Minnesota Session Laws - 2000, Regular Session

                            CHAPTER 330-H.F.No. 2670 
                  An act relating to human services; allowing certain 
                  individuals to simultaneously receive a one-time 
                  family support grant and community-based waivered 
                  services; setting a maximum for family support grants; 
                  amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 252.32, 
                  subdivisions 1a and 3. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 252.32, 
        subdivision 1a, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 1a.  [SUPPORT GRANTS.] (a) Provision of support 
        grants must be limited to families who require support and whose 
        dependents are under the age of 22 and who have mental 
        retardation or who have a related condition and who have been 
        determined by a screening team established under section 
        256B.092 to be at risk of institutionalization.  Families who 
        are receiving home and community-based waivered services for 
        persons with mental retardation or related conditions are not 
        eligible for support grants.  
           Families receiving grants who will be receiving home and 
        community-based waiver services for persons with mental 
        retardation or a related condition for their family member 
        within the grant year, and who have ongoing payments for 
        environmental or vehicle modifications which have been approved 
        by the county as a grant expense and would have qualified for 
        payment under this waiver may receive a one-time grant payment 
        from the commissioner to reduce or eliminate the principal of 
        the remaining debt for the modifications, not to exceed the 
        maximum amount allowable for the remaining years of eligibility 
        for a family support grant.  The commissioner is authorized to 
        use up to $20,000 annually from the grant appropriation for this 
        purpose.  Any amount unexpended at the end of the grant year 
        shall be allocated by the commissioner in accordance with 
        subdivision 3a, paragraph (b), clause (2).  Families whose 
        annual adjusted gross income is $60,000 or more are not eligible 
        for support grants except in cases where extreme hardship is 
        demonstrated.  Beginning in state fiscal year 1994, the 
        commissioner shall adjust the income ceiling annually to reflect 
        the projected change in the average value in the United States 
        Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price 
        index (all urban) for that year. 
           (b) Support grants may be made available as monthly subsidy 
        grants and lump sum grants. 
           (c) Support grants may be issued in the form of cash, 
        voucher, and direct county payment to a vendor.  
           (d) Applications for the support grant shall be made by the 
        legal guardian to the county social service agency.  The 
        application shall specify the needs of the families, the form of 
        the grant requested by the families, and that the families have 
        agreed to use the support grant for items and services within 
        the designated reimbursable expense categories and 
        recommendations of the county.  
           (e) Families who were receiving subsidies on the date of 
        implementation of the $60,000 income limit in paragraph (a) 
        continue to be eligible for a family support grant until 
        December 31, 1991, if all other eligibility criteria are met.  
        After December 31, 1991, these families are eligible for a grant 
        in the amount of one-half the grant they would otherwise 
        receive, for as long as they remain eligible under other 
        eligibility criteria. 
           Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 252.32, 
        subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 3.  [AMOUNT OF SUPPORT GRANT; USE.] Support grant 
        amounts shall be determined by the county social service 
        agency.  Each service and item purchased with a support grant 
        must: 
           (1) be over and above the normal costs of caring for the 
        dependent if the dependent did not have a disability; 
           (2) be directly attributable to the dependent's disabling 
        condition; and 
           (3) enable the family to delay or prevent the out-of-home 
        placement of the dependent. 
           The design and delivery of services and items purchased 
        under this section must suit the dependent's chronological age 
        and be provided in the least restrictive environment possible, 
        consistent with the needs identified in the individual service 
        plan. 
           Items and services purchased with support grants must be 
        those for which there are no other public or private funds 
        available to the family.  Fees assessed to parents for health or 
        human services that are funded by federal, state, or county 
        dollars are not reimbursable through this program. 
           The maximum monthly grant amount shall be $250 per eligible 
        dependent, or $3,000 per eligible dependent per state fiscal 
        year, within the limits of available funds.  The county social 
        service agency may consider the dependent's supplemental 
        security income in determining the amount of the support grant.  
        The county social service agency may exceed $3,000 per state 
        fiscal year per eligible dependent for emergency circumstances 
        in cases where exceptional resources of the family are required 
        to meet the health, welfare-safety needs of the child.  The 
        county social service agency may set aside up to five percent of 
        its allocation to fund emergency situations. 
           Effective July 1, 1997, County social service agencies 
        shall continue to provide funds to families receiving state 
        grants on June 30, 1997, if eligibility criteria continue to be 
        met.  Any adjustments to their monthly grant amount must be 
        based on the needs of the family and funding availability. 
           Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
           Section 1 is effective the day following final enactment. 
           Presented to the governor March 31, 2000 
           Signed by the governor April 4, 2000, 3:39 p.m.