2001 Minnesota Statutes

     256K.25 Supportive housing and managed care pilot 
  project. 

    Subdivision 1.    Establishment and purpose.  (a) The 
 commissioner shall establish a supportive housing and managed 
 care pilot project to determine whether the integrated delivery 
 of employment services, supportive services, housing, and health 
 care into a single, flexible program will: 

    (1) reduce public expenditures on homeless families with 
 minor children, homeless noncustodial parents, and other 
 homeless individuals; 

    (2) increase the employment rates of these persons; and 

    (3) provide a new alternative to providing services to this 
 hard-to-serve population. 

    (b) The commissioner shall create a program for counties 
 for the purpose of providing integrated intensive and 
 individualized case management services, employment services, 
 health care services, rent subsidies or other short- or 
 medium-term housing assistance, and other supportive services to 
 eligible families and individuals.  Minimum project and 
 application requirements shall be developed by the commissioner 
 in cooperation with counties and their nonprofit partners with 
 the goal to provide the maximum flexibility in program design. 

    (c) Services available under this project must be 
 coordinated with available health care services for an eligible 
 project participant. 

    Subd. 2.    Definition.  For purposes of this section, 
 "homeless" means having no appropriate housing available and 
 lacking the resources necessary to access permanent housing, as 
 determined by the county requesting funding under subdivision 3, 
 and: 

    (1) living, or being at imminent risk of living, on the 
 street or in a shelter; or 

    (2) having been evicted from a dwelling or discharged from 
 a regional treatment center, state-operated community-based 
 program, community hospital, or residential treatment program.  

    Subd. 3.    County eligibility.  (a) A county may 
 request funding under this pilot project if the county: 

    (1) agrees to develop, in cooperation with nonprofit 
 partners, a supportive housing and managed care pilot project 
 that integrates the delivery of employment services, supportive 
 services, housing and health care for eligible families and 
 individuals, or agrees to contract with an existing integrated 
 program; 

    (2) for eligible participants who are also MFIP recipients, 
 agrees to develop, in cooperation with nonprofit partners, 
 procedures to ensure that the services provided under the pilot 
 project are closely coordinated with the services provided under 
 MFIP; 

    (3) develops a method for evaluating the quality of the 
 integrated services provided and the amount of any resulting 
 cost savings to the county and state; and 

    (4) addresses in the pilot design the prevalence in the 
 homeless population served those individuals with mental 
 illness, a history of substance abuse, or HIV. 

    (b) Preference may be given to counties that cooperate with 
 other counties participating in the pilot project for purposes 
 of evaluation and counties that provide additional funding. 

    Subd. 4.    Participant eligibility.  (a) In order to 
 meet initial eligibility criteria for the pilot project, the 
 county must determine that a participant is homeless or is at 
 risk of homelessness and is a family that meets the criteria in 
 paragraph (b) or is an individual who meets the criteria in 
 paragraph (c). 

    (b) An eligible family must include a minor child or a 
 pregnant woman, and: 

    (1) be receiving or be eligible for MFIP assistance under 
 chapter 256J; or 

    (2) include an adult caregiver who is employed or is 
 receiving employment and training services, and have household 
 income below the MFIP exit level in section 256J.24, subdivision 
 10.  

    (c) An eligible individual must: 

    (1) meet the eligibility requirements of the group 
 residential housing program under section 256I.04, subdivision 
 1; or 

    (2) be a noncustodial parent who is employed or is 
 receiving employment and training services, and have household 
 income below the MFIP exit level in section 256J.24, subdivision 
 10.  

    (d) Counties participating in the pilot project may develop 
 and initiate disenrollment criteria, subject to approval by the 
 commissioner of human services. 

    Subd. 5.    Funding.  A county may request funding from 
 the commissioner for a specified number of project participants.
 The commissioner shall review the request for compliance with 
 subdivisions 1 to 4 and may approve or disapprove the request.  
 If other funds are available, the commissioner may allocate 
 funding for project participants who meet the eligibility 
 requirements of subdivision 4, paragraph (c).  The commissioner 
 may also redirect funds to the pilot project. 

    Subd. 6.    Report.  Participating counties and the 
 commissioner shall collaborate to prepare and issue an annual 
 report, beginning December 1, 2001, to the chairs of the 
 appropriate legislative committees on the pilot project's use of 
 public resources, including other funds leveraged for this 
 initiative and an assessment of the feasibility of financing the 
 pilot through other health and human services programs, the 
 employment and housing status of the families and individuals 
 served in the project, and the cost-effectiveness of the 
 project.  The annual report must also evaluate the pilot project 
 with respect to the following project goals:  that participants 
 will lead more productive, healthier, more stable and better 
 quality lives; that the teams created under the project to 
 deliver services for each project participant will be 
 accountable for ensuring that services are more appropriate, 
 cost-effective and well-coordinated; and that the system-wide 
 costs of serving this population, and the inappropriate use of 
 emergency, crisis-oriented or institutional services, will be 
 materially reduced.  The commissioner shall provide data that 
 may be needed to evaluate the project to participating counties 
 that request the data. 

    Subd. 7.    Sunset.  The pilot project under this 
 section sunsets on June 30, 2006. 

    HIST: 2000 c 488 art 10 s 25; 1Sp2001 c 9 art 10 s 55-59