OIG transition to DCYF

What's staying at DHS?

• Background Studies
• Licensing 
  • Home and Community-based Services
  • Mental Health, Substance Use Disorder, and Children’s Residential Facilities
  • Adult Foster Care and related programs
  • Child Foster Residence Settings
  • Maltreatment Investigations (for programs staying at DHS)
• Program Integrity Oversight 
  • Federal Audit Investigation
  • Fraud Prevention Investigations (for programs staying at DHS) and MinnesotaCare
  • Managed Care Organization Oversight
  • Medicaid Provider Audits and Investigations
  • Minnesota Restricted Recipient Program
• Support functions related to Legal Counsel, Enterprise Operations and Policy, and Digital Services, Analytics and Insights (for programs staying at DHS)

DHS will provide background studies and Agency and Provider Hub services to DCYF through interagency agreements.

What's transferring to DCYF?

• Licensing
  • Licensed and Certified Child Care Centers
  • Family Child Care
  • Family Child Foster Care
  • Child-Caring Placing Agencies
  • Maltreatment Investigations (for transferring programs)
  • Child Care Regulation Modernization Project
• Program Integrity Oversight 
  • Child Care Audits and Investigations
  • Fraud Prevention Investigations (FPI) for transferring programs: Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) and the Supplemental Nutrition Program (SNAP)
• Support functions related to Legal Counsel, Enterprise Operations and Policy, and Digital Services, Analytics and Insights (for transferring programs)

When will OIG programs transfer?

Per statute, all identified transfers to DCYF will occur by the end of the transition year on July 1, 2025, unless the Governor approves a delay or cancellation. 

The current plan is for OIG programs to transfer on June 18, 2025.

Contact information and communications

What will stay the same?

• Individual employee email addresses will stay the same.
• Existing main phone numbers: 
  • DHS PIO Tips: 651-431-2650 (Toll-free: 1-800-657-3750)
  • DHS Intake and Investigations: 651-431-6600
  • DHS Licensing: 651-431-6500
    • The number will stay the same. However, the call tree will be updated; pay attention to new options when you call starting June 18.
  • Child Care Centers: 651-431-6015
• Employee phone numbers for Child Care Centers and Family Child Care
• Mailing addresses and PO boxes: DHS and DCYF will keep sharing their existing addresses for a while. Both DHS and DCYF will get new mailing addresses and PO boxes when they move to new buildings, which is planned to happen before June 2026.
• Who providers can contact:
  • Licensed or certified child care centers can continue to contact their licensor or the licensor on call.
  • Family child care providers and family child foster care providers can continue to contact their county or private agency licensor.
  • Private child-placing agencies can continue to contact their licensor or foster care triage.

What will change?

• New phone numbers, faxes, and email addresses: On June 18, DCYF OIG will have new contact information.
  • New main phone numbers
    • DCYF Licensing: 651-539-8300
    • DCYF Intake and Investigations: 651-539-8222
    • DCYF PIO Tips: 651-539-8211 (Toll-free 833-454-0155)
  • New employee phone numbers: Most transferring staff will get new numbers, with the exception of Family Child Care, Child Care Centers, and select other staff.
  • New fax number for DCYF Licensing: 651-539-0020
  • New email addresses
    • DCYF Licensing Intake: LicensingIntake.DCYF@state.mn.us
    • DCYF OIG Legal: OIGLegal.DCYF@state.mn.us
• Updated main email addresses. On June 18, transferring OIG programs will update existing email addresses to reflect their new agency. OIG will continue to receive emails sent to the old email addresses for now, but please update your contacts to reflect the new versions.

• GovDelivery emails
  • After the transition, DCYF OIG will send emails from DCYF’s GovDelivery account. You may notice a change in the sending email address.
  • However, subscribers should continue to get the same emails they do now. We’ll migrate existing subscriber lists to DCYF and continue our existing GovDelivery email frequencies and processes.
• Webpages
  • OIG will migrate DCYF-related content from the DHS website to the DCYF website. 
    • The migration will happen gradually and won’t be complete before June 18. Existing DHS OIG web pages will continue to exist until we move the content to DCYF.
    • The structure of migrated web pages will be different than before. DCYF’s website is on a different web platform than DHS’s website, and DCYF has a different approach to web content.
  • DHS and DCYF will continue to share the existing Licensing Information Lookup website.
• Forms
  • Over time, DCYF OIG will update its forms to reflect DCYF branding, statutory location changes, and updated contact information.
  • This process will not be complete by June 18.

Maltreatment reporting

What will stay the same?

• Child maltreatment reports regarding the following programs should continue to be made to DHS Intake at 651-431-6600:
  • Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS)
  • Children’s Residential Facilities (CRF)
  • Substance Use Disorder treatment facilities (SUD)
  • Individuals in extended foster care (ages 18-21) served in a child foster care setting

What will change?

• Beginning June 18, child maltreatment reports regarding the following programs should be made to DCYF Intake at 651-539-8222:
  • Licensed child care centers
  • Certified child care centers

Licensing processes

What will stay the same?

• There is no change to which programs are directly licensed or certified by the State of Minnesota and which programs are licensed by counties or private agencies.
• All current variances will transfer with the license to the new agency.
• A license holder’s existing DHS license certificate will remain valid through the current license period when the transfer to DCYF occurs.
  • License holders will not need to reapply or take any action.
  • License holders will get a new DCYF license certificate when their current license expires.
  • The current license number associated with the program will not change.
  • Beginning June 18, if a family child care license holder changes their license class during the year, a new DCYF license certificate will be issued.

What will change?

• The process will change for dually licensed providers. Dually licensed providers serving both children and adults will need variance approval from both DCYF and DHS and will receive the respective license certificate from each department.
• Licensing action templates will be updated to reflect the new agency and new Commissioner.

Fraud Prevention Investigations (FPI) processes

Three of DHS’s four FPI staff will transfer to DCYF. FPI staff at both agencies will continue to work closely together to support counties.

DCYF will manage the FPI grant on behalf of both DHS and DCYF. DCYF will sign and manage the new grants scheduled to begin in July 2025.

Background Studies

• DHS Background Studies will provide services to DCYF OIG starting June 18 through an interagency agreement and continue to conduct background studies for all programs transferring to DCYF. 
• Contact information for Background Studies will stay the same.
• Background Studies will continue to be processed in NETStudy 2.0.
• DHS Background Studies and transferring OIG programs will continue to work closely together.
• DCYF OIG will manage background study disqualification reconsiderations for transferring programs.
• Counties and private agencies will continue to be part of the reconsideration process for family child care and child foster care programs.

Agency and Provider Hub support

• OIG staff supporting the Hub will remain at DHS. Contact information for Hub support will stay the same.
• DHS Digital Services and Product Experience teams will provide services to DCYF OIG starting June 18 through an interagency agreement. The teams will continue to work closely together.

IT systems and applications

What will stay the same?

• In nearly all cases, Tribal Nations, counties, providers, and others will continue to use the same OIG systems they use now, in the same way they do now. Existing login information and permissions will stay the same.
  • For example, anyone currently using the Provider Hub, SSIS, ELICI, or ELMS will continue to use those systems after programs transfer to DCYF. 

What will change?

• In a few situations, groups outside of OIG will need to adjust which systems they use or how they use them. OIG will notify those groups of any changes.
  • For example, DCYF Intake and Investigations will have its own Filezilla account for file sharing. The team will also eventually have its own SSIS profile.
• Over time, OIG will update existing systems to reflect DCYF branding, contact information and statute numbers.
  • For example, OIG will update ELICI forms and checklists for transferring programs.

Minnesota Statutes

• Existing licensing and certification standards currently found in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 245A and chapter 245H will move to new Minnesota Statutes chapters 142B (licensing) and 142C (certification). The new statute locations will be effective when programs transfer to DCYF: June 18, 2025. 
• The licensing and certification requirements remain the same; only the location of where to find them is changing.
• ELICI will be updated to reflect the new statutory chapters. 
• Beginning June 18, 2025, all licensing actions will reflect Minnesota Statutes chapters 142B (licensing) or 142C (certification).
• Any visit or licensing action that occurred prior to June 18, 2025, will reflect Minnesota Statutes chapter 245A (licensing) or 245H (certification).
• Consult the statute crosswalk documents for licensed programs (child care centers, family child care, child foster care, child caring placing agencies) and certified child care centers to help determine where requirements are found.
• The following child welfare statutes were not renumbered. Necessary changes to these statutes to transfer authorities and implement DCYF will be published:
  • 257 (Children, Custody, Legitimacy)
  • 259 (Change of name, adoption)
  • 259A (Adoption assistance)
  • 260 (Juvenile Court; Child Placement; Compacts)
  • 260C (Juvenile Safety and Placement)
  • 260D (Child in Voluntary Foster Care for Treatment)
  • 260E (Reporting of Maltreatment of Minors)
• Requirements found in Minnesota Rules will not move.

Where can I learn more?