Engagement Across Tribal Nations and Counties

Focus Group Participation Highlights

Intake / Screening Focus Group Engagement Across Tribes and Counties

At-a-Glance Summary

Across six functional focus groups, counties participated 52 times (with several counties attending multiple functional areas), generating more than 1,245 challenges and enhancement criteria over 15 days of engagement.

Follow-up sessions included 55 participants representing 38 county participation instances, focused on clarifying and validating initial themes.

This breadth and repeat participation across intake, investigation, case management, fiscal, administration, and permanency highlights that system challenges span the full child welfare lifecycle.

Focus Group Participation

• Intake/Screening: 10 counties | 250+ challenges/enhancements

• Investigation/Assessment: 8 counties | 220+

• Case Management: 11 counties | 225+

• Administration: 6 counties | 150+

• Fiscal & Title IV-E: 11 counties | 200+

• State Permanency: 6 counties | 100+

Follow-Up Sessions

• Intake/Screening: 18 participants | 11 counties

• Investigation/Assessment: 12 participants | 10 counties

• Case Management: 25 participants | 17 counties

Tribal & State Engagement

• 
  

  • Prevention: 5 state staff; enhancements and challenges finalized

  • AICWIT: Engagement with Red Lake Nation and Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe to identify Tribal-specific system needs

This level of engagement demonstrates both the need for change and the collective will to shape it together.