2007 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 systemwide 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, 2007.
History: 2000 c 488 art 10 s 25; 1Sp2001 c 9 art 10 s 55-59; 2002 c 379 art 1 s 113;
2004 c 204 s 1