[{"_1":2,"_112":-5,"_113":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88,100],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6359867,"mediaKeyId","2175590-725b4c371ae14639058bd975c0bcafc5","parentId",2175590,"title","HHS lays out child-welfare budget priorities: prevention, kinship and fewer out‑of‑state placements","audioSeconds",6242,"startMs",32000,"endMs",6274000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2175590-725b4c371ae14639058bd975c0bcafc5&start=32&end=6274","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2175590-725b4c371ae14639058bd975c0bcafc5/thumbnail_32000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6359867/North-Dakota/HHS-lays-out-child-welfare-budget-priorities-prevention-kinship-and-fewer-outofstate-placements","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6359867-8aa910d8f9e06d052ea7e83c84366186/orig.mp4?Expires=1771184938&Signature=Mi5p910QupdXInaXTEDbA7nHz6I9LacXs1fiNQGXaC3ItmhUytXsB1trnKwzLvNJixJvrM~jdyAAkJHKmk7b-4-nq8b~SN0zySVAKd7tY7N958LsvdrkUfC7ZpkemmYmFRh1BWfIkAO4LlfbHLViPJQifvsnyHg8SSeqKadeGf1XghBd9g6oR5UMef7UyR~kTQhwMZVkXCPXDOyv8zllEck3Drm7twReyYdBQDwmDWyQg3bbnkLF4wsSuRy8ZIXBY1ThI3iJzHP7G2jTdmKP9NtMhFIf4luFj0ZCUi1ktD-3i2jqi1Vv1E6yiJeibZ0I9RdFf5xRzaAb3dUy4kFc3g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Appropriations - Human Resources Division, ND","date","2025-01-30T00:00:00Z","article","BISMARCK — The Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday told the House Appropriations Human Services Division it will use the 2025‑27 budget to push prevention services, expand kinship care and keep more children in North Dakota rather than sending them to out‑of‑state placements.

Corey Peterson, director of the Children and Family Services section at HHS, said the department’s approach is to “facilitate and deliver the services that support children’s safety, children’s permanency and well‑being,” and to prevent entries to foster care whenever possible.

The department said several changes since 2018 — a child protection redesign, a centralized intake, a foster‑care licensing redesign and an adoption redesign — have been intended to move the system toward family and community‑based care. Peterson said HHS has prioritized keeping children close to home and has had no children placed out of state in residential facilities for the last two and a half years, which the department called a notable accomplishment.

Why it matters: HHS told lawmakers that parental substance use and family economic hardship remain the two largest drivers of foster‑care entries. Officials said investing more in evidence‑based, in‑home prevention services can reduce long‑term costs and reduce trauma to children by preventing removal when safe alternatives exist.

Key budget and program items described

- Families First prevention funding and Title IV‑E flexibility: Peterson said federal Families First rules and Title IV‑E funding let North Dakota expand prevention services rather than reserving federal money solely for placements and deep‑end care. He described an executive‑budget request that increases Families First prevention spending and related state matching funds.

- Adoption savings (delinked funds): HHS asked to move a portion of adoption savings (sometimes called “delinked” or adoption savings dollars) from grant lines to operations to support post‑adoption services, legal work for kinship guardianships and stipends for social‑work students who return to tribal communities. The department described an amount in the budget documents labeled as adoption savings but did not detail exact annual carry‑forward rules in committee.

- Legal representation pilot: The department seeks $700,000 (dollar‑for‑dollar matched with federal Title IV‑E/“4E” funds) to pilot a program that pairs an attorney, a social worker and a parent with lived experience to provide ongoing legal representation for families in child‑welfare court. Peterson said the program would be run with North Dakota Indigent Defense and the Supreme Court and would follow cases past court to provide continuity.

- Qualified residential treatment programs (QRTPs): Peterson said North Dakota currently licenses 36 QRTP beds: 24 at Home on the Range in Beach and 12 at a DBGR campus in Minot. He described utilization that at times reached 116 children in a month in 2024 and noted both programs reduced bed counts from earlier decades because of staffing constraints.

- Adoption redesign and guardianship: HHS reported an increase in successful adoptions after a 2023 redesign and said the agency is pursuing contracts to help kinship caregivers convert temporary arrangements into final guardianships or adoptions so children don’t linger in care.

What officials said about data and performance

Peterson pointed to trend data showing a downward direction in total foster‑care caseloads over several years and said the department hopes to reach fewer than 1,000 children in foster care in the future. He emphasized that a “reduction” goal does not eliminate the need for residential levels of care when clinically appropriate.

Quotes and attribution rules

All quoted material below is drawn from the transcript and attributed to staff who appeared before the committee. For example, Peterson said: “We facilitate and deliver the services that support children’s safety, children’s permanency and well‑being,” and later described the department’s aim to “keep kids close to home and in our state, serving them whenever safely possible.” Jessica Thomason, HHS, added factual placement context for non‑foster placements: “LSTC would fall in nonfoster.”

Ending

The department asked lawmakers to consider funding increases that largely leverage federal Title IV‑E/Families First flexibility, match federal grant dollars and expand community‑based prevention. HHS staff said they would supply additional fiscal detail to the committee on request and will return to answer budget follow‑ups.

","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Appropriations - Human Resources Division Jan 30, 2025 II","oneSentenceSummary","BISMARCK — The Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday told the House Appropriations Human Services Division it will use the 2025‑27 budget to push prevention services, expand kinship care and keep more children in North Dakota rather than sending them to out‑of‑state placements.","taxTitle","Appropriations - Human Resources Division, House of Representatives, Legislative, North Dakota","taxId",28888,"location","North Dakota","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6359852,"Human service zones report staffing wins, budget shifts and continuing local capacity concerns",2507,6245000,8752000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2175590-725b4c371ae14639058bd975c0bcafc5&start=6245&end=8752","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2175590-725b4c371ae14639058bd975c0bcafc5/thumbnail_6245000.jpg","/articles/6359852/North-Dakota/Human-service-zones-report-staffing-wins-budget-shifts-and-continuing-local-capacity-concerns","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6359852-c424609944bfe1f428b556a6db2766f1/orig.mp4?Expires=1771184938&Signature=ETBmPPHLe3vUG0I4Adqk~7DZSKttw0lkKOS6HkYjLxvlX7nTpwuhtJhbAK1J1tIl1jRKzdqw3tx0MqxOQPJrD0gO7i~Koawe21Kqmpqk89b4Bu3y8gFi~0RXn-cB3ehJED8CeIQ-UDMztBKFZj6rlLChFhsLK4PKBnwNkymoomqDwt-erfgglrIOxELGBi2GfZYU6WqTL7N3l8rzlFL98LVuLjza2D9ZKFRCTRbIlFGowFo9b2PbqcA6PVKLTuPJSasLu79gJ3CZWjzG455LD4Tp3AimV8yB9yqmrBSX0e3yc4A4V3WSZaf9KdxOCzvU6drzjM-bfFYPNxRj3b6eQg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","BISMARCK — Human service zone operations drew sustained attention from the House Appropriations Human Services Division on Thursday as zone leaders sketched a complex transition from county‑based delivery to multi‑county, host‑county structures and described recent budget and staffing changes.

Kristen Haspargen, director of Zone Operations at HHS, walked the committee through the zone model and the department’s role in supervision, fiscal support and standards of administration. She said zones continue to collaborate on training, on‑call scheduling and onboarding and that several state policy changes passed last session addressed indirect cost allocation and final disposition (burial) rules.

Key points: staffing, budgets, and collaboration

- Turnover and stabilization: Haspargen cited earlier high turnover in some programs; she pointed to Cass County as a successful stabilization example. Cass County reportedly cut a backlog by more than 86% after an August 2023 surge by supporting zones and deploying staff across 10 zones to clear cases. Turnover rates across programs have fallen in several zones since 2022, she said.

- Indirect costs and the 457 human‑service fund: Zones are operating under a property‑tax‑relief fund (often called the 457 fund). Haspargen noted several items moved from indirect cost pools into direct operating lines (telephones, IT maintenance, vehicle maintenance, liability insurance), which changed how zone budgets appear and contributed to year‑to‑year increases in direct operating expenses.

- New revenue streams: HHS said zones are pursuing Medicaid and other billing options: 14 zones are Qualified Service Providers (QSPs), 12 zones bill for targeted case management, and several are starting non‑emergent medical transport billing for Medicaid. HHS also reported improved estate recovery collections tied to final‑disposition payments.

- Corrections collaboration: HHS described pilot work in which zone eligibility workers visit correctional facilities to help people apply for SNAP/Medicaid before discharge; Buffalo Bridges and Burley zone pilots were cited and zones plan to expand that practice.

Budget totals and next steps

Haspargen presented the consolidated human‑service fund numbers (zones plus department‑delivered human‑service staff). The total proposed fund for the next biennium was shown at roughly $240.5 million; Haspargen said the figure includes zone budgets plus HHS‑administered services such as HCBS case managers, childcare licensing and QA teams. Committee fiscal staff said they would supply a more detailed federal/state funding breakdown on request.

Quote

Haspargen summarized the zone work: “Zones have met their federal face‑to‑face, in‑person caseworker visitation. Zones met that goal by 96%, and the federal standard is at 95.”

Ending

Committee members asked for additional fiscal detail, a clearer breakdown of federal versus state funding for major contract lines, and follow‑up on workforce analytics. Haspargen and fiscal staff said they will provide requested breakdowns and continue convening zone directors on recruitment and HR data sharing.

","Zone leaders told the House committee that human service zones have begun stabilizing staffing after earlier turnover, that indirect costs were reclassified to direct spending, and that zones are pursuing Medicaid billing options and collaborations with corrections to help people apply for benefits before release.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6359857,"Lawmakers, schools and law enforcement press HHS on CHINS navigators and chronic absenteeism",751,3670000,4421000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2175590-725b4c371ae14639058bd975c0bcafc5&start=3670&end=4421","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2175590-725b4c371ae14639058bd975c0bcafc5/thumbnail_3670000.jpg","/articles/6359857/North-Dakota/Lawmakers-schools-and-law-enforcement-press-HHS-on-CHINS-navigators-and-chronic-absenteeism","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6359857-3105819c4b205151e6735ee0dfee0d93/orig.mp4?Expires=1771184938&Signature=iHMUHurbo6l9~mSiV2Vheu9DorP2aoWeYdJnv2HJgw9tYhZtdkri~Sp6jE5Lv1DZ7UE3Y7bheFAg~LuLCeXbmA0w13lWWt8C8htWAM5sR5sv~KADLyjL1t9iRMNSRljGe8cyXD8hV2ZHUqVhtVeI-DQ~5w8vw4irIgbPV-2z8a8zBiGKH3M7LVhfpVYhRBKwsi1TfsaQA24ScWiFaGZlisqBOr4zbAXQLh4nuGQ9jKlIiHyS13l24jsO29rXFlLZUt3eS9jE9E6DzibOHN5cq~Eke2Kbh3bmM2kmdN5gy3Xgyx94lzRC7ZNWh~s-WI2D~SfIZAqr04pkHb3PSG0kxA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","BISMARCK — Lawmakers, school officials and law enforcement representatives have raised concerns about the capacity and authority of CHINS (Children in Need of Services) navigators after responsibility for many CHINS referrals moved from juvenile courts to human‑service zones.

Corey Peterson of HHS described how the CHINS team operates: an eight‑person statewide team — one supervisor and navigators hired out of a host zone — that receives referrals from schools, parents and police and “navigates” families to services rather than providing court‑ordered case management. Peterson said CHINS staff are intended to divert youth from juvenile court and deeper system involvement.

Concerns from lawmakers and local leaders

- Limited capacity: Several members, including Representative Murphy and Representative Scott, said local meetings with school officials showed CHINS workers are spread thin and sometimes only hand families a pamphlet rather than provide active assistance.

- Role and authority: Legislators asked whether CHINS workers should have more enforcement or case‑management authority. HHS said the program is designed as a voluntary navigator model and that there is no court enforcement mechanism built into CHINS referrals; if families decline help there is no immediate court action unless subsequent referrals change the response.

- Geographic coverage and staffing: HHS staff acknowledged the current team size is small relative to the need in some communities. Peterson and the CHINS supervisor said decisions about adding navigators depend on whether the legislature wants the workers to provide case management or maintain a navigator role; the budget for CHINS navigators comes from zone budgets.

Pending legislation and next steps

Peterson told the committee House Bill 1328 would expand schools’ ability to refer to CHINS, a change that could increase CHINS workload. Multiple legislators suggested regional meetings to map service gaps and expectations among schools, law enforcement and zones; HHS said regional convenings are already being discussed.

Quote

Representative Murphy summarized concerns from local schools: “The CHINS people give the parents a pamphlet and say you should go do some of this stuff, and that's about the level of the intervention,” he said in committee remarks after hearing from attendees.

Ending

HHS said it will continue to convene regional stakeholders, evaluate whether additional navigators or a different model (case management vs. navigation) is required, and provide the committee with more data on CHINS referrals and capacity if requested.

","Committee members and HHS officials discussed the Children in Need of Services (CHINS) program, its navigator model, and concerns from schools and law enforcement that the current staffing model lacks enforcement power and needs more capacity.",{"_33":101,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":102,"_41":103,"_43":104,"_45":105,"_47":106,"_49":107,"_51":108,"_53":109,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":110,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":111,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6359862,"Audit prompted safety framework changes; HHS reports improved face‑to‑face response rates",712,1366000,2078000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2175590-725b4c371ae14639058bd975c0bcafc5&start=1366&end=2078","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2175590-725b4c371ae14639058bd975c0bcafc5/thumbnail_1366000.jpg","/articles/6359862/North-Dakota/Audit-prompted-safety-framework-changes-HHS-reports-improved-facetoface-response-rates","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6359862-42673122a0192de83a729ee60b8cae71/orig.mp4?Expires=1771184938&Signature=Bg5pF20R6veSVpnfFlXFETPP0TjG4u6uCKfX8AC9jZOt0Z7DZuDcvsF6RYjfxOwazaItYH2HrDdMNOuoxeImdxnrakML5oC6jp4wbAOstC18bgrAsZK1Qz~h11kJQccnv6GN872dbzDoG6XR93YIRxWiMBYwd5eA3GgKaCCJo1aRC9oGg4SkGO9Xn-fWCofTx9zaA~SCvNffS~ID7DkPk7TGy2y3MEoRPgwFSj4~e~TgS2t8bIPxXYvHiW2GGMYKOiyp7aI19veKnEvdfQ1byhFpwBAaXj0vRf3XYUhC8iJdHm7tYrlrvjYw5vlIWei3uJE9k4sLThobaULIXeQ~8w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","BISMARCK — Department of Health and Human Services officials told the House Appropriations Human Services Division on Thursday that a state audit found the child‑protection system had not always met required face‑to‑face response timeframes, and that a safety framework implemented in 2020 has since improved performance.

Kirsten Hansen, administrator for child protection and prevention services, and Corey Peterson, director of Children and Family Services, described how the department categorizes reports and responds under policy. Peterson said the audit focused on whether the field complied with timeframes for face‑to‑face contact with alleged child victims.

What the audit found and how HHS responded

- Response categories: HHS staff explained the three policy categories: Category A (24‑hour response) for major injuries and severe allegations; Category B (72‑hour response) for moderate concerns such as minor injuries; and Category C (14‑day response) for lower‑risk matters such as alleged educational neglect or inadequate clothing in some cases. Peterson said many cases formerly coded as Category C have moved into Category B under the safety framework.

- Audit exceptions: Officials emphasized the policy contains specific exceptions that can delay contact, including active law‑enforcement investigations or difficulty locating a family (no answer at door, child not at school), and coordination with children’s advocacy centers.

- Measured improvement: Peterson told lawmakers that between 2020 and 2024 the number of in‑person assessments rose 24 percent and that zones have improved timeliness. He said larger urban zones (Fargo/Cass, Grand Forks, Minot and Bismarck) account for a disproportionate share of volume and that when those zones slip the statewide average declines.

- Ongoing federal review: Peterson said the state is currently in a federal audit with the Children’s Bureau and that the department expects to report on performance near the end of March 2025; if necessary HHS will submit a program improvement plan.

Why it matters: Timely face‑to‑face assessments are a federal and state performance measure that affect child safety reviews and can trigger federal oversight if the state fails to meet standards.

Quote

- Peterson: “We have increased the number of cases that we're seeing face to face by 24%,” and he added that “the number 1 thing… their number 1 reason for this work is to keep kids safe.”

Ending

HHS told the committee it has layered quality‑assurance reviews, an executive continuous quality improvement team and zone‑level reporting to monitor timeliness and compliance; lawmakers requested continued updates and more granular data by zone.

","HHS told the House committee an audit found the state was not consistently meeting face‑to‑face response timeframes for child protection reports; the department described policy categories and said recent data show a measurable improvement in on‑site contacts.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

HHS lays out child-welfare budget priorities: prevention, kinship and fewer out‑of‑state placements

Human service zones report staffing wins, budget shifts and continuing local capacity concerns

Lawmakers, schools and law enforcement press HHS on CHINS navigators and chronic absenteeism

Audit prompted safety framework changes; HHS reports improved face‑to‑face response rates