About Us
Welcome To The Tribal Training and Certification Partnership
Tribal Training and Certification Partnership (TTCP) - Aabinoojiiyag-Wakhanheza Un Thantanhanpi: For All the Children - Sacred Being. We at the TTCP operate as an independent program through the Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth to provide education, training, and practice application to improve outcomes for American Indian families in the child welfare system. We were founded at UMD to respond to these unique training needs. As a main objective, we collaborate with Minnesota Tribes, the Child Welfare Training Academy, and the Child Safety and Permanency Division at the Department of Human Services (DHS) to address training needs related to compliance issues.
Our education and training programs include a new and ongoing child welfare professionals across the state on foundational issues relating to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), the Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act (MIFPA), worldview and engagement with American Indian families and tribes. Our offerings also include advanced training for child welfare workers, supervisors, and counties to develop a deeper understanding of working with American Indian Families and tribal nations.
Independent from the ICWA/MIFPA training collaboration, we provide child welfare training specifically designed for tribal child welfare agencies.
History:
Beginning in 2014, various task forces and studies were established at the Minnesota state government level to examine child welfare, and address any perceived shortcomings. Minnesota leads the nation disproportionately for American Indian children in the child welfare system, and has for some time. This disparity causes families to be disproportionately negatively impacted both by out of home placement rates, and by the child welfare system in Minnesota.
The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) was passed because so many Indian children were being removed and placed outside of their families, communities, and tribes. Current levels of out of home placement in Minnesota are at pre-ICWA levels.
In 2019, tribes made a final recommendation, identifying the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies (CRTCWS) as possessing the competency knowledge in ICWA, MIFPA and Tribal issues, as well as relationships with tribes required to provide training. Funding was provided in May ‘19, and led to the creation of the Tribal Training and Certification Partnership (TTCP) on January 1, 2020.
The funding was used to hire 3 full-time staff and the request for space in the Tech Village in Downtown Duluth. Since then, the TTCP has grown to nine full-time staff, 15 community trainers, and a renovation of the office space.
