SF 2876

as introduced - 92nd Legislature (2021 - 2022) Posted on 02/09/2022 01:54pm

A bill for an act
relating to human services; allowing the commissioner of human services to
reinstate waivers and modifications to certain human services programs.

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

Section 1. new text begin REINSTATEMENT AND EXTENSION OF COVID-19 PROGRAM
WAIVERS AND MODIFICATIONS.
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new text begin The commissioner of human services may reinstate waivers and modifications to human
services programs issued by the commissioner pursuant to the governor's Executive Order
20-12, including any amendments to the waivers and modifications. The waivers and
modifications may remain in effect until June 30, 2022. The following waivers and
modifications to human services programs may be reinstated:
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new text begin (1) CV03: allowing oral or written signatures by applicants on applications for public
assistance programs;
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new text begin (2) CV04: allowing oral or written permission from public assistance program participants
for the Department of Human Services to contact third parties to verify reported information;
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new text begin (3) CV23: waiving mandatory direct contact supervision requirements to allow
case-by-case decisions to permit certain individuals to work without supervision while that
individual's background studies are being processed, as permitted under federal law and
regulation, and allowing the transition from name and date of birth studies of Minnesota
records only, for both existing studies and studies that may be initiated during the transition
period, to fingerprint-based background studies to resume on a schedule established by the
commissioner and published on the department's website. Waiver provisions permitting the
return to background studies of Minnesota records only for providers who are currently
transitioned to fingerprint-based studies shall not be reinstated;
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new text begin (4) CV53: allowing qualified health professionals to provide required in-person oversight
of personal care assistance workers via two-way interactive telecommunications for all
program participants who receive personal care assistance services; and
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new text begin (5) CV89: allowing program participants to give oral, written, or expressed approval of
documents related to long-term services and supports that typically require in-person
signatures.
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new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment except
for clause (4), which is effective retroactively from September 1, 2021.
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Sec. 2. new text begin REINSTATEMENT AND EXTENSION OF COVID-19 PROGRAM
WAIVERS AND MODIFICATIONS TO THE CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE
PROGRAM.
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new text begin (a) The commissioner of human services may reinstate waivers and modifications to the
child care assistance program. The waivers and modifications shall remain in effect until
June 26, 2022. Waiver CV08, allowing a child care assistance program (CCAP) agency to
pay child care assistance to a child care provider, may be reinstated when:
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new text begin (1) children are not attending child care because the child care provider has temporarily
closed an entire program due to health concerns related to COVID-19; or
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new text begin (2) a provider chooses not to charge or reduces fees for privately paying families because
of closed or absent days due to health concerns related to COVID-19.
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new text begin (b) Child care assistance payments during closures related to COVID-19 are limited to
up to eight weeks total per child care provider. A child care provider must report any closure
to the Department of Human Services child care assistance program staff prior to submitting
child care assistance bills for closed dates to a CCAP agency for payment.
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new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective retroactively from November 1, 2021.
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Sec. 3. new text begin TEMPORARY MODIFICATIONS OF CHILD CARE CENTER STAFF;
DISTRIBUTION REQUIREMENTS.
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new text begin (a) The commissioner of human services may temporarily suspend child care center
staff distribution requirements under Minnesota Rules, part 9503.0040, subpart 2, item D,
until June 30, 2022.
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new text begin (b) A licensed child care center, except as allowed under Minnesota Rules, part
9503.0040, subpart 2, item B, must have at least one person qualified as a teacher on site
at all times when a child is in care at the licensed child care center. There must be a staff
person who is at least 18 years of age with each group of children, except as allowed under
Minnesota Rules, part 9503.0034, subpart 1.
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new text begin (c) A licensed child care center must have a staff person on site who is responsible for
overseeing the operation of the daily activities of the program, ensuring the health and safety
of the children, and supervising staff. The on-site staff person is not required to meet the
qualifications of a director.
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new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment.
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Sec. 4. new text begin COMMISSIONER OF HUMAN SERVICES; TEMPORARY STAFFING
POOL; APPROPRIATION.
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new text begin (a) The commissioner of human services may contract with third-party staffing entities
under master contract with the commissioner of administration in order to recruit, hire, train,
and employ a temporary staffing pool. Vendor contracts may include retention bonuses,
sign-on bonuses, and payment for hours on call.
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new text begin (b) Temporary staff, at the request of the commissioner, may be deployed to long-term
care facilities and other congregate care residential facilities and programs experiencing an
emergency staffing crisis on or after the effective date of this section. Temporary staff must
be provided at no cost to the facility or program receiving the temporary staff.
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new text begin (c) Members of the temporary staffing pool under this section are not state employees.
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new text begin (d) The commissioner must coordinate the activities under this section with any other
impacted state agencies, to appropriately prioritize locations to deploy contracted temporary
staff.
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new text begin (e) The commissioner must give priority for deploying staff to facilities and programs
with the most significant staffing crises and where, but for this assistance, residents would
be at significant risk of injury due to the need to transfer to another facility or a hospital for
adequately staffed care.
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new text begin (f) A facility or program may seek assistance from the temporary staffing pool only after
the facility or program has used all resources available to obtain temporary staff but is unable
to meet the facility's or program's temporary staffing needs. A facility or program may
request temporary staff for up to 30 days along with a proposed plan for ensuring resident
safety at the end of that time period.
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new text begin (g) As a condition of receiving staffing assistance from the temporary staffing pool, a
facility or program must attest it has provided employees a total of at least 80 hours of paid
leave, prorated for part-time employees, to be used if the employee must isolate or quarantine
due to COVID-19 infection or exposure, except as provided in paragraph (h). Paid leave
provided under this paragraph must be paid at the employee's regular salary or wages.
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new text begin (h) An employee who has exhausted emergency paid sick leave provided under the
federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act is not entitled to paid leave under paragraph
(g). A facility or program shall not require an employee to use the employee's existing paid
or unpaid leave in lieu of the paid leave provided under paragraph (g), unless the facility
or program:
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new text begin (1) already provides additional paid leave that is for the purpose of the paid leave provided
under paragraph (g);
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new text begin (2) compensates the employee in an amount equal to or greater than the employee's
regular salary or wages; and
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new text begin (3) provides paid leave that is in addition to the regular amount of paid leave provided
to the employee under the facility's or program's regular leave policies or applicable collective
bargaining agreement.
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new text begin (i) Facilities and programs eligible to obtain temporary staff from the temporary staffing
pool include:
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new text begin (1) nursing facilities;
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new text begin (2) assisted living facilities;
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new text begin (3) intermediate care facilities for persons with developmental disabilities;
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new text begin (4) adult foster care or community residential settings;
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new text begin (5) licensed substance use disorder treatment facilities;
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new text begin (6) unlicensed county-based substance use disorder treatment facilities;
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new text begin (7) licensed facilities for adults with mental illness;
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new text begin (8) licensed detoxification programs;
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new text begin (9) licensed withdrawal management programs;
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new text begin (10) licensed children's residential facilities;
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new text begin (11) licensed child foster residence settings;
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new text begin (12) unlicensed, Tribal-certified facilities that perform functions similar to the licensed
facilities listed in this paragraph;
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new text begin (13) boarding care homes;
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new text begin (14) board and lodging establishments serving people with disabilities or disabling
conditions;
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new text begin (15) board and lodging establishments with special services;
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new text begin (16) supervised living facilities;
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new text begin (17) supportive housing;
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new text begin (18) sober homes;
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new text begin (19) community-based halfway houses for people exiting the correctional system;
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new text begin (20) shelters serving people experiencing homelessness;
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new text begin (21) drop-in centers for people experiencing homelessness;
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new text begin (22) homeless outreach services for unsheltered individuals;
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new text begin (23) shelters for people experiencing domestic violence; and
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new text begin (24) temporary isolation spaces for people who test positive for COVID-19.
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new text begin (j) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the commissioner may allocate funding
to maintain, extend, or renew contracts for temporary staffing entered into on or after
September 1, 2020. The commissioner may also allocate funding to enter into new contracts
with eligible entities and may allocate funding for the costs needed for temporary staff
deployed in the temporary staffing pool. The commissioner may use up to 6.5 percent of
this funding for the commissioner's costs related to administration of this program.
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new text begin (k) The commissioner shall seek all allowable FEMA reimbursement for the costs of
this activity. If after receiving payment from the commissioner for a documented cost, the
provider is able to acquire payment from another source for that cost, the provider shall
reimburse the commissioner in the amount paid.
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new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment.
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