SF 1117

1st Engrossment - 88th Legislature (2013 - 2014) Posted on 03/22/2013 08:58am

A bill for an act
relating to human services; creating the Minnesota Families and Children
Assistance Program Act; modifying the MFIP and child care assistance
programs; providing directions to commissioner; instructing the revisor to change
certain terminology; appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2012,
sections 16A.152, subdivision 2; 119B.05, subdivision 1; 256J.24, subdivision 5;
repealing Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 256J.24, subdivision 6.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1. new text begin LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS.
new text end

new text begin The legislature finds that:
new text end

new text begin (1) seven out of ten MFIP recipients are children;
new text end

new text begin (2) children receiving MFIP assistance are living in poverty;
new text end

new text begin (3) current MFIP policies are pushing children and their families deeper into poverty;
new text end

new text begin (4) almost half of Minnesota children receiving MFIP assistance are under the
age of six;
new text end

new text begin (5) 90 percent of brain development occurs during the first five years of a child's life;
new text end

new text begin (6) research demonstrates that experiences affect the way a child's brain develops,
and that adverse childhood experiences can produce toxic levels of stress and disrupt the
architecture of a child's developing brain; and
new text end

new text begin (7) 85 percent of teenage mothers currently receiving MFIP assistance received
MFIP assistance as children.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 16A.152, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Additional revenues; priority.

(a) If on the basis of a forecast of general
fund revenues and expenditures, the commissioner of management and budget determines
that there will be a positive unrestricted budgetary general fund balance at the close of
the biennium, the commissioner of management and budget must allocate money to the
following accounts and purposes in priority order:

(1) the cash flow account established in subdivision 1 until that account reaches
$350,000,000;

(2) the budget reserve account established in subdivision 1a until that account
reaches $653,000,000;

(3) the amount necessary to increase the aid payment schedule for school district
aids and credits payments in section 127A.45 to not more than 90 percent rounded to the
nearest tenth of a percent without exceeding the amount available and with any remaining
funds deposited in the budget reserve;

(4) the amount necessary to restore all or a portion of the net aid reductions under
section 127A.441 and to reduce the property tax revenue recognition shift under section
123B.75, subdivision 5, by the same amount; deleted text begin and
deleted text end

new text begin (5) the Minnesota Family Investment Program under chapter 256J or other
TANF-eligible programs in an amount equal to the amount of federal TANF funds that
have been used to refinance general fund expenditures since fiscal year 1997; and
new text end

deleted text begin (5) deleted text end new text begin (6) new text end to the state airports fund, the amount necessary to restore the amount
transferred from the state airports fund under Laws 2008, chapter 363, article 11, section
3, subdivision 5.

(b) The amounts necessary to meet the requirements of this section are appropriated
from the general fund within two weeks after the forecast is released or, in the case of
transfers under paragraph (a), clauses (3) and (4), as necessary to meet the appropriations
schedules otherwise established in statute.

(c) The commissioner of management and budget shall certify the total dollar
amount of the reductions under paragraph (a), clauses (3) and (4), to the commissioner of
education. The commissioner of education shall increase the aid payment percentage and
reduce the property tax shift percentage by these amounts and apply those reductions to
the current fiscal year and thereafter.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 119B.05, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Eligible participants.

Families eligible for child care assistance
under the MFIP child care program are:

(1) MFIP participants who are employed or in job search and meet the requirements
of section 119B.10;

(2) persons who are members of transition year families under section 119B.011,
subdivision 20, and meet the requirements of section 119B.10;

(3) families who are participating in employment orientation or job search, or
other employment or training activities that are included in an approved employability
development plan under section 256J.95;

(4) MFIP families who are participating in work job search, job support,
employment, or training activities as required in their employment plan, or in appeals,
hearings, assessments, or orientations according to chapter 256J;

(5) MFIP families who are participating in social services activities under chapter
256J as required in their employment plan approved according to chapter 256J;

(6) families who are participating in services or activities that are included in an
approved family stabilization plan under section 256J.575;

new text begin (7) MFIP child-only cases under section 256J.88 may be authorized to receive up to
20 hours of MFIP child care assistance per week as approved by the county, if the child is
not enrolled in any other early childhood programming;
new text end

deleted text begin (7) deleted text end new text begin (8) new text end families who are participating in programs as required in tribal contracts
under section 119B.02, subdivision 2, or 256.01, subdivision 2; and

deleted text begin (8) deleted text end new text begin (9) new text end families who are participating in the transition year extension under section
119B.011, subdivision 20a.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 256J.24, subdivision 5, is amended to read:

Subd. 5.

MFIP transitional standard.

The MFIP transitional standard is based
on the number of persons in the assistance unit eligible for both food and cash assistance
deleted text begin unless the restrictions in subdivision 6 on the birth of a child apply deleted text end . The amount of the
transitional standard is published annually by the Department of Human Services.

Sec. 5.

new text begin DUTIES OF THE COMMISSIONER; MFIP REPORTS.
new text end

new text begin The commissioner of human services shall include information regarding the
number of children and their ages: receiving MFIP; affected by sanctions; and in families
exceeding the 60-month time limit in the Department of Human Services' MFIP monthly
reports and trends reports and incorporate measures of child well-being into Department
of Human Services county management reports and other annual reports, including
information about MFIP children's participation in early childhood programs such as
family home visiting, Early Head Start and Head Start, Part C Early Intervention, and
their utilization of preventative health services, including well-child visits, to the extent
possible. For purposes of this section, "child well-being" means a child's developmental
progress relative to the child's age, including cognitive, physical, emotional, and social
development as measured through developmental screening tools, school achievement,
health status, and other relevant standardized measures of development.
new text end

Sec. 6. new text begin MFIP CHILD WELL-BEING PILOT PROJECT.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Establishment. new text end

new text begin The commissioner of human services shall
establish and implement a pilot project in up to three counties to determine effective
strategies to increase MFIP child well-being, especially to improve the school readiness
of young children in families receiving MFIP by increasing their parents' knowledge
of and access to information and opportunities for early childhood care and education.
The commissioner shall develop the project in consultation with the commissioners of
education, health, and the Housing Finance Agency.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 1a. new text end

new text begin Definition. new text end

new text begin "Child well-being" means a child's developmental progress
relative to the child's age, including cognitive, physical, emotional, and social development
as measured through developmental screening tools, school achievement, health status,
and other relevant standardized measures of development.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Pilot project goals. new text end

new text begin The goals of the pilot project are to:
new text end

new text begin (1) determine effective strategies to help parents identify when they or their child
may benefit from mental health or early childhood services, understand the importance of
obtaining services for themselves and their child, and know where to go for services;
new text end

new text begin (2) provide early childhood development information and resources to MFIP parents,
including tools parents can use to track their child's development, resources used by other
families in their communities to support their child's growth, and where to go if they have
questions about their child's development;
new text end

new text begin (3) determine the best strategies to ensure that MFIP parents can attend to their
child's development and potential need for additional services, if indicated;
new text end

new text begin (4) consider county staff training issues related to early childhood development
and child well-being;
new text end

new text begin (5) test various methods of providing information about child development,
including the impact of trauma and poverty in early childhood, to county staff, community
provider staff, and MFIP parents; and
new text end

new text begin (6) maximize the use of existing resources.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin County application; participation. new text end

new text begin Counties may apply to the
commissioner of human services to participate in the pilot project on the forms and
according to the timelines established by the commissioner. The commissioner shall
determine the county or counties that will participate in the pilot project based on the
applications received by the commissioner. The commissioner shall provide technical
assistance to participating counties, including advice regarding medical assistance
reimbursement for certain screening and assessment activities under the child and teen
check-up program.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Services. new text end

new text begin (a) Services provided under the pilot project shall include, but
are not limited to, providing parents access to:
new text end

new text begin (1) information regarding healthy child development;
new text end

new text begin (2) resources to support parenting; and
new text end

new text begin (3) specialized resources to prevent or mitigate developmental delays, including
family home visiting, Part C Early Intervention, mental health services provided by a
professional with training in children's mental health, child care, and Early Head Start
or Head Start.
new text end

new text begin (b) Families must begin receiving services under the pilot project no later than
July 1, 2014.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Parental participation. new text end

new text begin Caregivers participating in the pilot projects
must be allowed to include participation in an approved early childhood program as an
approved activity in their employment plans. These activity hours shall count toward the
total hourly requirements in the caregivers' employment plan.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Report and recommendations. new text end

new text begin The commissioner of human services
shall report to the legislative committees with jurisdiction over health and human services
policy and finance by January 15, 2017, information on pilot project participants as
compared to participants in the general MFIP program, including information on child
outcomes, children's school readiness, parent satisfaction, and parental ability to receive
services or other information through the referrals provided by the county or other staff.
The commissioner shall also provide recommendations to the legislative committees with
jurisdiction over health and human services policy and finance to improve MFIP child
well-being outcomes and to expand the project statewide if the results of the project
indicate project participants achieved better outcomes. Child outcomes must be the
primary factor for determining project effectiveness.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 7. new text end

new text begin Expiration. new text end

new text begin This section expires June 30, 2016.
new text end

Sec. 7. new text begin DIRECTION TO COMMISSIONER.
new text end

new text begin By February 1, 2014, the commissioner of management and budget shall report
to the legislative committees with jurisdiction over early childhood care and education
policy and finance on issues associated with incorporating long-term costs and benefits of
investments or disinvestments in early childhood programs into state budget estimates,
including fiscal notes.
new text end

Sec. 8. new text begin APPROPRIATION.
new text end

new text begin $....... is appropriated for the biennium beginning July 1, 2013, from the general
fund to the commissioner of human services for the MFIP child well-being project under
section 7.
new text end

Sec. 9. new text begin REVISOR'S INSTRUCTION.
new text end

new text begin In Minnesota Statutes and Minnesota Rules, the revisor of statutes shall substitute
the terms "Minnesota Families and Children Assistance Program" for "Minnesota Family
Investment Program" and "MFCAP" for "MFIP" wherever they appear.
new text end

Sec. 10. new text begin REPEALER.
new text end

new text begin Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 256J.24, subdivision 6, new text end new text begin is repealed.
new text end