HF 2670

as introduced - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to human services; allowing certain 
  1.3             individuals to simultaneously receive family support 
  1.4             grants and community-based waivered services; setting 
  1.5             a floor for family support grants; amending Minnesota 
  1.6             Statutes 1998, section 252.32, subdivisions 1a and 3. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 252.32, 
  1.9   subdivision 1a, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subd. 1a.  [SUPPORT GRANTS.] (a) Provision of support 
  1.11  grants must be limited to families who require support and whose 
  1.12  dependents are under the age of 22 and who have mental 
  1.13  retardation or who have a related condition and who have been 
  1.14  determined by a screening team established under section 
  1.15  256B.092 to be at risk of institutionalization.  Families who 
  1.16  are receiving home and community-based waivered services for 
  1.17  persons with mental retardation or related conditions are not 
  1.18  eligible for support grants, unless the family has ongoing 
  1.19  payments for environmental or vehicle modifications that would 
  1.20  have qualified for payment under the home and community-based 
  1.21  waiver for persons with mental retardation or related 
  1.22  conditions, had the family member been receiving services under 
  1.23  that waiver at the time the modifications were made.  
  1.24  Eligibility for family support grants for families also 
  1.25  receiving services under the home and community-based waiver for 
  1.26  persons with mental retardation or related conditions is limited 
  2.1   to the period of time needed to pay for the qualified 
  2.2   modifications using the entire amount of the support grant.  
  2.3   Families whose annual adjusted gross income is $60,000 or more 
  2.4   are not eligible for support grants except in cases where 
  2.5   extreme hardship is demonstrated.  Beginning in state fiscal 
  2.6   year 1994, the commissioner shall adjust the income ceiling 
  2.7   annually to reflect the projected change in the average value in 
  2.8   the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics 
  2.9   consumer price index (all urban) for that year. 
  2.10     (b) Support grants may be made available as monthly subsidy 
  2.11  grants and lump sum grants. 
  2.12     (c) Support grants may be issued in the form of cash, 
  2.13  voucher, and direct county payment to a vendor.  
  2.14     (d) Applications for the support grant shall be made by the 
  2.15  legal guardian to the county social service agency.  The 
  2.16  application shall specify the needs of the families, the form of 
  2.17  the grant requested by the families, and that the families have 
  2.18  agreed to use the support grant for items and services within 
  2.19  the designated reimbursable expense categories and 
  2.20  recommendations of the county.  
  2.21     (e) Families who were receiving subsidies on the date of 
  2.22  implementation of the $60,000 income limit in paragraph (a) 
  2.23  continue to be eligible for a family support grant until 
  2.24  December 31, 1991, if all other eligibility criteria are met.  
  2.25  After December 31, 1991, these families are eligible for a grant 
  2.26  in the amount of one-half the grant they would otherwise 
  2.27  receive, for as long as they remain eligible under other 
  2.28  eligibility criteria. 
  2.29     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 252.32, 
  2.30  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  2.31     Subd. 3.  [AMOUNT OF SUPPORT GRANT; USE.] Support grant 
  2.32  amounts shall be determined by the county social service 
  2.33  agency.  Each service and item purchased with a support grant 
  2.34  must: 
  2.35     (1) be over and above the normal costs of caring for the 
  2.36  dependent if the dependent did not have a disability; 
  3.1      (2) be directly attributable to the dependent's disabling 
  3.2   condition; and 
  3.3      (3) enable the family to delay or prevent the out-of-home 
  3.4   placement of the dependent. 
  3.5      The design and delivery of services and items purchased 
  3.6   under this section must suit the dependent's chronological age 
  3.7   and be provided in the least restrictive environment possible, 
  3.8   consistent with the needs identified in the individual service 
  3.9   plan. 
  3.10     Items and services purchased with support grants must be 
  3.11  those for which there are no other public or private funds 
  3.12  available to the family.  Fees assessed to parents for health or 
  3.13  human services that are funded by federal, state, or county 
  3.14  dollars are not reimbursable through this program. 
  3.15     The maximum monthly grant amount shall be $250 per eligible 
  3.16  dependent, or $3,000 per eligible dependent per state fiscal 
  3.17  year, within unless the needs of the family are entirely met by 
  3.18  a lesser amount.  The number of support grants provided by a 
  3.19  county is subject to the limits of available funds.  The county 
  3.20  social service agency may consider the dependent's supplemental 
  3.21  security income in determining the amount of the support grant.  
  3.22  The county social service agency may exceed $3,000 per state 
  3.23  fiscal year per eligible dependent for emergency circumstances 
  3.24  in cases where exceptional resources of the family are required 
  3.25  to meet the health, welfare-safety needs of the child.  The 
  3.26  county social service agency may set aside up to five percent of 
  3.27  its allocation to fund emergency situations. 
  3.28     Effective July 1, 1997, county social service agencies 
  3.29  shall continue to provide funds to families receiving state 
  3.30  grants on June 30, 1997, if eligibility criteria continue to be 
  3.31  met.  Any adjustments to their monthly grant amount must be 
  3.32  based on the needs of the family and funding availability.