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HHS director warns new state law will create costly "active efforts" workload for county child services
Summary
Becky Fossman told commissioners Pine County spent under $1,000,000 on out-of-home placements in 2024 and was under budget by over $500,000; she warned the African American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act (MASPA) will require costly 'active efforts', new case reviews and data reporting, and likely a data specialist and ramp-up in 2026 ahead of the 2027 compliance date.
Becky Fossman, director of Pine County Health & Human Services, presented the 2024 out-of-home placement summary and a child protection update, reporting the county budgeted a little over $1,300,000 for placements but expended under $1,000,000 in 2024 and was "under budget by over $500,000." Fossman described downward trends since 2019 in child-protection and probation placement costs and credited in-county preventive programs and lower caseload ratios for the improvement.
Fossman said the recently passed African American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act (referred to in the presentation as the act or MASPA) will take effect for most counties on Jan. 1, 2027, and will apply a heightened standard of "active efforts." She warned that SSIS data limitations and the law's annual definitional changes (set by the commissioner) will force counties to hire additional data and case-review staff to comply. "Active efforts is a very high bar," Fossman said, and the county should prepare by ramping up staffing and engaging legislators to address cost-shift proposals.
Commissioners asked for examples of active efforts; Fossman and staff described transportation, rental assistance, hotel and food costs for visit support, and intensive worker time as concrete examples. The board recorded a plan to present budget updates earlier (first budget presentation moved to late May) to accommodate potential cost shifts and additional 2026 ramp-up work on MASPA preparedness.
