1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to human services; expanding the supportive 
  1.3             housing and managed care pilot project to serve 
  1.4             eligible families and individuals; providing funding 
  1.5             for the project; transferring federal TANF funds; 
  1.6             appropriating money; proposing coding for new law in 
  1.7             Minnesota Statutes, chapter 256K; repealing Laws 1999, 
  1.8             chapter 245, article 5, section 24. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  [256K.25] [SUPPORTIVE HOUSING AND MANAGED CARE 
  1.11  PILOT PROJECT.] 
  1.12     Subdivision 1.  [ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE.] (a) The 
  1.13  commissioner shall establish a supportive housing and managed 
  1.14  care pilot project in two counties, one within the seven-county 
  1.15  metropolitan area and one outside of that area, to determine 
  1.16  whether the integrated delivery of employment services, 
  1.17  supportive services, housing, and health care into a single, 
  1.18  flexible program will: 
  1.19     (1) reduce public expenditures on homeless families with 
  1.20  minor children, homeless noncustodial parents, and other 
  1.21  homeless individuals; 
  1.22     (2) increase the employment rates of these persons; and 
  1.23     (3) provide a new alternative to providing services to this 
  1.24  hard-to-serve population. 
  1.25     (b) The commissioner shall create a block grant program for 
  1.26  counties for the purpose of providing integrated intensive and 
  1.27  individualized case management services, employment services, 
  2.1   health care services, rent subsidies or other short- or 
  2.2   medium-term housing assistance, and other supportive services to 
  2.3   eligible families and individuals.  Minimum project and 
  2.4   application requirements shall be developed by the commissioner 
  2.5   in cooperation with counties and their nonprofit partners with 
  2.6   the goal to provide the maximum flexibility in program design. 
  2.7      (c) Services available under this project must be 
  2.8   coordinated with available health care services for an eligible 
  2.9   project participant. 
  2.10     Subd. 2.  [DEFINITION.] For purposes of this section, 
  2.11  "homeless" means: 
  2.12     (1) living, or being at imminent risk of living, on the 
  2.13  street or in a shelter; or 
  2.14     (2) having been evicted from a dwelling or discharged from 
  2.15  a regional treatment center, state-operated community-based 
  2.16  program, community hospital, or residential treatment program; 
  2.17  and 
  2.18     (3) having no appropriate housing available and lacking the 
  2.19  resources necessary to access permanent housing, as determined 
  2.20  by the county requesting funding under subdivision 3. 
  2.21     Subd. 3.  [COUNTY ELIGIBILITY.] A county may request 
  2.22  funding under this pilot project if the county: 
  2.23     (1) agrees to develop, in cooperation with nonprofit 
  2.24  partners, a supportive housing and managed care pilot project 
  2.25  that integrates the delivery of employment services, supportive 
  2.26  services, housing and health care for eligible families and 
  2.27  individuals, or agrees to contract with an existing integrated 
  2.28  program; 
  2.29     (2) for eligible participants who are also MFIP recipients, 
  2.30  agrees to develop, in cooperation with nonprofit partners, 
  2.31  procedures to ensure that the services provided under the pilot 
  2.32  project are closely coordinated with the services provided under 
  2.33  MFIP; and 
  2.34     (3) develops a method for evaluating the quality of the 
  2.35  integrated services provided and the amount of any resulting 
  2.36  cost savings to the county and state. 
  3.1      Subd. 4.  [PARTICIPANT ELIGIBILITY.] (a) In order to be 
  3.2   eligible for the pilot project, the county must determine that a 
  3.3   participant is homeless or is at risk of homelessness; has a 
  3.4   mental illness, a history of substance abuse, or HIV; and is a 
  3.5   family that meets the criteria in paragraph (b) or is an 
  3.6   individual who meets the criteria in paragraph (c). 
  3.7      (b) An eligible family must: 
  3.8      (1) include a minor child or a pregnant woman; and 
  3.9      (2) be receiving or meet the income eligibility guidelines 
  3.10  for MFIP assistance under chapter 256J; or 
  3.11     (3) include an adult caregiver who is employed or is 
  3.12  receiving employment and training services, and have household 
  3.13  income below 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. 
  3.14     (c) An eligible individual must: 
  3.15     (1) meet the eligibility requirements of the group 
  3.16  residential housing program under section 256I.04, subdivision 
  3.17  1; or 
  3.18     (2) be a noncustodial parent who is employed or is 
  3.19  receiving employment and training services, and have household 
  3.20  income below 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. 
  3.21     Subd. 5.  [FUNDING.] A county may request funding from the 
  3.22  commissioner for a specified number of eligible project 
  3.23  participants.  The commissioner shall review the request for 
  3.24  compliance with subdivisions 1 to 4 and may approve or 
  3.25  disapprove the request.  The commissioner shall allocate funding 
  3.26  for approved counties as a block grant that is paid on a monthly 
  3.27  basis. 
  3.28     Subd. 6.  [REPORT.] Participating counties and the 
  3.29  commissioner shall collaborate to prepare and issue an annual 
  3.30  report, beginning December 1, 2001, to the chairs of the 
  3.31  appropriate legislative committees on the pilot project's use of 
  3.32  public resources, including other funds leveraged for this 
  3.33  initiative, the employment and housing status of the families 
  3.34  and individuals served in the project, and the 
  3.35  cost-effectiveness of the project.  The commissioner shall 
  3.36  provide data that may be needed to evaluate the project to 
  4.1   participating counties that request the data. 
  4.2      Subd. 7.  [SUNSET.] The pilot project under this section 
  4.3   sunsets on June 30, 2006. 
  4.4      Sec. 2.  [FEDERAL TANF FUNDS; APPROPRIATION.] 
  4.5      For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2001, $3,000,000 of the 
  4.6   federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block 
  4.7   grant funds authorized under United States Code, title 42, 
  4.8   section 601 et seq. and awarded in federal fiscal years 2000 and 
  4.9   2001 are appropriated to the commissioner of human services for 
  4.10  grants to counties for the supportive housing and managed care 
  4.11  pilot project under Minnesota Statutes, section 256K.25.  This 
  4.12  appropriation is available until expended. 
  4.13     Sec. 3.  [APPROPRIATION; GENERAL FUND.] 
  4.14     $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  4.15  commissioner for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2001, to 
  4.16  provide services under section 1 for which the expenditure of 
  4.17  federal money is not permitted under United States Code, title 
  4.18  42, section 601 et seq. 
  4.19     Sec. 4.  [REPEALER.] 
  4.20     Laws 1999, chapter 245, article 5, section 24, is repealed.