About Us

Tribal Training and Certification Partnership (TTCP) - Aabinoojiiyag-Wakhanheza Un Thantanhanpi: For All the Children - Sacred Beings was officially established on January 1, 2020. The TTCP operates as an independent program through the Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth to provide education, training, and practice application to improve outcomes for American Indian families in the child welfare system.

The TTCP was founded at UMD to respond to these unique training needs. The TTCP collaborates with Minnesota Tribes, the Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy, and the Child Safety and Permanency Division at the Department of Human Services (DHS) to address training needs related to compliance issues and improving outcomes for American Indian families involved in the Minnesota Child Welfare system.

The TTCP provides education and training to new and ongoing child welfare professionals across the state on foundational issues relating to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), the Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act (MIFPA), worldview and engagement with American Indian families and tribes. The TTCP offers advanced training for child welfare workers, supervisors, and counties to develop a deeper understanding of working with American Indian Families and tribal nations. The TTCP works directly with the state ICWA Advisory Council for approval of this curriculum and training.

Independent from the ICWA/MIFPA training collaboration, the TTCP provides child welfare training specifically designed for tribal child welfare agencies. The TTCP works with tribal nations to provide training and education to tribal child welfare workers for all 11 tribal nations across the state of Minnesota. The TTCP values tribal input and relationship building in creating training for tribal nations and meeting their needs for education in the Indian Child Welfare system. The TTCP recognizes the individual tribal needs of each tribe and tribal sovereignty. The TTCP provides training, education and access to on-boarding technologies at no cost to tribal nations.