Latest information about COVID-19 from Licensing

This page will be updated with the latest news about the COVID-19 pandemic and information from the Licensing Division for our partners, providers and the people we serve. For information about temporary changes to background studies, visit the DHS Background Studies page.

For updates related to agency-wide DHS programs, visit the DHS homepage. To be notified when changes occur, you can sign up for COVID-19-specific DHS email notifications.

All licensed and certified services

In March 2020, the commissioner issued a waiver suspending or modifying specific routine licensing activities and requirements so that essential services could continue during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Commissioner temporarily extended the timelines for training for existing staff and license holders during the peacetime emergency. The waiver was modified and extended on May 1 and July 1, 2020. The commissioner is now amending the waiver to require license and certification holders to resume most annual and other ongoing training requirements effective Jan. 1, 2021.

Waiver details here
The ongoing modifications include the following:
- Continue to allow some routine licensing and certification reviews to be conducted through onsite visits or through the use of video or other modes of communication.
- Allow the DHS Licensing Division, county licensors, and private placing agencies to waive the statutory requirement to conduct unannounced annual licensing visits for licensed child care programs that are not in response to complaint investigations.
- Require licensors to communicate with and provide technical assistance to providers to the greatest extent possible using remote technologies that support social distancing and community mitigation.
- Require that if issued, corrective actions reflect the provider’s operation during the pandemic.
- Licenses for family child care, child and adult foster care, and community residential settings that are set to expire through the COVID-19 peacetime emergency will be automatically extended for three additional months.
Resuming training requirements (family child care, family child foster care, child foster residence settings, adult foster care, family adult day services providers)
Beginning on Jan. 1, 2021, all family child care, family child foster care, child foster residence settings, adult foster care, and family adult day services providers must resume annual and other ongoing trainings.

Because of the pandemic, some providers may not have been able to complete all required training. County and private agency licensors will be required to consider the following when conducting renewals/annual inspections that occur from Jan. 1 through June 30, 2021:
1. County and private agency licensors will review training completed during the current license renewal/review period.
2. County and private agency licensors will offer technical assistance to providers that are still working towards compliance with training requirements. A licensor should not issue a correction order for a training that was due but has not yet been completed.
For licensing renewals/annual visits that occur after July 1, 2021, providers will need to demonstrate compliance with all required training due at the time of the renewal/annual visit or be subject to a correction order if a training requirement is not met.

Family Child Care and Child Foster Care:
- Child Passenger Restraint Training: The modification to the child passenger restraint training requirement remains unchanged. Due to the ongoing limited availability of in-person child passenger restraint training required under 245A.18, Subd. 2, the deadline to renew this training every five years is extended during the peacetime emergency. As a reminder, individuals who need to complete child passenger restraint training for the first time must review information and watch videos on the Highway Traffic Safety Administration website.
- Note on CPR training: Some training organizations, such as the American Heart Association and American Red Cross, offer CPR training that is completed online and includes a virtual skills assessment by a certified instructor that is considered to be equivalent to the in-person training. As such, individuals who complete CPR training that includes a virtual observed skills assessment (demonstration of psychomotor skills) under the direct supervision of a CPR instructor will not be required to retake the training in-person after the peacetime emergency ends.
Resuming training requirements (Child Care Centers, Certified Child Care Centers, HCBS)
Due to the peacetime emergency and previous extensions to training requirements, licensors will not review annual and ongoing training that was to be completed in calendar year 2020. Except for the modifications described below, licensors will review orientation and/or initial trainings for new staff hired in calendar year 2020. Biennial trainings that were to be completed in calendar year 2020 must be completed in 2021. Providers must ensure all required trainings for calendar year 2021 have been completed by the end of calendar year 2021 or be subject to a correction order if training requirements are not met.

Child Care Centers and Certified Child Care Centers:
- Child Passenger Restraint Training: The modification to the child passenger restraint training requirement remains unchanged. Due to the ongoing limited availability of in-person child passenger restraint training required under 245A.18, Subd. 2, the deadline to renew this training every five years is extended during the peacetime emergency. As a reminder, individuals who need to complete child passenger restraint training for the first time must review information and watch videos on the Highway Traffic Safety Administration website.
- First Aid and CPR: The existing modification to first aid and CPR trainings requirements for licensed child care centers remains unchanged. Note: Some training organizations, such as the American Heart Association and American Red Cross, offer CPR training that is completed online and includes a virtual skills assessment by a certified instructor that is considered to be equivalent to the in-person training. As such, individuals who complete CPR training that includes a virtual observed skills assessment (demonstration of psychomotor skills) under the direct supervision of a CPR instructor will not be required to retake the training in-person after the peacetime emergency ends.

Executive Order on Face Coverings

As of July 25, 2020, Executive Order 20-81 requires Minnesotans to wear face coverings in certain settings to prevent the spread of COVID-19. All Department of Human Services-licensed and certified programs are expected to comply, except for family foster care programs which are exempt. License and certification holders are required to update their COVID-19 Preparedness Plans and practices to implement them, as necessary. The Executive Order encourages licensing agencies to assess for compliance and use existing enforcement tools to bring businesses into compliance.

Required COVID-19 Preparedness Plan

Beginning June 29, 2020, DHS-licensed and certified critical businesses are required to have developed and implemented COVID-19 preparedness plans incorporating guidance from the Minnesota Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. License holders need to review, monitor, and update their plan as guidance, requirements, and circumstances evolve.

Licensing will monitor that service providers meet the following additional licensing requirements
- develop and implement a COVID-19 Preparedness Plan that includes at least the topics included in the optional templates, or, if you have already created such a Plan, you must ensure it addresses all required elements set forth in the Guidance and Optional Template;
- train staff, other caregivers, and volunteers on the plan and ensure they are capable of implementing it;
- post the plan in a prominent place and make it accessible to staff, caregivers, and volunteers who need to review it;
- review and update the plan as guidance evolves and provide updates to staff, caregivers, and volunteers about any changes;
- notify service recipients (and/or their families, legal representative, or case manager, as appropriate) about the plan and offer to give them a copy, and
- make the plan available to the Commissioner upon request.
Residential Programs: COVID-19 Preparedness Plan guidance and template
- Guidance current as of June 18, 2020
- Template (optional) current as of June 18, 2020
Non-residential Programs: COVID-19 Preparedness Plan guidance and template
- Guidance current as of June 18, 2020
- Template (optional) current as of June 18, 2020
Child Care: COVID-19 Preparedness Plan guidance and template
- Guidance current as of June 18, 2020
- Template (optional) current as of June 18, 2020
Certified Behavioral Health Programs: COVID-19 Preparedness Plan guidance and template
- Guidance current as of June 18, 2020
- Template (optional) current as of June 18, 2020

Child Care

HCBS and Adult Day Centers

Behavioral Health and Children's Residential Facilities

Foster Care

DHS-wide information

Under the Governor’s Emergency Executive Order 20-12, the Minnesota Department of Human Services has temporary authority to temporarily suspend or modify requirements so that the agency and its partners can continue to provide essential programs and services to Minnesotans safely and without undue delay during the COVID-19 pandemic. Find a complete list of temporary waivers and program modifications here.