Kinship licensing bill advances after authors remove costliest proposals; supporters say changes would better support relative caregivers

Vice Chair Hansen presented House File 1424, a multisection bill to adopt kin‑specific foster home approval standards and to make licensing and supports more accessible for relative caregivers. Hansen said the bill implements national best practices developed by a kinship licensing task force and federal flexibilities that allow states to establish kin‑specific licensing standards.

Hansen described the bill's goals as: (1) faster and more responsive licensure pathways for relatives (including flexible training timelines and targeted in‑service requirements), (2) requiring accessible materials in the most common languages and making resources available for caregivers, and (3) prioritizing relative kin children for childcare access. The DE originally included two higher‑cost provisions: exempting kin caregivers from a 60‑month MFIP time limit during the period they care for relative children and changes to disqualification timelines for certain convictions; Hansen moved amendments (A4 and A5) to remove those provisions from the bill in committee.

Supporters — Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI Minnesota), Ampersand Families, and relatives engaged in placement work — testified that relatives are the majority of placements and that the system must adapt to support them. A coalition representative with child‑abuse and law‑enforcement experience objected to lowering disqualification bars and expressed concern about reducing background checks and exempting certain violent crimes from permanent disqualification; Hansen and sponsors indicated the most controversial sentencing/disqualification changes were removed in committee. The committee adopted the agreed‑upon amendments and laid the bill over for further consideration.