HF 3896

as introduced - 92nd Legislature (2021 - 2022) Posted on 03/21/2022 04:26pm

A bill for an act
relating to human services; establishing the Task Force on Disability Services
Accessibility and pilot projects; requiring a report; appropriating money.

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

Section 1. new text begin DISABILITY SERVICES ACCESSIBILITY TASK FORCE AND PILOT
PROJECTS.
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new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Establishment; purpose. new text end

new text begin The Task Force on Disability Services
Accessibility is established to evaluate the accessibility of current state and county disability
services and to develop and evaluate plans to address barriers to accessibility.
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new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Definitions. new text end

new text begin (a) For purposes of this section, the terms in this subdivision have
the meanings given.
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new text begin (b) "Accessible" means that a service or program does not present barriers to a person
participating in or navigating a program or service, with or without assistance as chosen by
that person. Accessible communication means communication that a person understands,
with appropriate accommodations as needed, including language or other interpretation.
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new text begin (c) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the Department of Human Services.
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new text begin (d) "Disability services" means services provided through Medicaid, including personal
care assistance, home care, other home and community-based services, and waivers.
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new text begin (e) "Lead agency" means a county administering or a Tribe or health plan under contract
with the commissioner to administer disability services.
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new text begin (f) "Task force" means the Task Force on Disability Services Accessibility.
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new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Membership. new text end

new text begin (a) The task force consists of 22 members as follows:
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new text begin (1) the commissioner of human services or a designee;
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new text begin (2) one member appointed by the Minnesota Council on Disability;
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new text begin (3) the ombudsman for mental health and developmental disabilities or a designee;
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new text begin (4) two representatives of counties or Tribal agencies appointed by the commissioner
of human services;
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new text begin (5) one member appointed by the Minnesota Association of County Social Service
Administrators;
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new text begin (6) one member appointed by the Minnesota Disability Law Center;
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new text begin (7) one member appointed by the Arc of Minnesota;
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new text begin (8) one member appointed by the Autism Society of Minnesota;
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new text begin (9) one member appointed by the Service Employees International Union;
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new text begin (10) five members appointed by the commissioner of human services who are people
with disabilities, including at least one individual who has been denied services from the
state or county and two individuals who use different types of disability services;
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new text begin (11) three members appointed by the commissioner of human services who are parents
of children with disabilities who use different types of disability services;
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new text begin (12) one member appointed by the Association of Residential Resources in Minnesota;
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new text begin (13) one member appointed by the Minnesota Organization for Habilitation and
Rehabilitation; and
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new text begin (14) two members appointed by the commissioner of human services who are direct
service professionals.
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new text begin (b) To the extent possible, membership on the task force under paragraph (a) shall reflect
geographic parity throughout the state and representation from Black and Indigenous
communities and communities of color.
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new text begin (c) The membership terms, compensation, expense reimbursement, and removal and
filling of vacancies of task force members are as provided in section 15.059.
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new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Appointment deadline; first meeting; chair. new text end

new text begin Appointing authorities must
complete member selections by January 1, 2023. The commissioner shall convene the first
meeting of the task force by February 15, 2023. The task force shall select a chair from
among its members at its first meeting. The chair will convene all subsequent meetings.
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new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Goals. new text end

new text begin The goals of the task force include:
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new text begin (1) developing plans and executing methods to investigate accessibility of disability
services, including consideration of the following inquiries:
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new text begin (i) how accessible is the program or service without assistance or accommodation;
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new text begin (ii) how are accessibility options for the program or service communicated to consumers;
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new text begin (iii) what types of trainings are being done on accessibility for the program or service;
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new text begin (iv) who is accessing fewer services or being denied services due to accessibility issues,
what type of disability or support needs do they have, and why are they accessing fewer
services or being denied services;
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new text begin (v) how many appeals of state and county decisions denying or reducing services or
eligibility are overturned and what do those appeals cost the state and counties;
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new text begin (vi) what is the process for filing consumer accessibility complaints and for correcting
administrative errors; and
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new text begin (vii) what areas of discrepancy exist between declared state and county disability policy
goals and enumerated state and federal laws and the experiences of people who have
disabilities in accessing services;
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new text begin (2) identifying areas of inaccessibility creating inefficiencies that financially impact the
state and counties, including:
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new text begin (i) the cost of appeals;
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new text begin (ii) the cost of crisis intervention because of service failure; and
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new text begin (iii) the cost of redoing work that was not done correctly initially.
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new text begin (3) assessing the efficacy of possible solutions, including supervising and reviewing
data from pilot projects as described in subdivisions 7 and 8.
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new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Duties; plan and recommendations. new text end

new text begin (a) The task force shall work with the
commissioner to identify investigative areas and to develop a plan to conduct an accessibility
assessment of disability services provided by lead agencies and the Department of Human
Services. The assessment shall:
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new text begin (1) identify accessibility barriers and impediments created by current policies, procedures,
and implementation;
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new text begin (2) identify and analyze accessibility barrier and impediment impacts on different
demographics;
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new text begin (3) gather information from:
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new text begin (i) the Department of Human Services;
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new text begin (ii) relevant state agencies and staff;
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new text begin (iii) counties and relevant staff;
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new text begin (iv) people who use disability services;
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new text begin (v) disability advocates; and
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new text begin (vi) family members and other support people for individuals who use disability services;
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new text begin (4) identify barriers to accessibility improvements in state and county services; and
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new text begin (5) identify benefits to the state and counties in improving accessibility of disability
services.
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new text begin (b) For the purposes of the assessment, disability services include:
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new text begin (1) access to services;
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new text begin (2) explanation of services;
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new text begin (3) maintenance of services;
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new text begin (4) application of services;
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new text begin (5) services participant understanding of rights and responsibilities;
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new text begin (6) communication regarding services;
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new text begin (7) requests for accommodations;
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new text begin (8) processes for filing complaints or grievances; and
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new text begin (9) processes for appealing decisions denying or reducing services or eligibility.
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new text begin (c) The task force shall collaborate with stakeholders, counties, and state agencies to
develop recommendations from the findings of the assessment and to create sustainable and
accessible changes to county and state services to improve outcomes for people with
disabilities. The recommendations shall include:
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new text begin (1) recommendations to eliminate barriers identified in the assessment, including but
not limited to recommendations for state legislative action, state policy action, and lead
agency changes;
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new text begin (2) benchmarks for measuring annual progress toward increasing accessibility in county
and state disability services to be annually evaluated by the commissioner and the Minnesota
Council on Disability;
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new text begin (3) a proposed method for monitoring and tracking accessibility in disability services;
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new text begin (4) proposed initiatives, training, and services designed to improve accessibility and
effectiveness of county and state disability services; and
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new text begin (5) recommendations for sustainable financial support and resources for improving
accessibility.
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new text begin (d) The task force shall oversee preparation of a report outlining the findings from the
accessibility assessment in paragraph (a) and the recommendations developed pursuant to
paragraph (b) according to subdivision 9.
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new text begin Subd. 7. new text end

new text begin Pilot projects. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner shall establish pilot projects with multiple
methods of reducing accessibility barriers in disability services.
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new text begin (b) The commissioner shall select lead agencies to conduct pilot projects through a
competitive application process. The commissioner shall select six lead agencies across the
state in regional zones, with proportional representation from counties serving Black people,
Indigenous people, and other people of color and no more than two lead agencies from the
seven-county metropolitan area.
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new text begin (c) The application must include a proposal for how the county will implement any pilot
project in subdivisions 7 and 8 for at least five percent of the county's total disability services
case load.
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new text begin (d) Selected counties shall use a process to facilitate communication between counties
and applicants and reduce incidences of appeal prior to issuing disability service decisions
that deny or reduce services or eligibility. These counties shall provide recipients with a
preview of the service decision and an opportunity to ask questions, provide clarification,
or provide additional information. The process must be accessible to recipients, including
in its forms of communication. A recipient is not required to participate in the preview
process.
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new text begin (e) Any preview and opportunity for questions, clarification, or additional documents
must occur at least ten business days in advance of issuing a service decision. The preview
process must at minimum include:
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new text begin (1) the lead agency sharing the substantive content of the proposed decision with the
recipient;
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new text begin (2) an opportunity for interactive communication between the recipient and a
representative of the lead agency with knowledge regarding the proposed decision must be
in a format that is accessible to the recipient; and
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new text begin (3) continuation of services while a notice of action is pending following the preview
process.
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new text begin (f) Counties must issue a notice of action within ten days of the final communication of
the preview process. Counties may change a decision denying or reducing services or
eligibility between the preview and the decision based on discussions or information from
the preview process. The recipient may request an appeal at any time.
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new text begin (g) To the extent permitted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, selected
counties shall streamline Medicaid service eligibility for people with disabilities by using
less frequent disability service needs assessments to save costs and reduce administrative
work needed to redetermine service eligibility. If federal approval is needed for the pilot
project, the commissioner shall seek a waiver from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services to permit the pilot project.
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new text begin (h) The commissioner shall establish the criteria for lead agencies participating in the
pilot project to use less frequent assessments for disability services for qualifying individuals.
This criteria must include the likelihood of the individual's disability-related needs to change
over time and the consistency or lack thereof of previous assessment results.
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new text begin (i) A change to less frequent assessments must not preclude an individual from requesting
an assessment earlier than the next scheduled assessment. Lead agencies shall assess service
eligibility at least every three years.
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new text begin (j) Selected lead agencies shall hire or contract with a community program and train and
implement a team of peer system navigators to assist recipients with navigating county
processes. Navigators must be people with disabilities or parents or guardians receiving the
same type of services in similar settings. The county must communicate with navigators
and pair navigators with participants.
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new text begin (k) The peer system navigator process must be accessible to recipients, including in form
of communication. The counties must pay peer navigators and provide benefit counseling
to navigators to ensure their own services and supports are not at risk.
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new text begin (l) Selected lead agencies shall make options available for disability service recipients
to use electronic communications for interactions with the lead agency regarding services.
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new text begin Subd. 8. new text end

new text begin Pilot projects; funding and timing. new text end

new text begin (a) Each county selected must receive
grant funding to implement, operate, and report on the pilot project. The amount of grant
funding must be proportionate to the disability services case load for the selected county.
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new text begin (b) Counties shall implement the pilot projects no later than July 1, 2023, and shall
continue the projects for at least 18 months. Counties must provide interim reporting on the
pilot projects to the task force at six, 12, and 18 months into the pilot projects.
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new text begin Subd. 9. new text end

new text begin Report. new text end

new text begin By August 1, 2025, the task force shall submit a report with
recommendations to the chairs and ranking minority members of the committees and divisions
in the senate and house of representatives with jurisdiction over health and human services.
This report must comply with subdivision 6, paragraph (d), include any changes to statutes,
laws, or rules required to implement the recommendations of the task force, and include a
recommendation concerning continuing the task force beyond its scheduled expiration.
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new text begin Subd. 10. new text end

new text begin Administrative support. new text end

new text begin The commissioner of human services shall provide
meeting space and administrative services to the task force.
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new text begin Subd. 11. new text end

new text begin Expiration. new text end

new text begin The task force expires on March 31, 2026.
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Sec. 2. new text begin APPROPRIATION.
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new text begin $....... in fiscal year 2023 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of
human services for the Task Force on Disability Services Accessibility. Of this amount,
$....... must be used to provide grants under section 1, subdivision 8. This is a onetime
appropriation and is available until March 31, 2026.
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Sec. 3. new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE.
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new text begin Sections 1 and 2 are effective July 1, 2022.
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