SF 452

1st Engrossment - 89th Legislature (2015 - 2016) Posted on 03/10/2015 09:16am

A bill for an act
relating to human services; establishing a jobs and health innovation grant
program for hard-to-employ Minnesotans; requiring reports; appropriating
money; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 256E.

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

Section 1.

[256E.365] JOBS AND HEALTH INNOVATION GRANT PROGRAM
FOR HARD-TO-EMPLOY MINNESOTANS.

Subdivision 1.

Establishment.

The commissioner shall establish a grant program
with the goal of creating new jobs for long-term and chronically unemployed Minnesotans
who are frequent and costly users of state and county interventions and services. The target
population for the grant program includes individuals who rely heavily on government
services, such as veterans, individuals who have recently been released from incarceration,
and individuals with mental illness and chemical addiction.

Subd. 2.

Objectives.

The grant program must:

(1) provide an incentive for the private employment sector to generate new
employment opportunities for the targeted population; and

(2) foster cross-agency collaboration at the state and local levels and reduce
government costs by eliminating inefficiencies due to lack of coordination between local
and state agencies, and applying best practices relating to the coordination and provision
of services.

Subd. 3.

Selection of grant recipients.

(a) The commissioner shall award grants
under this section.

(b) To be eligible to receive a grant, an applicant must be a nonprofit organization
located in this state, and must:

(1) commit to creating new full-time or part-time positions for the targeted population;

(2) demonstrate a clear plan for creating new jobs and verify that the funds will not
be used to preserve or fund existing jobs;

(3) demonstrate how the needs of the targeted population, such as housing, mental and
chemical health services, and preventative health care will be addressed and coordinated;

(4) explain how employment opportunities will be coordinated with housing,
behavioral health, and other critical support services intended to ensure that program
participants become stable, contributing members of their communities; and

(5) outline how the proposed employment strategies will reduce federal, state, and
local government costs, including public spending for shelter, food assistance, emergency
health care, incarceration, and other public safety costs.

(c) When awarding grants under this section, preference must be given to eligible
organizations that demonstrate the ability to meet the objectives set forth in Laws 2007,
chapter 54, article 1, section 19.

Subd. 4.

Reporting requirements.

(a) An organization receiving a grant under this
section must report annually to the commissioner on the numbers of program participants
who:

(1) were employed full time or part time;

(2) made child support payments, if applicable; and

(3) avoided institutionalization or incarceration.

(b) The commissioner shall submit an annual report on the progress of the grant
program by January 15 each year to the senate and house of representatives committees
with jurisdiction over health, human services, and employment and economic development.

Subd. 5.

Grant awards.

Grants must be awarded to up to three organizations
per biennium.

Subd. 6.

Match.

In order to qualify for a grant, applicants must match, on a
one-to-one basis, the amount of state funds awarded with nonstate funds.

Sec. 2. REPORT.

The commissioner of human services, in consultation with the commissioner of
management and budget, shall calculate the savings generated to the state through
reduced state spending on government services resulting from implementation of the
grant program established in Minnesota Statutes, section 256E.365, and shall examine
the feasibility of replenishing funding for the grant program by utilizing the anticipated
savings. The commissioner of human services must report findings under this section to
the senate and house of representatives committees with jurisdiction over human services
by January 15, 2016.

Sec. 3. APPROPRIATION.

$4,000,000 is appropriated in fiscal year 2016 from the general fund to the
commissioner of human services for the grant program described in section 1. This
appropriation does not cancel and is available until expended. This appropriation
is ongoing. No more than two percent of the appropriation may be used for the
administration of the grant program under Minnesota Statutes, section 256E.365.