In every service we provide, Ampersand Families is dedicated to helping youth build and strengthen their connections to relatives, kin, community and culture.
As our name implies, we are about ‘and’ – adding more people to a youth’s circle of support.
Thank you for selecting Ampersand Families. We look forward to partnering with you.
To make a referral, you can select the link for the referral form below. If you would like to learn more about each program before making a referral, scroll down to read a brief description of the youth programs we offer.
Please note: Child Specific Recruitment, Relative Search & Engagement, Heart Gallery, & Kinship Home Study referrals are only for Child Welfare Professionals.
Child Specific Recruitment
Child-specific recruitment is intensive, youth-focused efforts to achieve permanency for older youth.
Typical activities include relative/kin search and engagement, outreach to people the youth already knows or people who have specialized interests or skills that are a great fit for the youth as well as matching with potential, licensed families who are registered on the state adoption exchange. Engagement, support and preparation around permanency for the youth, which includes Lifebook work, are also important parts of child-specific recruitment.
Ampersand Families’ Permanency Specialists are experienced professionals with small caseloads ready to work hard as they partner with youth, counties, families, foster parents and others to achieve permanency for all youth. Only youth who are under guardianship of the Commissioner (‘state wards’) may be referred for this service, which is provided at no cost to referring counties or tribal social service agencies under the Public Private Adoption Initiative (PPAI) with MN Department of Human Services.
We welcome referrals for youth that meet the following criteria:
- Age 10 and older (or sibling groups with at least one youth age 10+)
- There has been a Termination of Parental Rights (TPR)
- Youth are registered on the State Adoption Exchange (SAE)
Relative Search & Engagement
Our Relative Search & Engagement service provides intensive relative search and engagement efforts for a 45-day period.
This helps county and/or tribal workers keep up with strengthened statutory requirements for relative search. We partner closely with a youth’s permanency team to identify, contact, and support continued connection between youth and the relatives and kin in their life. All efforts are documented in the “Connect Our Kids” tool so counties, tribes, and child-specific recruiters can continue to build upon this work.
We welcome new referrals for Innovative Relative Search and Engagement Services for children age 6+ (or sibling groups with at least one child age 6+). This service is provided at no cost to referring counties or tribal social service agencies under the Public Private Adoption Initiative (PPAI) with MN Department of Human Services. There needs to be a Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) in order for us to provide this service.
This service can be combined with child-specific recruitment efforts or completed as a stand-alone service.
To make a referral, please contact renee@ampersandfamilies.org
Minnesota Heart Gallery
The Minnesota Heart Gallery helps children and youth waiting for adoptive families see themselves as they never have before.
Together, youth, photographers and families raise community awareness around adoption, foster care and permanency. Most important, these images are used to recruit families for Minnesota’s waiting youth, helping them to picture a more hopeful future. For more information about the Heart Gallery Program, visit the Minnesota Heart Gallery website.
Kinship Home Study
Counties and tribes can refer one or more relative/kin for a comprehensive home study assessment of their readiness to be a permanency resource for a specific child or sibling group.
Referrals can be made before or after a TPR (in pre-TPR situations, at least one of the children needs to be 8 years old). In all cases, we take a flexible, strength-based approach in our assessment process, and maintain regular open communication with the referring tribe or county.
Counties and tribes maintain ultimate decision making of where the child or sibling group will be placed. If a decision is made to not place the child/sibling group with the relative/kin, our agency can assist with establishing appropriate contact plans, if requested.
It is our strongest wish to provide counties with thorough assessments of potential permanency resources so that the county has access to excellent information upon which to base its placement decisions. We also want to support relatives and kin so that they can rest assured that they have done everything possible when they want to step forward to provide a home for a youth they know, who cannot be returned to their parent/s’ home.
MYVoice
MYVoice (aka “Minnesota Youth Voice”) programs are open to Minnesota youth ages 12-22 with experience in the foster care and/or adoption systems.
We support youth-led education, connection, and change. Please fill out this form if you are a youth interested in MYVoice or want to refer a youth you know to MYVoice programming. Please also follow us at @mnyouthvoice on Instagram, Emily.Ampersand on Facebook, and check out our website at myvoicemn.org.
The Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics™ (NMT)
The Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics™ (NMT) is a comprehensive trauma assessment that identifies the impact of childhood trauma on a young person’s developing brain and offers the building blocks for individualized care.
Developed by Dr. Bruce Perry at the Neurosequential Network™, the NMT™ helps identify and prioritize areas of brain development that may need more support and makes concrete suggestions for future interventions.
Please note: We currently have a 3-month waitlist for full assessments. Brief Consults can be completed while a youth is on the waitlist.
