Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA)

A recorded version of the January 26, 2022, Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA): Update on QRTP Placement Reviews training is now available. Please see below for a detailed course description, as well as professional credit information for the live webcast version of the training and for the recorded, on-demand version of the training. 

Course Description: To ensure child well-being for children and youth placed in a children’s residential facility and/or foster residence setting, Minnesota fully implemented the court review requirements of the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) on September 30, 2021. Minnesota district courts are required to review and approve or not approve decisions to place children in Qualified Residential Treatment Programs (QRTPs) within 60 days of placement and complete long-term, ongoing reviews of those QRTP placements to ensure they continue to meet a child’s well-being. Since implementing these changes, a lot has been learned about integrating QRTP placement reviews into child welfare case work.  

By completing this course, learners will receive a brief review of the FFPSA and learn about best practices from around the state for managing cases involving a QRTP placement. The course is led by Judge Janet Cain (1^st Judicial District), Judge Angela Willms (4^th Judicial District), and Rebecca Vanden Hanen (Children’s Justice initiative (CJI) Program Staff Attorney). 

Learning Objectives: 

1. Describe what the FFPSA is.
2. Explain each stakeholder's role in the court’s review of a QRTP placement.
3. Apply best practices from around the state for managing cases involving a QRTP placement.

Agenda 

Recommended Audience: All CJI team members and stakeholders in the child welfare community are encouraged to participate in the training, including judicial officers, court administration staff, law clerks, county attorneys, social workers, attorneys for parents and children, guardians ad litem, and tribal representatives.
 
Additional training opportunities specific to judicial officers and law clerks have been announced through the Minnesota Judicial Branch’s internal communication channels.

Continuing Education Credit: Applications have been made for continuing education credit for judicial officers, court administrators, guardians ad litem, social workers, and attorneys.

For judicial officers, please complete this Continuing Judicial Education (CJE) Petition to report your participation in the training. 

For attorneys, this course has been approved for 1.0 standard Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit that can be reported directly to the Minnesota State Board of Continuing Legal Education. The event code for the January 26, 2022 live webcast version of the training is 419849. The event code for the January 31, 2022 live webcast version of the training is 419850. The event code for the recorded January 26, 2022 version of the training that can be viewed on-demand is 419851.

For court administration staff, please record your attendance as an external training event in Cornerstone. Not sure how to do this? Check out this Quick Reference Guide.    

For social workers, guardians ad litem, and others, a Certificate of Attendance from the live webcast version of the training will be provided upon request, along with a copy of the agenda.  You can make that request directly the Children's Justice Initiative.      
 
 

A recorded version of the September 22, 2021, Understanding and Applying New Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) Court Review Requirements training is now available along with a handout FFPSA - Answers to Questions from Live Training. Please see below for a detailed course description, as well as professional credit information for the live webcast version of the training and for the recorded, on-demand version of the training.    

Course Description: Minnesota fully implemented the court review requirements of FFPSA on September 30, 2021. Since that date, Minnesota district courts have been required to review and approve or not approve decisions to place children in Qualified Residential Treatment Programs (QRTPs) within 60 days of placement. In addition to the initial review of QRTP placements, courts also need to complete long-term, ongoing review of the QRTP placement to ensure it continues to meet a child's well-being.

By completing this course, learners will be able to explain the process through which district courts review QRTP placements and what information is needed to complete that review. The course is led by Judge Janet Cain (1st Judicial District), Judge Angela Willms (4th Judicial District), and Rebecca Vanden Hanen (Children's Justice Initiative (CJI) Program Staff Attorney). 

Learning Objectives: 
1. Summarize the effect the FFPSA has on child welfare cases.
2. Define key terms of the FFPSA. 
3. Distinguish review options and identify the steps involved in the court's review of QRTP placements.
4. Identify the information the court needs to review a QRTP placement.  

Agenda

Recommended Audience: All CJI team members and stakeholders in the child welfare community are encouraged to participate in the training, including judicial officers, court administration staff, law clerks, county attorneys, social workers, attorneys for parents and children, guardians ad litem, and tribal representatives. 

Additional training opportunities specific to judicial officers and law clerks as well as court administration staff have been announced through the Minnesota Judicial Branch's internal communication channels.

Continuing Education Credit: Applications have been made for continuing education credit for judicial officers, court administrators, guardians ad litem, social workers, and attorneys. 

For judicial officers, please complete this Continuing Judicial Education (CJE) Petition to report your participation in the training.  

For attorneys, this course has been approved for 1.0 standard Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit that can be reported directly to the Minnesota State Board of Continuing Legal Education. The event code for the September 21, 2021 live webcast version of the training is 401814. The event code for the September 22, 2021 live webcast version of the training is 401815. The event code for the recorded September 22, 2021 version of the training that can be viewed on-demand is 412273.

For court administration staff, please record your attendance as an external training event in Cornerstone. Not sure how to do this? Check out this Quick Reference Guide. 
 
For social workers, guardians ad litem, and others, a Certificate of Attendance from the live webcast version of the training will be provided upon request, along with a copy of the agenda. You can make that request directly to the Children's Justice Initiative.