Monthly news digest from the Department of Human Services



Minnesota Department of Human Services logo [ [link removed] ]



NEWS FROM DHS



*NOVEMBER 2022*




*News from DHS archive [ [link removed] ]*





In this issue:

* Minnesota celebrates adoption and kinship care [ #link_9 ]
* Grants support living at home for aging Minnesotans [ #link_3 ]
* In social media: DHS career fair [ #link_5 ]
* Grants available for direct support professional employee-owned cooperatives [ #link_2 ]
* In the news [ #link_6 ]
* DHS fact sheets updated [ #link_4 ]
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Minnesota celebrates adoption and kinship care

Minnesota is marking Adoption from Foster Care Awareness Month this November with a focus on keeping families together whenever possible and, when necessary, seeking adoptive families.

When children enter Minnesota?s child protection system, the goal is to reunify them safely with their birth families. When that?s not possible, the Minnesota Department of Human Services works with partners and communities to prioritize finding relatives to provide permanent homes. When relatives aren?t available, DHS seeks other families to permanently best meet the needs of children in foster care.

While Minnesota families adopted 991 children from foster care last year, 569 are still waiting for permanent families. Of those waiting children, 51% are between the ages of 12 and 18 years old, while 59% are siblings who need to be adopted together.

?To best thrive, children need safe, nurturing, permanent homes,? said Commissioner Jodi Harpstead. ?We celebrate families formed through adoption, while also recognizing the great need for more adoptive families who represent the cultural and ethnic backgrounds of children waiting for adoption, and for families to adopt older children and sibling groups.?

Many of the children waiting for adoption have experienced trauma during critical developmental years. DHS seeks diverse families to provide support to these children in need.

Help is available along the way. Before, during and after adoption, DHS, counties, tribes and contracted adoption agencies provide information, support, training, services and referrals to children and parents.

More details are in a department news release [ [link removed] ].

For more information about adoption, contact a county or Tribal social service agency, visit MN ADOPT at www.mnadopt.org [ [link removed] ], or visit the adoption and kinship page on the DHS website [ [link removed] ].

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Grants support living at home for aging Minnesotans
Live Well at Home grants 2022

New state grants will help older Minnesotans continue living in their own homes by funding services such as caregiver support, help with housekeeping, modifications to prevent falls, and more accessible gardens.

Fifty-seven organizations will receive more than $7 million in Live Well At Home grants from the Minnesota Department of Human Services to support aging Minnesotans. The goal is to help older adults stay healthy, independent and involved in their communities.

The latest projects include:


* Expanding caregiver support for older people and their families to the Red Lake Nation, White Earth Nation, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, and Lake of the Woods County.
* Funding a raised-bed vegetable and flower garden in McGregor to allow access for people using wheelchairs and walkers.
* Providing new services for American Indian elders in their homes in Minneapolis, including homemaker and chore services, home safety assessments and modifications to prevent falls.

?Most people want to live at home as long as possible,? said Commissioner Jodi Harpstead. ?Supporting older Minnesotans to stay in their homes can lead to better health and quality of life. It can also ease pressure on residential care facilities that are struggling to find enough staff.?

A list of grant recipients is in a department news release [ [link removed] ].

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In social media: DHS career fair
AMRTC career fair 2022

*Shared on the DHS Careers Facebook page [ [link removed] ]:?*

Join us on Wed. November 30th from 1-5 pm and Thurs. December 1st at our Career Fair located in Anoka, MN!

Recruiters and hiring managers will be available to walk you through the hiring process. Interviews will be available that day if you are interested in your next career with us!

Call 651-431-5075 to set up an interview (not required), walk-ins are welcome.

"Follow our DHS Careers Facebook page [ [link removed] ] for announcements of hiring events, job postings, internships and more."

"Follow DHS on?Twitter [ [link removed] ]?and?Facebook [ [link removed] ]?f"or timely updates on DHS news and events.""

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Accessible formats

For accessible formats of this publication, write to [email protected], or call 651-431-2000 or use your preferred relay service.



DSP employee-owned cooperative grants - stock photo of a person helping an older adult using walking aids
Grants available for direct support professional employee-owned cooperatives

Direct care workers who provide home and community-based services (HCBS) for people with disabilities and older adults may now apply for an HCBS Workforce Development cooperative grant.

The?Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers will award grants to 10 groups to help direct care workers establish their own employee-owned cooperative businesses (or transition a current business to an employee-owned cooperative).

Grants will total up to $90,000 each split over two years ($45,000 each year).

To apply

For requirements and more information about this grant, view the?application page [ [link removed] ].

Information and the application are available in English, Hmong, Russian, Somali and Spanish.

The grant application will be open until all grants have been distributed.

More information

For background information about initiative development and legislation, view the?DHS HCBS Workforce Development Grant webpage [ [link removed] ].

To learn about the employee-owned cooperative business model, view the?DHS training video:?A workforce shortage strategy: Employee-owned cooperatives [ [link removed] ].

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newspaper beside a coffee cup
In the news

*RSV. FLU. COVID-19.*?With three viruses circulating and people gathering indoors, Medicaid Medical Director Dr. Nathan Chomilo talked with Freddie Bell on 89.9 KMOJ [ [link removed] ] about what health care providers are seeing and how to protect ourselves.

*In Planning Summit on Drug Abuse, Community Voices Are Most Important:?*Substance use disorder and the rapid rise in overdose deaths are among the most urgent issues facing our state. In January, several partners will host the SUD Shared Solutions Summit, where participants will begin work on a three-to-five-year action plan to improve Minnesota?s substance use disorder (SUD) system. Learn more in a Phoenix Spirit article [ [link removed] ] by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Kristine Preston.

*Families struggle to put food on the table ahead of holiday season:*?With inflation, rising prices and costs remaining consistently high, a growing number of families are feeling the financial pinch. Mayzie Olson of ABC 6 News in Rochester [ [link removed] ] spoke with food shelf representatives and Assistant Commissioner Tikki Brown about help available.

*MN Ramps Up Support for Food Shelves Short on Culturally Relevant Supplies:*?Amid a wave of higher demand at food shelves, some locations in greater Minnesota are also trying to meet the needs of increasingly diverse populations. State grants are being awarded to mix in some culturally preferred items. Learn more in a Public News Service article [ [link removed] ].

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DHS fact sheets updated

[ [link removed] ]Adoption: Finding families for Minnesota's waiting children (PDF) [ [link removed] ]

Adoption support: Working together to help families (PDF) [ [link removed] ] [ [link removed] ]

Relative?Permanency Services: Reducing time in foster care (PDF) [ [link removed] ]

Moving Home Minnesota: Helping people move from institutions to community living (PDF) [ [link removed] ]

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