1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to human services; changing provisions in 
  1.3             foster care reimbursement; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.4             2000, section 256.82, subdivision 3, and by adding a 
  1.5             subdivision; repealing Minnesota Statutes 2000, 
  1.6             section 256.82, subdivisions 4 and 5. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 256.82, 
  1.9   subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subd. 3.  [SETTING FOSTER CARE STANDARD RATES.] The 
  1.11  commissioner shall annually establish minimum standard 
  1.12  maintenance rates for foster care maintenance and difficulty of 
  1.13  care additional payments necessary to meet the child's needs 
  1.14  according to a uniform assessment tool established by the 
  1.15  commissioner for all children in foster care.  
  1.16     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 256.82, is 
  1.17  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.18     Subd. 6.  [STATE REIMBURSEMENT FOR COST OF CHILD FAMILY 
  1.19  FOSTER CARE.] (a) For purposes of this subdivision, "child 
  1.20  family foster care" means substitute 24-hour care of a child in 
  1.21  a family or group family foster home licensed under section 
  1.22  245A.035 and Minnesota Rules, parts 9545.0010 to 9545.0260 and 
  1.23  9545.0825, or similar licensing or approval requirements 
  1.24  administered by another jurisdiction.  The term includes the 
  1.25  initial 60-day clothing allowance.  It excludes child shelter in 
  1.26  a family foster home and respite care. 
  2.1      (b) The commissioner of human services shall reimburse a 
  2.2   county the cost of child family foster care in the following 
  2.3   manner: 
  2.4      (1) Beginning in July 2002, and annually thereafter, the 
  2.5   commissioner will forecast child family foster care costs for 
  2.6   each calendar year and make payments as follows: 
  2.7      (i) in July of each year, the commissioner will make a 
  2.8   payment to a county to cover 40 percent of the county's 
  2.9   anticipated nonfederal costs of child family foster care for 
  2.10  that calendar year; 
  2.11     (ii) in September of each year, the commissioner will make 
  2.12  an additional payment, if necessary, to a county so that this 
  2.13  payment and the payment in item (i) reflects the actual 
  2.14  expenditures by the county of the nonfederal costs of child 
  2.15  family foster care for that county for the period January 
  2.16  through June of that calendar year; 
  2.17     (iii) in December of each year, the commissioner will make 
  2.18  a payment to a county which when added to the payments in items 
  2.19  (i) and (ii) reflect 90 percent of the county's anticipated 
  2.20  nonfederal costs of child family foster care for that calendar 
  2.21  year; and 
  2.22     (iv) in March of the calendar year following the payments 
  2.23  made in subitems (i) to (iii), the commissioner will settle-up 
  2.24  with each county by making an additional payment to or 
  2.25  recovering money from the county as necessary to reconcile the 
  2.26  net amount of the payments received by the county under subitems 
  2.27  (i) to (iii) with the total reimbursement to be made to the 
  2.28  county under clause (2). 
  2.29     (2) The total reimbursement to a county shall be a 
  2.30  percentage of the actual expenditures by the county of the 
  2.31  nonfederal costs of child family foster care for the period 
  2.32  January through December of the previous calendar year.  For a 
  2.33  county that meets the requirements of clause (3) during that 
  2.34  year, the percentage shall be 100 percent of the actual 
  2.35  expenditures.  For a county that did not meet the requirements 
  2.36  of clause (3), the percentage shall be 90 percent of the actual 
  3.1   expenditures. 
  3.2      (3) In order to receive reimbursement at the rate of 100 
  3.3   percent for the cost of family foster care for children for whom 
  3.4   the county social services agency has legal responsibility or 
  3.5   financial responsibility under chapter 256G for placement 
  3.6   through a voluntary placement agreement or court order, 80 
  3.7   percent of these cases must have timely hearings under section 
  3.8   260C.201, subdivision 11, or meet the requirements of section 
  3.9   260C.301, subdivisions 3 and 4. 
  3.10     (4) If the requirements of this paragraph cannot be met for 
  3.11  reasons beyond the responsibility of the county social services 
  3.12  agency, the agency may demonstrate diligent efforts by the 
  3.13  agency to comply with its responsibilities in a reasonable 
  3.14  attempt to meet the requirements, in which case the commissioner 
  3.15  shall reimburse the cost of out-of-home placement as if the 
  3.16  requirements had been met. 
  3.17     (c) Reimbursement to a county shall also be contingent on 
  3.18  the county's demonstrated compliance with responsibility for the 
  3.19  following: 
  3.20     (1) establishment of any nonstate reimbursement for the 
  3.21  cost of family foster care including determining eligibility for 
  3.22  federal participation in reimbursement for the cost of family 
  3.23  foster care under United States Code, title 42, sections 670 to 
  3.24  676; 
  3.25     (2) collection of parental fees or fees from income 
  3.26  attributable to the child under section 260C.331; and 
  3.27     (3) diligent recruitment efforts for family foster homes 
  3.28  under chapter 260C and the operation of a family foster home 
  3.29  licensing program under chapter 245A. 
  3.30     (d) Fees from parents or income attributable to the child 
  3.31  collected according to section 260C.331 may be retained by the 
  3.32  county. 
  3.33     Sec. 3.  [REPEALER.] 
  3.34     Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 256.82, subdivisions 4 and 
  3.35  5, are repealed.