Minnesota Department Of Children, Youth, And Families

Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families is a state government agency that acts as a prime recipient of federal grant funding for child welfare, family services, and nutrition assistance programs, with no federal contracting activity. The department operates exclusively under formula grants and block grants issued by the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families and the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service, delivering services across Minnesota as the state's lead administrative agency for these federal programs.

The department's federal grant portfolio centers on three core capability areas: child welfare and family services, child nutrition and nutrition assistance, and employment and training support. On child welfare, the department administers Title IV-E Foster Care ($176.9 million, FY 2025), Title IV-E Guardianship Assistance ($44.2 million), Adoption Assistance ($172.5 million), and related permanency programs including the Title IV-E Prevention Program ($19.5 million) and Title IV-E Kinship Navigator ($3.75 million). The department also receives funding for child protective services under the Child Abuse and Neglect State Grants program ($1.8 million) and operates access and visitation services ($101,876) under CFDA 93.597. On child nutrition, the department administers the Child Care and Development Block Grant Discretionary ($348.7 million), the Child Care and Development Fund Mandatory and Matching ($98 million and $67.7 million in separate awards), and Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program for Children funding ($51 million for benefits delivery and $5.1 million for program administration). The department also manages nutrition assistance for vulnerable populations including the Emergency Food Assistance Program administrative grants ($618,758 and $1.1 million across two awards) and Head Start services ($125,000 project grant from the Office of Head Start). Across nutrition assistance administered by the Food and Nutrition Service, the department receives approximately $26.1 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program administrative funding split across state administrative costs ($78.3 million), SNAP Employment and Training operations and incentives ($3.7 million, $3.1 million, $1.2 million, and $457,932 across multiple awards), and program integrity enhancement ($672,656). The department also administers the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant ($648.9 million), Child Support Services ($346.8 million), the MaryLee Allen Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program ($2.6 million formula grant and $312,393 for caseworker visitation), the Chafee Education and Training Vouchers Program ($719,286), the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood ($2.2 million), and the Social Services Block Grant ($56.7 million) and Community Services Block Grant ($22.5 million).

Customer concentration reflects the federal grant structure: the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families and the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service account for the substantial majority of the department's 49 awards. The combined obligated value across all federal grant awards is $2.38 billion. Activity has grown sharply, from one award in 2022 to ten in 2024 and thirty-three in 2025, reflecting the annual formula grant funding cycle. Thirteen awards with ultimate completion dates in the next twenty-four months face recompete in that window. The department's most recent award, dated July 1, 2026, is the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Title II Formula Grants Program ($837,045, CFDA 16.540) through June 30, 2030, supporting after-school programming, job training, mentorship, and community engagement activities in coordination with the Minnesota Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee and the Minnesota Department of Corrections.