115 Sixth Street NW, Suite E
Cass Lake, MN 56633

(218) 335-4435 Phone

Foster Care Program

The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe places emphasis in honoring the integrity of Leech Lake Families. To support this philosophy, the Child Welfare Program concentrates its efforts in providing supportive services for families to prevent out of home placement and to establish family reunification. If parents cannot meet the basic needs of their children, the Child Welfare Foster Care Program seeks exteded family or other Indian families to care for them.

The Child Welfare Foster Care Program provides foster care services for Indian children under the age of 18 years of age, a child in special education, or a juvenile under the jurisdiction of ajuvenile court who is under 22 years of age.

When placing a child, the Child Welfare Program Case Manager will reveiw the child's case plan with the foster care parent. The foster care family cooperates and collaborates with the Case Manager to ensure that the child's needs are identified and addressed. The Case Manager visits the foster care home on a monthly basis to review new developments in the child's case plan and assess the relationship of the foster care family and the foster care child. Routine monthly visits also take place by the foster care home's assigned Foster Care Specialist to establish any needs for support.

As reunification plans are made, the Case Manager and the foster care family work together to arrange supervised visits with the child's family. The Case Manager also informs the foster care family of permanency options in the event that reunification cannot take place.

To Operate A Foster Home

To operate a foster home, the applicant shall be the primary caregiver and shall be legally responsible for the operation of the residence. All foster care parents must be at least 21 years old at the time of licenture. The applicant or applicant's spouse must be an enrolled member of a federally recongized tribe and the residence must be located on or near the Leech Lake Reservation boundaries. Licenses are also available for Leech Lake Band members who reside up to 30 miles outside the reservation boundaries.

An applicant will not be issued a license until criminal and child protection background studies are completed and no disqualification factors have been found upon the applicant or other persons living in the residence who have regular contact with the children. This process may take up to 2 weeks. The Child Welfare Licensing Coordinator reviews disqualification factors and seeks advice from other professionals as encessary to determine eligibility for licensure. Off-Reservation background studies are reviewed by MN Dpet of Human Services.

The applicant must cooperate with a home study conducted by the Child Welfare Foster Care Program that include an interivew with all foster care parents and houselhold members over 7 years old.

Foster care license recommendations are presented to the Leech Lake Child Welfare Commission for approval. Entire process leading up to approveal takes approximately 4 to 6 weeks depending on effort of applicant. Off-Reservation licenses are approved by the MN Department of Human Services.

When Approved

Once approve, the Foster Care Licensign Coordinator provides a thorough Orientation Visit within 30 days of licensure. Orientation Visits are completed in about three hours. Additional Monitoring Visits are conducted by an assigned Foster Care Specialist every 4 months throughout the 2 year licensign period.

All adult caregivers must obtain Health & Safety Certifications trainings within 120 days of their first year of licensing. In additon to the first year of licensing. In addition to the first year requried trainings, each foster care parent must complete a minimum of 12 training hours within their second year of licensure that relates to the field of foster care and/or licnesing for children.

The Leech Lake Child Welfare Program complies with the following:

1. The Indian Child Welfare Act, Public Law 95-608.
2. The Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act, Minnesota Statutes, Sections 260.751 to 260.835.
3. The Heritage Act, Minnesota Statutes, Sections 259.29, 260C.193, Subdivision 3, and 260C.212 to 260C.215.
4. The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, Minnesota Statutes, Section 260.851.