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The disproportionate representation of BIPOC youth and families within the Minnesota child welfare system gives many child welfare workers an opportunity to acknowledge and understand the need for culturally responsive resources related to mental health.

The correlation between child welfare cases and the need of culturally responsive mental health support is often overlooked or minimized in many states within the U.S.

Thanks to years of hard work by Bebe Moore Campbell, who is celebrated as an author, journalist and mental health advocate, BIPOC Mental Health Month encourages all identities and communities within the U.S., to help address and dismantle systemic, cultural and personal barriers that people of color experience regarding mental health.

Some of the unique and ongoing challenges that people of color face regarding mental health include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Limited access to mental health resources due to cost, transportation, etc.

• Systemic racism and bias that lead to discrimination within certain health care

• Cultural stigmas related to BIPOC identities and the need (or lack thereof) for mental health resources

• Limited number of culturally competent mental health providers in communities

Given the challenges that many BIPOC individuals face regarding mental health, the Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy (MNCWTA) encourages child welfare workers within the state of Minnesota to take time to seek out mental health resources that are both culturally responsive and accessible for BIPOC youth and families in or near their communities.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Minnesota, as well as the Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health, are two well-known resources that child welfare workers can utilize to start their search for culturally responsive and accessible mental health resources within Minnesota.

For support with identifying more mental health resources within your community, consider contacting the DEI Team at MNCWTA via idi@mnchildwelfaretraining.com.

Book Recommendations

• The Pain We Carry by Natalie Gutierrez

• The Color of Emotional Intelligence by Farah Harris

• My Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa Menakem

Organizations

• National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Minnesota

• Minnesota Association for Children's Mental Health (MACMH)

• Kente Circle (Therapeutic Services for Families, Youth and Adults )

Podcasts

• Wellness in Color by National Association for Mental Health Illness Minnesota

• A Native Podcast with Matt and Zach is a monthly podcast series focused educating communities about Native American people and their culture

• Mental Health Bytes: The Importance of BIPOC Mental Health by Brandon Jones, Executive Director at Minnesota Children's Mental Health Association

Conferences

• 2025 Permanency & Child Welfare Fall Conference: Connecting the Dots, Completing the Circle. October 14-15, 2025

• 2025 National Association for the Dually Diagnosed Annual Conference October 15-16, 2025

• 2025 Minnesota State of Reform Health Policy Conference 
  September 25, 2025

Other Great Resources

MAAFPCWDA Implementation Update - Consider subscribing to this DCYF mailing list to stay up-to-date on the implementation of the Minnesota African American Family Preservation Child Welfare Disproportionality Act.

Culturally Specific Mental Health Services

MNCWTA does not endorse any of these providers but are simply sharing potential resources as part of an online search.

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Minnesota State Statute 260.69 under the Minnesota African American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act requires cultural competency training for all individuals working with African American and disproportionately represented children in the child welfare system. The Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy will be providing a monthly curated selection of resources and trainings that can be utilized to satisfy this training requirement while the statewide training is being developed.

Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy (MNCWTA), 1711 County Road B West Suite 200N, Roseville, MN 55113, United States | The Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy (MNCWTA) is a collaboration between the Child Safety and Permanency (CSP) Division at the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) and the Multidisciplinary Institute for Child Welfare (MICW) at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.