The Department of Children, Youth, and Families launch and transfer process has been completed and the Implementation Office has closed.
About the Implementation Office
The 2023 legislature included the Governor’s proposal to establish the new Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) and funding for implementation in the Health and Human Services Omnibus bill signed into law. Authorizing language can be found in 2023 Minnesota Session Law, Chapter 70 (pdf) and a plain-language explanation of the statute can be found in the DCYF Statutory Explainer document (pdf) . The statute appropriates funded an Implementation Office (IO), established on July 1, 2023, and housed at Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB). This office worked in partnership with state agencies and through the Children’s Cabinet on planning and transition efforts to coordinate and plan for the creation of the new agency centered on our most precious resources: our children, youth, and families. As required in statute, the Implementation Office submitted a transition report (pdf) to the Minnesota Legislature on March 1, 2024, detailing engagement and planning efforts. The Implementation Office prepared a report with updates on engagement efforts and themes (pdf) in October 2024.
The two-year planning and implementation process creating the new Department of Children, Youth, and Families came to a close on June 30, 2025. With the last set of programs and offices transferred from originating agencies in June, the planned transfers authorized in the DCYF enabling statute will be complete.
Over the course of the last two years, the Implementation Office worked with agency partners and conducted over 200 listening and engagement sessions with community organizations, counties, and tribes; planned for the design of the organizational structure; supported the hiring process for executive leaders; and led the design and transfers of the operational structures of the department. The IO created touchpoints and communication platforms to support the successful transfer of over 700 staff across four originating agencies.