Bill > HF4407

This bill modifies the Minnesota African American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act by making several changes to existing laws and extending certain timelines. Key provisions include clarifying that "active efforts" to preserve families and reunify children must be in the child's best interest and contingent on the family's active participation in services, and that the determination of "disproportionately represented child" will now be made every three years instead of annually. The bill also expands the consideration for placement beyond just relatives to include individuals within the child's community, such as those from their school or church, and establishes a rebuttable presumption that a child is at risk of imminent harm if synthetic opioids are present in the home without a prescription. Additionally, the bill adjusts the effective dates for various sections of the original act, generally pushing them back to January 1, 2028, and repeals a specific section related to a child welfare compliance and feedback portal, while also delaying the development of a county compliance review system and the statewide implementation plan for the act.