Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare

08/27/2026

A tentative agreement may soon end the longest county worker strike in Minnesota history. The Teamsters / Chisago County strike has highlighted the critical role that child welfare and human services workers play in supporting children, families, and communities. During the strike, temporary staff and managers stepped in to maintain services for foster youth, parents, and caregivers. Read more via the link below!

https://kstp.com/kstp-news/local-news/teamsters-chisago-county-reach-tentative-deal-that-could-end-nearly-120-day-strike/

08/25/2026

August is widely recognized as Wellness Month. Every day, child welfare professionals navigate complex situations in service of youth and families. While the demands of the work can make self-care difficult, worker well-being is essential. Your wellness matters, to you, your team, and the families you serve. When workers are supported, they are better positioned to bring compassion, resilience, and effectiveness to their practice.

This month, we recognize that worker wellness goes beyond self-care and individual responsibility. We know that workers must be supported at an organizational, community, and policy level, too!

Check out the CASCW wellness resources on our website that are meant to support you and your work not only this month, but all year round!

08/20/2026

Last chance to apply for the 2026–2027 PLX Cohorts!

PLX brings together professionals from across youth-serving systems to strengthen collaboration, expand knowledge, and improve outcomes for young people.

Earn 70+ continuing education credits while exploring topics such as trauma, identity development, substance use, sexual health, and positive youth engagement in a supportive learning community.

✔ Hybrid + virtual options
✔ No-cost application
✔ Practical tools you can use right away

If your work supports youth involved in child welfare, youth justice, special education, youth development, tribal services, or related systems, this opportunity is for YOU!

Scholarships are still available and applications are closing soon. Learn more and apply through the link!
phoenixlx.umn.edu

08/20/2026

Military-connected children and families face unique challenges accessing behavioral and mental health support. We're excited to share this upcoming University of Minnesota event highlighting collaborative solutions, research insights, and strategies to improve care access for military families. The Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain is hosting the event in partnership with the Institute on Community Integration, the College of Education and Human Development UMN, and the University of Minnesota Medical School.

Learn more & register at the link!
https://midb.umn.edu/collaboration-innovation-collective-impact-advancing-care-rural-military-children-and-families

08/18/2026

This Minnesota Star Tribune article offers a powerful look at Minnesota’s ongoing mental health crisis and the challenges facing vulnerable kids who need safe, appropriate care. The article highlights concerns about the use of hotels for children in crisis, with insights from Foster Youth Ombudsperson Misty Coonce and AspireMN Executive Director Kirsten Anderson. As Minnesota moves away from hotel-based crisis respite, the urgent question remains: what safe, supportive options will be available for kids and families who need them most?

https://www.startribune.com/kids-mental-health-crisis-hotels/601867893

08/12/2026

Permanency doesn't have to stop at the border. That's the guiding principle behind Casey Family Programs' 60-year commitment to finding safe, stable homes for every youth, immigrant families included.

This CW360° feature, Permanency Practices to Support Immigrant Youth in the Child Welfare System, shows what that looks like in practice: training child welfare staff to partner with foreign consulates, building toolkits for transnational cases, and, when it's in a youth's best interest, pursuing permanency options that cross national boundaries entirely. One case study follows a youth reconnected with their birth mother in Honduras, coordinated across borders by a full team of legal and child welfare partners.

“How can child protection agencies support families and children who lack lawful immigration status?”

Written by Jorge Cabrera, MSW, Aakanksha Sinha, MSW, PhD, Maria Nuno, MSW, ACSW, Iris Lopez, MSW, and Lily Garay of Casey Family Programs, the piece offers a practical model for reimagining what permanency can mean for immigrant youth and their families.

Read the full article and explore more resources on our website!
https://cascw.umn.edu/professional-development/cw360deg-spring-2026-edition/permanency-practices-support-immigrant-youth

08/11/2026

There's still time for our community partners working in child welfare to apply for the Community Solutions Grant through the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation. Applications for the next round of the grant are due by August 14th. Learn more on their website.
https://spmcf.org/nonprofits/grants-for-nonprofits/community-solutions-grant-program

After a community-informed grant redesign process throughout 2024 and 2025, we are pleased to share that the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, F. R. Bigelow Foundation and Mardag Foundation will each offer several grant programs to meet community needs in 2026!

You can find detailed guidelines and application information for each program at https://na2.hubs.ly/H02c9TT0

View a recording of our grant programs information session at https://na2.hubs.ly/H02chBG0

08/11/2026

📢 New Resource Alert!

Strong supervision can lead to better outcomes for workers and families. That's why we've partnered with Dr. Mimi Choy-Brown to create the Supervision Strategies Booklet, a practical guide featuring four evidence-informed supervision strategies. Informed and supported by conversations with real supervisors, here's what one supervisor had to say:

“The provided scripts are so helpful, as well as the actual strategies that can be put into practice.”
~ Child Protection Supervisor

Order your free booklet today! Link below.
https://cascw.umn.edu/booklets-and-guides

07/28/2026

Due to legislative advocacy efforts, including Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota and State Representative Rep. Nolan West, Minnesota has enacted a new law (Statute 144.124) that recently went into effect and requires primary care providers to give parents and caregivers clear, plain-language information at their baby's first well-child visit on how to recognize signs of physical abuse and how to report it. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has more information and resources available on their website: https://www.health.state.mn.us/people/womeninfants/infantabuse.html?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=00c4842c-6947-4a2a-9fa3-24d00febe42c

07/27/2026

Dr. Syndey Johnson, a researcher with the Minnesota Linking Information for Kids Project (Minn-LInK) recently attended and presented at the 2026 International Population Data Linkage Network Conference (IPDLN), which took place July 13-16, 2026, at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. This annual conference brings together professionals from all around the world, all working on varying important aspects of data linkage. The insights that are shared at the conference help to spark ideas, and ultimately help to improve human health and health policy.

The 2026 IPDLN Conference placed a particular emphasis on the transformative potential of data linkage, and innovations that can advance the field of population data science. Dr. Johnson's presentation, "Integrating Data, Driving Solutions: The Minnesota Linking Information for Kids (Minn-LInK) Project", demonstrated how Minn-LInK provides researchers, practitioners, educators, administrators, and policymakers with a rare opportunity to understand the experiences of the children and families who are served by multiple systems. You can learn more about the Minn-LInK project on our website!