Foster Care Provider Trainings

The following online trainings are required before becoming a licensed foster care provider. 

Nuts and Bolts

New foster care applicants learn about the nuts and bolts of foster care within Ramsey County. During this class, you will learn more about the process of getting licensed, what your role is as a foster parent and what to expect from your licensor.

• View the Nuts and Bolts Foster Care Provider Training.
• Complete the online quiz.

Children’s Mental Health Training

To become certified in Children's Mental Health, watch all of the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) videos.

• View these online videos.
• Take the certification quiz - and pass with a score of 80% or higher.
• Once you receive a score of 80%, add your name to the certificate and either print a copy or take a picture or screenshot and submit your certificate to your Child Foster Care licensor.

Normalcy and Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard Training

The Minnesota Department of Human Services has approved the following videos to meet the Prudent Parent component when individuals are not receiving face-to-face, classroom or online training. To complete this section:

• Watch the Normalcy and Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard Training video
• Complete the Normalcy and Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard Post-Test and submit to your Child Foster Care licensor by saving the files and emailing as an attachment.

Comfort Calls Training

The Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI) is an approach to strengthening foster care that refocuses on excellent parenting for all children in the child welfare system. When QPI is successful, caregivers have a voice. One way to help build connections between foster parents and birth parents is comfort calls. This training will explain comfort calls and what to ask during the comfort calls.

• Watch the Comfort Calls Training video
• Complete the online quiz.

Other resources:

• Foster MN Adopt Webinars

All licensed Ramsey County providers need 12 hours of training each year. Within the 12 hours of training, you must have 1 hour of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and 1 hour of Children's Mental Health training.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Training

You must complete this training within one year of receiving your license. After the first 12 months of licensure, training on fetal alcohol spectrum disorders must be part of the 12 hours of the required training per year. 

• Watch the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Training Video.
• Complete the FASD Post-Test and submit to your Child Foster Care licenser.

Children’s Mental Health Training

To maintain your license, you must complete a minimum of 1 hour of Children's Mental Health training. One option is to watch the below DHS videos and complete the quiz.

• View these online videos.
• Take the certification quiz - and pass with a score of 80% or higher.
• Once you receive a score of 80%, add your name to the certificate and either print a copy or take a picture or screenshot and submit your certificate to your Child Foster Care licenser.

Sudden Unexpected Infant Death Syndrome (SUID) & Abusive Head Trauma (AHT) Training

To maintain your license, this training must be completed once every 5 years. All videos must be viewed to meet the training requirements.

• View these online videos.
• Complete the SUID Post Test (PDF) and submit the post test to your child foster care licenser.
• Complete the AHT Post Test (PDF) and submit it to your child foster care licenser.

Comfort Calls Training

The Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI) is an approach to strengthening foster care that refocuses on excellent parenting for all children in the child welfare system. When QPI is successful, caregivers have a voice. One way to help build connections between foster parents and birth parents is comfort calls. This training will explain comfort calls and what to ask during the comfort calls.

• Watch the Comfort Calls Training video
• Complete the online quiz.

Binti Training

Binti is a foster care database that allows all files to be stored paperlessly. This training helps foster parents learn how to use the Binti system.   

• Watch the Binti training video.
• View the Get Started with Binti guide. (PDF)

Sexually Exploited Youth Training

Sexual exploitation of youth in Minnesota is commonly overlooked, misidentified as something else, and/or undocumented. Sexual exploitation leads to immediate and long-term physical, mental, and emotional harm, as a foster parent it is important to know and recognize signs. Youth who run from out of home placement can be vulnerable to human trafficking and sexual exploitation. The focus of the child welfare system response to children and youth who experience human trafficking and sexual exploitation can be complex; however, the goal is to secure safety and access to services.

• Watch the Sexually Exploited Youth training.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Training 

ACEs are traumatic events occurring prior to the age of 18 and are related to long-term negative cognitive, developmental, behavioral, social and physical health outcomes. This training provides an overview of the ACEs research and its impact on mood, behavior, cognition and physical health. A review of practical tips, strategies and solutions.

• Watch the ACEs Training
• Passcode: 2^s+z&1a

• Minnesota Department of Human Services Foster Care
• Foster Care License Application information
• Minnesota Kinship Navigation Tool
• Ramsey County Adoptive Foster Kinship Parents & Youth Support Group
• National Foster Parent Association
• Casey Family Program
• Education Training Vouchers (ETV) help foster youth attend college
• Foster Parent Care Guide