1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to child protection; requiring training for child welfare workers and state 
1.3 	agency staff to serve American Indian children and families; appropriating money 
1.4 	for a tribal child welfare partnership;amending Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 
1.5 	626.559, by adding a subdivision.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 626.559, is amended by adding a subdivision 
1.8 	to read:
1.9 		Subd. 3a.Indian child welfare worker training. (a) Within the first 12 months of 
1.10 	employment, and prior to serving as primary case manager or child welfare worker for a 
1.11 	case involving an American Indian child or family, county child welfare workers, supervisors, 
1.12 	and Department of Human Services child safety and permanency division staff must complete 
1.13 	a competency certificate to ensure standards of performance for serving American Indian 
1.14 	children, families, and tribes. Competency training domains must include but are not limited 
1.15 	to:
1.16 	(1) the Indian Child Welfare Act, United States Code, title 25, sections 1901 to 1963;
1.17 	(2) the Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act, sections 260.751 to 260.835;
1.18 	(3) tribal sovereignty and self-determination;
1.19 	(4) historical trauma;
1.20 	(5) improving cultural competency skills with American Indian families;
1.21 	(6) the importance of American Indian cultural ceremonies and traditional healing; and
1.22 	(7) the 11 federally recognized tribes of Minnesota.
2.1 	(b) The training curriculum must be developed and presented by American Indian experts 
2.2 	with knowledge in the competency domains in paragraph (a), using innovative evidence-based 
2.3 	teaching and learning methods incorporating the Minnesota Child Welfare Practice 
2.4 	Framework. Training must also include simulation-based practice opportunities to 
2.5 	demonstrate knowledge and skills in the required competency domains.
2.6 	(c) Training under this subdivision must foster cross-cultural engagement by introducing 
2.7 	interactive approaches to tribal worldview and tribal family dynamics to improve 
2.8 	understanding and collaboration between county and state child welfare staff, tribal 
2.9 	governments, and tribal agencies.
2.10 	(d) The commissioner, in collaboration with the American Indian Child Welfare Advisory 
2.11 	Council, shall develop ongoing training requirements, a method for recording and tracking 
2.12 	competency certifications, and a system for follow-up contact with child welfare workers 
2.13 	six months after competency certification.

2.14 	Sec. 2. APPROPRIATION; TRIBAL CHILD WELFARE PARTNERSHIP.
 2.15 	$1,030,000 in fiscal year 2021 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner 
2.16 	of human services for the development of the Tribal Child Welfare Partnership, in 
2.17 	collaboration with the University of Minnesota, Duluth Center for Regional and Tribal Child 
2.18 	Welfare Studies. The Tribal Child Welfare Partnership shall develop and deliver Indian 
2.19 	child welfare worker training required under Minnesota Statutes, section 626.559, subdivision 
2.20 	3a, and training for initiative tribes that are delivering child welfare services to American 
2.21 	Indian children and their parents and custodians living on the reservation under Minnesota 
2.22 	Statutes, section 256.01, subdivision 14b. The Tribal Child Welfare Partnership shall be 
2.23 	located at and administered by the University of Minnesota, Duluth. This appropriation is 
2.24 	added to the base.