REGIONAL- Several new Minnesota laws took effect Wednesday, including changes that will eventually require anonymous school threat reporting systems statewide, strengthen oversight of teachers charged with serious crimes, modernize decades-old human services computer systems, and expand early childhood mental health services.
One of the most significant changes affects Minnesota schools. School districts and charter schools will be required to adopt anonymous threat reporting systems that allow students, parents, staff, and community members to report potential safety concerns around the clock through a mobile app, website, or toll-free hotline.
The systems are intended to receive reports involving dangerous, violent, threatening, or otherwise potentially harmful activity involving schools, students, or school personnel. Districts may use a statewide reporting system operated by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety or develop their own.
Although the law took effect Wednesday, schools have until June 30, 2027, to adopt policies implementing a reporting system and until July 1, 2028, to have the systems in place. State lawmakers also approved funding to help districts establish and operate the reporting systems.
Another new law strengthens communication between law enforcement and teacher licensing authorities. Beginning Wednesday, police departments and county sheriffs must notify the appropriate licensing board whenever a teacher is charged with certain serious crimes that could automatically result in denial, nonrenewal, or revocation of a teaching license.
The provision is part of broader legislation that makes child grooming a felony beginning Aug. 1.
Lawmakers also launched a major effort to modernize the technology used to administer Minnesota’s human services programs. Much of the computer infrastructure used by counties and tribal governments to manage programs such as Medicaid, SNAP, and other public assistance programs has been in place for decades.
The new law creates a dedicated modernization fund and establishes a long-term effort to replace aging computer systems used by state agencies, counties, and tribal governments. The upgrades are intended to improve efficiency, strengthen fraud detection, and help agencies comply with new federal requirements as they take on a greater responsibility for administering social service programs.
Another new law establishes an early childhood mental health consultation grant program to improve mental health services for Minnesota’s youngest children. The program will support consultation services for children age 5 and younger by helping early childhood professionals identify social, emotional, and behavioral concerns sooner and connect families with appropriate services.
Eligible providers include mental health clinics, tribal health organizations, and other agencies specializing in infant and early childhood mental health.
Another new law creates an emergency shelter facility grant program to help communities improve or expand emergency shelter options. Grants may cover up to the full cost of eligible capital projects, with at least 40 percent of the funding reserved for Greater Minnesota projects. The program is intended to help expand emergency shelter capacity around the state.
Minnesota’s public colleges and universities also will begin implementing identity verification systems intended to combat so-called “ghost students,” people who use stolen or fake identities to enroll in classes and fraudulently obtain financial aid. Lawmakers approved the initiative after colleges reported growing problems with fraudulent enrollments in recent years.