2001 Minnesota Statutes

     256B.0945 Residential services for children with severe 
  emotional disturbance. 

    Subdivision 1.    Provider qualifications.  Counties 
 must arrange to provide residential services for children with 
 severe emotional disturbance according to sections 245.4882, 
 245.4885, and this section.  Services must be provided by a 
 facility that is licensed according to section 245.4882 and 
 administrative rules promulgated thereunder, and under contract 
 with the county.  Facilities providing services under 
 subdivision 2, paragraph (a), must be accredited as a 
 psychiatric facility by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of 
 Healthcare Organizations, the Commission on Accreditation of 
 Rehabilitation Facilities, or the Council on Accreditation.  
 Accreditation is not required for facilities providing services 
 under subdivision 2, paragraph (b). 

    Subd. 2.    Covered services.  All services must be 
 included in a child's individualized treatment or multiagency 
 plan of care as defined in chapter 245.  

    (a) For facilities that are institutions for mental 
 diseases according to statute and regulation or are not 
 institutions for mental diseases but are approved by the 
 commissioner to provide services under this paragraph, medical 
 assistance covers the full contract rate, including room and 
 board if the services meet the requirements of Code of Federal 
 Regulations, title 42, section 440.160.  

    (b) For facilities that are not institutions for mental 
 diseases according to federal statute and regulation and are not 
 providing services under paragraph (a), medical assistance 
 covers mental health related services that are required to be 
 provided by a residential facility under section 245.4882 and 
 administrative rules promulgated thereunder, except for room and 
 board. 

    Subd. 3.    Centralized disbursement of medical assistance 
 payments.  Notwithstanding section 256B.041, county payments 
 for the cost of residential services provided under this section 
 shall not be made to the state treasurer. 

    Subd. 4.    Payment rates.  (a) Notwithstanding sections 
 256.025, subdivision 2; 256B.19; and 256B.041, payments to 
 counties for residential services provided by a residential 
 facility shall only be made of federal earnings for services 
 provided under this section, and the nonfederal share of costs 
 for services provided under this section shall be paid by the 
 county from sources other than federal funds or funds used to 
 match other federal funds.  Payment to counties for services 
 provided according to subdivision 2, paragraph (a), shall be the 
 federal share of the contract rate.  Payment to counties for 
 services provided according to subdivision 2, paragraph (b), 
 shall be a proportion of the per day contract rate that relates 
 to rehabilitative mental health services and shall not include 
 payment for costs or services that are billed to the IV-E 
 program as room and board.  

    (b) The commissioner shall set aside a portion not to 
 exceed five percent of the federal funds earned under this 
 section to cover the state costs of administering this section.  
 Any unexpended funds from the set-aside shall be distributed to 
 the counties in proportion to their earnings under this section. 

    Subd. 5.    Quality measures.  Counties must collect and 
 report to the commissioner information on outcomes for services 
 provided under this section using standardized tools that 
 measure the impact of residential treatment programs on child 
 functioning and/or behavior, living stability, and parent and 
 child satisfaction consistent with the goals of sections 
 245.4876, subdivision 1, and 256F.01.  The commissioner shall 
 designate standardized tools to be used and shall collect and 
 analyze individualized outcome data on a statewide basis and 
 report to the legislature by December 1, 2003.  The commissioner 
 shall provide standardized tools that measure child and 
 adolescent functionality, placement stability, and satisfaction 
 for youth and family members. 

    Subd. 6.    Federal earnings.  Use of new federal 
 funding earned from services provided under this section is 
 limited to:  

    (1) increasing prevention and early intervention and 
 supportive services to meet the mental health and child welfare 
 needs of the children and families in the system of care; 

    (2) replacing reductions in federal IV-E reimbursement 
 resulting from new medical assistance coverage; 

    (3) paying the nonfederal share of additional provider 
 costs due to accreditation and new program standards necessary 
 for Medicaid reimbursement; and 

    (4) paying for the costs of complying with the data 
 collection and reporting requirements contained in subdivision 5.

 For purposes of this section, prevention, early intervention, 
 and supportive services for children and families include 
 alternative responses to child maltreatment reports under 
 chapter 626 and nonresidential children's mental health services 
 outlined in section 245.4875, subdivision 2, and family 
 preservation services outlined in section 256F.05, subdivision 8.

    Subd. 7.    Maintenance of effort.  (a) Counties that 
 receive payment under this section must maintain a level of 
 expenditures such that each year's county expenditures for 
 prevention, early intervention, and supportive services for 
 children and families is at least equal to that county's average 
 expenditures for those services for calendar years 1998 and 1999.

    (b) The commissioner may waive the requirements in 
 paragraph (a) if any of the conditions specified in section 
 256F.13, subdivision 1, paragraph (a), clause (4), items (i) to 
 (iv), are met.  

    Subd. 8.    Reports.  The commissioner shall review 
 county expenditures annually using reports required under 
 sections 245.482; 256.01, subdivision 2, clause (17); and 
 256E.08, subdivision 8, to ensure that counties meet their 
 obligation under subdivision 7, and that the base level of 
 expenditures for prevention, early intervention, and supportive 
 services for children and families and children's mental health 
 residential treatment is continued from sources other than 
 federal funds earned under this section. 

    Subd. 9.    Sanctions.  The commissioner may suspend, 
 reduce, or terminate funds for prevention, early intervention, 
 and supportive services for children and families up to the 
 limit of federal revenue earned under this section to a county 
 that does not meet one or all of the requirements of this 
 section.  If the commissioner finds evidence of children placed 
 in residential treatment who do not meet the criteria outlined 
 in section 245.4885, subdivision 1, the commissioner may take 
 action to limit inappropriate placements in residential 
 treatment. 

    Subd. 10.    Recommendations.  The commissioner shall 
 provide recommendations to the legislature by January 15, 2000, 
 regarding any amendments to this section that may be necessary 
 or advisable prior to implementation. 

    HIST: 1999 c 245 art 8 s 9; 2000 c 340 s 4-11