster community and connecon opportunies.Fosters While our 28+ session included Fosters ages 30 to 55, we know there is sll much to learn about the ongoing impact of the child welfare system on previous generaons of Fosters.We measure what maers, and it is crical to keep pushing the child welfare system for publicly-available outcome data on all of these inter-secng populaons. And, there are many places where community groups or systems focused on these other populaons can collect cross-data on Fosters. What would it look like for juvenile jusce, or immigraon services, or disability programs to collect data on foster care history? How could that shine a light on areas where the state needs to fulll its promise to Fosters?What should happen in Minnesota?
MN PROMISE REPORT 105 Therapists and Build a network of Foster-informed therapists with cultural backgrounds that allow them to beer understand and support the Fosters' unique needs. Develop family-centered healing pro-grams that address trauma, with rituals that cater to the diverse cultural needs of Fosters. for All Fosters Provide access and counseling around genec tesng if Fosters choose to learn about their family tree, identy, and family medical history. Develop mentorship programs that connect Fosters with mentors who share their cultural or identy background to provide guidance and support.Cultural Support Create resources like virtual plaorms or local gatherings for Nave youth to connect with their tribe and stay involved in their culture even while in foster care, especially if they are in placements far away from their tribal community. Create an Early Childhood and Family Educaon curriculum and support networks informed by and tailored to Fosters who become parents while in care or aer. Enact automac sealing or expunge-ment of juvenile records for Fosters turning 18, or instute mandatory legal support to Fosters who enter adulthood with juvenile records.an encounter with the %MN PROMISE REPORT 105Did you know?Minnesota does not track or report on intergeneraonal foster care, and how cycles of invesgaon and removal follow families. This informaon would be crical to highlight beer intervenon points to provide families with basic resources to break this cycle, or test how providing supports like culturally-informed healing and mentorships can prevent future child welfare involvement. Racial disparities do not just are over represented in every
MN PROMISE REPORT 107All Minnesotans Do You Know the history of the Nave boarding schools and the Indian Adopon Project in Minnesota? Orphan trains? What about how the child welfare system has impacted people who share some of your idenes?Normalize talking about Fosters and foster care in various spaces, which can make it easier for Fosters to share that part of themselves in those spaces.Think About What can you do to support Fosters connecng with resources or community mentors related to all aspects of their identy? Stakeholders Research Partners There is a strong need for cross-data on Fosters. If you are researching cultural communies or experience areas, are you collecng foster care history? Doing so supports the work of arming Foster experiences and idenfying needs across and within communies and identy groups.Community Partners If your services focus on these populaons, how are you assessing and supporng Foster identy? Are you asking about foster care history as part of trauma-informed services, and to idenfy Foster-specic resources? How are you outreaching specically to Fosters for culturally-specic services?Counes and DCYF What resources are you direcng to cultural resources and services for Fosters, and how are you collecng data on these idenes and experiences within care? There are key opportunies for prevenon in intergen-eraonal cycles of child welfare and in the pipeline from foster care to incarceraon. How are you partnering with Fosters and communies to take advantage of those prevenon and intervenon opportunies?In both MN Promise sessions and feedback on the report, Fosters emphasized the deep impact of trauma — from family separaon, disconnecon from culture and identy, and abuse within the system. They described how common it is for Fosters to turn to alcohol and drugs as a way to cope. A third of 17-year-old Fosters are referred for substance abuse treatment while in care. The state does not track how many Minnesotans struggling with addicon have a history in foster care. Fosters also highlighted how addicon aects not only them as individuals, but also contributes to cycles of family separaon and intergeneraonal involvement in the child welfare system.How Do Fosters React? Foster Advocate’s next leadership design program will focus on pregnant and parenng Fosters, to further understand the challenges these Fosters face, gather more data, and reveal more bold ideas for this populaon.Seeking funding to pilot a statewide LGBTQ2S+ Resource Liaison for Fosters and their supporve.Building research partnerships to gather state data on the overlap between foster care and juvenile jusce and reveal places for prevenon and intervenon in that pipeline.Future MN Promise sessions focused on these identy populaons and each of the missing voices groups of Fosters, to elevate their experse and ideas for support and change!”You can take me away from my it to me.
MN PROMISE REPORT 109 and TherapistsCan Choose to educate themselves on the unique needs of Fosters, advocate for non-medicaon-based intervenons when appropriate, and ask Fosters about how treatments are feeling and to share their quesons and concerns.Healthcare Can Choose to implement communicaon protocols that ensure Fosters understand their medical rights and histories, and train sta on the unique challenges Fosters face in understanding and retrieving their medical history.Caseworkers and Social WorkersCan Choose to advocate for manageable workloads, be honest with themselves and their supervisors about their limitaons, and priorize trust-based relaonships with Fosters by ensuring consistent, individualized support. Can Choose to priorize Fosters' inuence and agency in placement decisions and, when safe, advocate for family preservaon.Guardians Can Choose to engage Fosters in decision- making processes and advocate in court based on their needs and expressed wishes.Can Choose to provide Fosters regular, developmentally appropriate check-ins with clear legal guidance.Can Choose to acvely seek Foster input and consider the long-term impact of legal decisions on their present and future.Foster Can Choose to create environments that priorize emoonal safety, consistency, and agency for Fosters.School Counselors Can Choose to educate themselves and each other on ways to ensure Fosters have access to tutoring, extracurricular pursuits, and accommodaons.Front Desk Workers Can Choose o facilitate clear and direct communicaon between Fosters and decision-makers.Mentors and CoachesCan Choose to provide stable, Foster-in-formed, and arming guidance.Work Can Choose to create inclusive, supporve workplaces that accommodate the unique needs of Fosters. Can Choose to be a safe, culturally-arming support system. Can Choose to create safe, arming, Foster-informed environments with a sensivity to individual and context-specic needs.CaseworkersCan Choose to seek resources to help maintain cultural and familial es, and oer care that honors their own needs alongside those of the Fosters in their care.Can Choose to advocate for connued contact, recognizing the fact that sibling relaonships can be a source of stability, connecon, and emoonal support.Roles and
MN PROMISE REPORT 111 “ere's really no such thing as 'the voiceless.’ ere are only the deliberately silenced or the preferably unheard.” A Researcher’s In a three-decade career of story gathering and telling, I’ve never encountered a project like this one. My role in this report was to absorb and analyze the transcripts and notes from the MN Promise listening sessions and then to write what I’d learned. At certain points in that process, I would share what I was seeing in the data with the people closest to the work, to discuss what I found and to help me calibrate my understanding. Then I would write the parts of the report I had been assigned.This project involved a level of collaboraon I could have never imagined. At every step, I received feedback on my wring not only from Foster Advocates sta, but from a commiee of Fosters whose experse and leadership carried me in my eorts to be as true as possible to their stories, needs, and bold ideas.Throughout the process, my curiosity and assumpons as a non-Foster with limited knowledge of this aspect of the child welfare system were welcomed. In a way, I served as a stand-in for many of the audiences I was helping to write for. It is a responsibility well beyond any I have experienced in a career of seeking collaborave meaning-making in my work.I hope my role in this collaboraon has contributed to an illuminaon of calcied or poorly-informed assumpons, and has uplied the power and lived experse of Fosters in the State of Minnesota.The MN Promise Report is more than what I could have ever imagined, and it is hard to capture that in words. Nearly every conceivable thing we collecvely know about the foster care system that needs to be changed is here. When I founded Foster Advocates in 2018 and as I le in 2023, people would say, “I wish I knew what the answer was,” or that “the soluon must be out there somewhere.” The soluons are not being kept secret. We just have not been asking the experts — Fosters. The people who know the systems best. This report asks the right queson: “What will it take to DO RIGHT by our young people?” Je Severns Guntzel TerraLuna CollaboraveHoang MurphyFounding Execuve Director of Foster AdvocatesMN PROMISE REPORT 111
MN PROMISE REPORT 113 Thank YousBy listening to Fosters and taking their lead, we can build that future together. It is going to take all of us, and this report helps us nd our place in the growing Foster movement. The report outlines strategic priories for Foster Advocates’ in the coming years and we will be building community power and progress together. Whether it is showing up at a day of acon, wring to your legislators, organizing your people, volunteering at an event, moving money, or oering other talents and capacies, we can each nd our unique role in fullling the MN Promise. How will you join us?When we rst envisioned the MN Promise campaign back in 2022, our sta were hoping to be able to move beyond individual issues to a more comprehensive policy agenda. What came out of these sessions was so much more — a true vision for comprehensive systems change, by Fosters and for Fosters, and a mandate to organize a larger Foster Movement in Minnesota to ensure this vision becomes reality. Our 2022-2023 Community Board approved our inial vision for this campaign, and gave key ideas for how to make our session road trip as accessible to as many Fosters as possible. Over 120 Fosters parcipated across the sessions, trusng Foster Advocates sta and their peers with their experiences, experse, and ideas. Since early 2023, our MN Promise Commiee, made up of Fosters who have parcipated in sessions, provided guidance to support our ongoing sessions, report feedback, and envision this report launch. We are deeply grateful to Terraluna Collaborave, parcularly Je Severns Guntzel, for their amazing values-aligned partnership with this report, and to Cathy Solarana of Wheelhouse Collecve for her amazing design! Since fall 2022, we were also supported by former sta members, report test readers, and a range of volunteers whose vision and contribuons live throughout this report. Thank you to Ziigwan, Iván, Hoang, Nicole, Sage, Izzy, Christy, and Tenelle.Thank you to the organizaons that supported our listening sessions. Without you, we would not have been able to host Fosters across the state for meengs, let alone dream about the future. You allowed our team to get this audacious idea o the ground and over the nish line. A big thanks to:• 2025 Launch and Movement Building Sponsors: Sauer Family Foundaon, McKnight Foundaon, Pohlad Foundaon, John and Denise Graves Foundaon, Sparkplug Foundaon• Listening Session Sponsors: American Indian Community Specic Board, Duluth-Superior Area Community Foundaon, Iniave Foundaon, Ordean Foundaon, Ramsey County Social Services, Sauer Family Foundaon, Women’s Foundaon of Minnesota• Listening Session Hosts: 180 Degrees, American Indian Community Housing Organizaon, Culvate Mankato, Headwaters Music and Arts, Indigenous Roots, Metro State University, Quarry Hill Nature Center, Minnesota State University Moorhead, St. Cloud State University, University YMCAMN PROMISE REPORT 113Ed MoralesChair of the Foster Advocates Board of Directors
MN PROMISE REPORT 115I feel emotional, this feels like a huge movement. I wonder what they will say about this group in the future when they talk about the rights movements that have taken place.These meaningful and hard-won policy changes are important, and we are proud of the roles Fosters and Foster Advocates have played. MN Promise represents a shi towards a more comprehensive vision for systems change. While this report is a stac capture of Fosters’ experience in this moment of me, the vision laid out here is dynamic, and the Movement is alive and ever growing.Our child welfare system is rooted in a history of policing families, where, too oen, the act of child removal has been carried out as a punishment for the child’s family or community of origin. Through MN Promise, Fosters have illuminated the ways the child welfare system connues to feel punive in their lives through its approaches Connued on Page 38MN PROMISE REPORT 115
MN PROMISE REPORT 117 To begin building that model, over the next ten years Foster Advocates will be strategically focused on:Ensuring Foster-informed priority access to community resources (housing, educaon, mental health, workforce development, and more).Connuing to develop the leadership and identy of the Foster community.Opening a pipeline of opportunies for Fosters as leaders in the child welfare space and beyond.Iniang and supporng easily accessible local, regional, and naonal research that values Fosters’ experience and intuion.Fosters are empowered and hold power in the halls of the Minnesota Capitol, and their experse is recognised naonally.A living, evolving Foster Movement that is connected to and supported by other community movements.An intergeneraonal Foster community is established, valuable, and thriving.Eventually, the state will no longer need to be a parent. Instead, we will have a model that supports community care for Fosters, as well as restorave and healing pracces and resources for chosen families. to placement, health care, informaon sharing, and other areas.They see and have shown an urgent need for a shi from a punive model of foster care to a model designed around restorave and healing principles.The truth is that the state is not meant to raise children. The child welfare system is designed to intervene when children are in danger, not to provide the healthy love, support, and stability Fosters need to stay safe and to thrive.How do we get to this restorave and healing model? We can begin by designing and implemenng policies and pracces rooted in loving care. This is our obligaon.for visibility and a more informed public.the change we envision for the Fosters who come aer us becomes reality.for noceable change for the next generaon of Fosters.we give Fosters sll in the system hope for their future.it helps Fosters and adopted Fosters who are not currently in the system to reect and heal from their past trauma, and that they understand their voices do maer.that in the future, Fosters are safe and given the same chances to succeed as everyone else. I hope that they aren’t forced to choose between terrible & worse.conversaons are sparked that move elected ocials and child welfare representaves towards idenfying iniaves and soluons that improve the lives of Fosters across Minnesota.Foster Voices
MN PROMISE REPORT 119 AdoponAdopon is a legal process that can be completed by a relave or foster parent to voluntarily accept a child as one’s own. It is the preferred permanency opon for children who cannot be safely reunied with their parents.Adopon BreakdownAdopon breakdown refers to an incomplete adopon, either because of disrupon — ending before adopon is legalized–or dissoluon — ending aer adopon is completed legally.Aging OutAging out refers to a young person who did not achieve an alternave permanen-cy pathway and exits foster care because of their age (at 18 or at 21).Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF)The Child Safety and Permanency Administraon is a division of DCYF, overseeing child welfare invesgaons, placements, and permanency processes across the state. For specic resources for Fosters age 14 to 25, email dcyf_csp_adolescents@state.mn.us or visit dcyf.mn.gov/foster-youth-transions.Child in Need of Protecon or Services (CHIPS)A court case and intervenon brought by the county when there is concern for the health, safety, or wellbeing of a child or children.Child Welfare SystemA connuum of state and county services designed to receive and invesgate reports of possible child abuse and neglect; provide services to families that need assistance related to child safety; manage foster care placements; and arrange for reunicaon, adopon, or other permanency pathways. Congregate CareAlso referred to as group homes or residenal facilies, these are placements that host mulple unrelated Fosters together in the same building.Connuer A Foster who entered out of home care in the year(s) before a report or referral for them, and have connued in care into the current year. fosterclub.com/glossary-terms fosteradvocates.org/mnpromiseEducaon and Training Vouchers (ETV)A federal funding source to support Fosters under 26 with aending higher educaon, providing up to $5,000 a year. In MN, ETV is run by Youthprise: hps://bit.ly/MN-ETVExtended Foster Care MN law allows Fosters in care prior to their 18th birthday to receive addional case management and funding support through age 21: bit.ly/MNDHSEFCFoster Care A tem po rary liv ing sit u a on for children whose par ents or guardians can not provide for their safety and care as determined by local child welfare agencies and court proceedings.Fostering Independence GrantsA grant that covers the full cost of aendance at eligible MN colleges for anyone who was in MN foster care aer the age of 13. See more details at: bit.ly/OHE-FIG and bit.ly/FIG-FAQGuardian ad litem (GAL)A person appointed by the court in a CHIPS case to advocate for the best interests of the child. Most Fosters will have an appointed GAL to their case, however this is dependent on the GAL program in their county. Guardianship TransferA permanency path for exing foster care; guardianship (the legal responsibility to care for a minor or someone unable to care for them-selves independently) is transferred by the court from a biological parent to a willing relave.Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA)The Indian Child Welfare Act, passed in 1978, provides guidance to states regarding the handling of child welfare cases involving tribal members or the children of tribal members. The Minnesota Indian Family Preservaon Act (MIFPA) arms and expands ICWA within state statute. Learn more at: icwlc.org/ or bit.ly/MNDHSICW.Iniave TribeA MN compact between tribal, county, and state governments allowing for transfer from county to tribal delivery system of child welfare services for children and families living on tribal reservaons. Currently, Leech Lake, White Earth, and Red Lake are iniave tribes.IntergeneraonalOccurring between mulple generaons. The impact of out-of-home care placement does not just impact a child, but has current and future intergeneraonal impacts.Kinship CareA foster care placement with an extended family member or someone who has a signicant prior relaon-ship with the Foster.Oce of the Foster Youth Ombudsperson (OOFY)OOFY addresses complaints and concerns from young people about their rights, care, safety, and placement in Minnesota foster care: mn.gov/oofyOut-of-home Care PlacementA placement (foster home or congregate care) outside of a child’s home of origin.ReunicaonThe process of a Foster returning from out-of-home care to their families of origin.PermanencyA permanent, stable living situaon, achieved through reunicaon or through another court mandated process such as guardianship transfer or adopon.Successful Transion to Adulthood for Youth (STAY)Independent living services for Fosters age 14 to 23 currently or formerly in foster care. Learn more: bit.ly/MNDCYFSTAYTerminaon of Parental RightsIf the court nds a child cannot be reunied safely, it may rule to sever the legal rights of the biological parents to the child, and transfer permanent custody to the state. Transion from Care A pathway referencing an exit from foster care, including: reunicaon, guardianship transfer, adopon, or aging out.Two-spiritA term used by in Nave communi-es to broadly refer to a person who embodies both male and female spirits, which can refer to gender identy or sexual orientaon.Ward of the State When the county deems a child is in need of protecon or services (CHIPS), they will le a peon with the court. If the court agrees, they can grant temporary custody to the county or child welfare agency, and the Foster becomes a ward of the state. This is more commonly used aer there has been a formal terminaon of parental rights.MN PROMISE REPORT 119
MN Child Welfare Data DashboardReporng on state and federal measures for the child welfare system: bit.ly/MNCWDDMN Out-of-Home Care and Permanency Report Access annual state and county performance reports: bit.ly/MNCWreportsMN Department of EducaonFoster care point of contact list: bit.ly/MDEFPOCFoster Adopt MNfor informaon on licensure, support for foster, kinship, and adopon communies, and post-adopon resources: fosteradoptmn.orgFederal Children’s Bureauacf.gov/cbFederal Child Welfare Informaon Gatewaychildwelfare.gov/Naonal Youth in Transion Databasebit.ly/CB-NYTDAnnie E Casey Foundaon Child Welfare Resourcesaecf.org/work/child-welfareChapin Hall Child Welfare Researchchapinhall.org/impact_area/child-welfare/MN PROMISE REPORT 120Foster Advocates is not just our name; it’s our mission. We foster advocacy, policy change, and organizing with and for Minnesota Fosters. We envision a Minnesota where everyone involved in the state’s foster care system has the same access to opportunies and outcomes as their peers, and Foster voices are respected and community experse is sought in every aspect of the child welfare system. Founded in 2018, Foster Advocates is Minnesota’s only Foster-led and Foster-focused organizaon dedicated to transforming the child welfare system, led by and for those who have experienced out-of-home care. We serve the 10,000+ current, and uncounted former, Fosters across Minnesota, where low-income, Black and Indigenous, and LGBTQ2S+ communies are overrepresented, through stabilizaon services and leadership development, parcipatory research, and opportunies to step into individual and systems advocacy. In just seven years, Fosters Advocates has made tangible progress in shiing the Minnesota child welfare landscape. In addion to our MN Promise campaign, example wins include:• 2020 Keeping Fosters in School Act (reducing K-12 educaon disrupon and tracking school move data)• 2020 COVID-19 Impact Report (rst state-specic report on the impact of the pandemic on Fosters)• 2021 Fostering Higher Educaon Act (created the Fostering Independence Grants)• 2022 Oce of the Ombudsperson for Foster Youth (created Minnesota’s rst ombuds focus specically for those who have experienced foster care)• 2022 Maya’s Law (ensures children have a right to be interviewed separately from adults in the home during child welfare nocaons)• 2024 Survivor Benets Nocaon (requiring county agencies alert and keep a record of Fosters who are eligible for federal benets)• 2025 Fostering College Connecons Pilots (supporng four colleges pilong Foster-specic supports on their campuses)Learn more at
This report holds ideas gathered through MN Promise sessions held between 2022-2024. Thank you to the following Fosters for their parcipaon and contribuons:Ada, Adonai, Ahlaysia, Alastor, Alayna, Aleesha, Alexandra, Alexis, Aliah, Allyson, Amber C., Amber S., Angel, Angelo, Anny, Antania, Armada, Armando, Ashley, Audriana, Ayan, Ayrreyannia, Beth, Brianna, Cameron, Cassandra, Charie, Chaska, Cherokee, Chloe, Chrisan B., Chrisan K., Christy, Cynthia, Deddtrease, Deja M., Deja P., DeShawn, Desney, Desny, Devin, Dezarae, Diamond, Djuan, Dominyck, Donovan, Duvan, Edin, Edson, Erica, Erin, Fernando, Geno, Godwin, Icis, Isaac, Iyana, Izzy, Ja’Vay, JahAirius, Jaime, Jasmine C., Jayda, Jazmine, Jenni, Jennifer, Jenny, Jessica, Jusn, Kaija, Kaliyah, Karen, Katelyn, Keeasia, Keiko, Kerry, Kiana, Kylee, Kyli, Latashianna, Lauryn, Madalynn, Madelyne, Malia, Margarita, Maria, Mariah, Marqueishia, Monica, Mya, Naomi, Nashauna, Nia, Nick, Oakley, Queayla, Ryan, Ryn, Sabian, Sage, Samantha C., Samantha K., Selena, Sennai, Shalen, Shane, Tamarrah, Tamia, Tarji, Taana, Tayanna, Tay’Lahna, Tekia, Tenelle, Tiara, Tonya, Tramia, Vincent, Vivian, Vivianna, Winona, ZiigwanThose impacted by the systems must be given true power to direct systems change, while not being alone in change-making work.
fosteradvocates.org©2025, Foster Advocatese MN Promise report is a Foster-led vision to transform the child welfare system. Any and every Minnesotan has a role to play in the Minnesota Foster Movement. Dive into these pages for Fosters’ descriptions of challenges and opportunities across their foster care journey, bold ideas for systems change, and concrete action steps to fulll our collective promise to Fosters.