2006 Minnesota Statutes

245A.03 WHO MUST BE LICENSED.
    Subdivision 1. License required. Unless licensed by the commissioner, an individual,
corporation, partnership, voluntary association, other organization, or controlling individual
must not:
(1) operate a residential or a nonresidential program;
(2) receive a child or adult for care, supervision, or placement in foster care or adoption;
(3) help plan the placement of a child or adult in foster care or adoption or engage in
placement activities as defined in section 259.21, subdivision 9, in this state, whether or not
the adoption occurs in this state; or
(4) advertise a residential or nonresidential program.
    Subd. 2. Exclusion from licensure. (a) This chapter does not apply to:
(1) residential or nonresidential programs that are provided to a person by an individual who
is related unless the residential program is a child foster care placement made by a local social
services agency or a licensed child-placing agency, except as provided in subdivision 2a;
(2) nonresidential programs that are provided by an unrelated individual to persons from a
single related family;
(3) residential or nonresidential programs that are provided to adults who do not abuse
chemicals or who do not have a chemical dependency, a mental illness, a developmental disability,
a functional impairment, or a physical disability;
(4) sheltered workshops or work activity programs that are certified by the commissioner
of economic security;
(5) programs operated by a public school for children 33 months or older;
(6) nonresidential programs primarily for children that provide care or supervision for
periods of less than three hours a day while the child's parent or legal guardian is in the same
building as the nonresidential program or present within another building that is directly
contiguous to the building in which the nonresidential program is located;
(7) nursing homes or hospitals licensed by the commissioner of health except as specified
under section 245A.02;
(8) board and lodge facilities licensed by the commissioner of health that provide services
for five or more persons whose primary diagnosis is mental illness that do not provide intensive
residential treatment;
(9) homes providing programs for persons placed there by a licensed agency for legal
adoption, unless the adoption is not completed within two years;
(10) programs licensed by the commissioner of corrections;
(11) recreation programs for children or adults that are operated or approved by a park and
recreation board whose primary purpose is to provide social and recreational activities;
(12) programs operated by a school as defined in section 120A.22, subdivision 4, whose
primary purpose is to provide child care to school-age children;
(13) Head Start nonresidential programs which operate for less than 45 days in each calendar
year;
(14) noncertified boarding care homes unless they provide services for five or more persons
whose primary diagnosis is mental illness or a developmental disability;
(15) programs for children such as scouting, boys clubs, girls clubs, and sports and art
programs, and nonresidential programs for children provided for a cumulative total of less than 30
days in any 12-month period;
(16) residential programs for persons with mental illness, that are located in hospitals;
(17) the religious instruction of school-age children; Sabbath or Sunday schools; or the
congregate care of children by a church, congregation, or religious society during the period used
by the church, congregation, or religious society for its regular worship;
(18) camps licensed by the commissioner of health under Minnesota Rules, chapter 4630;
(19) mental health outpatient services for adults with mental illness or children with
emotional disturbance;
(20) residential programs serving school-age children whose sole purpose is cultural or
educational exchange, until the commissioner adopts appropriate rules;
(21) unrelated individuals who provide out-of-home respite care services to persons with
developmental disabilities from a single related family for no more than 90 days in a 12-month
period and the respite care services are for the temporary relief of the person's family or legal
representative;
(22) respite care services provided as a home and community-based service to a person with
a developmental disability, in the person's primary residence;
(23) community support services programs as defined in section 245.462, subdivision 6, and
family community support services as defined in section 245.4871, subdivision 17;
(24) the placement of a child by a birth parent or legal guardian in a preadoptive home for
purposes of adoption as authorized by section 259.47;
(25) settings registered under chapter 144D which provide home care services licensed by
the commissioner of health to fewer than seven adults; or
(26) consumer-directed community support service funded under the Medicaid waiver for
persons with developmental disabilities when the individual who provided the service is:
(i) the same individual who is the direct payee of these specific waiver funds or paid by a
fiscal agent, fiscal intermediary, or employer of record; and
(ii) not otherwise under the control of a residential or nonresidential program that is required
to be licensed under this chapter when providing the service.
(b) For purposes of paragraph (a), clause (6), a building is directly contiguous to a building
in which a nonresidential program is located if it shares a common wall with the building in
which the nonresidential program is located or is attached to that building by skyway, tunnel,
atrium, or common roof.
(c) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require licensure for any services provided
and funded according to an approved federal waiver plan where licensure is specifically identified
as not being a condition for the services and funding.
    Subd. 2a. Foster care by an individual who is related to a child; license required.
Notwithstanding subdivision 2, clause (1), in order to provide foster care for a child, an individual
who is related to the child, other than a parent, or legal guardian, must be licensed by the
commissioner except as provided by section 245A.035.
    Subd. 2b. Exception. The provision in subdivision 2, clause (2), does not apply to:
(1) a child care provider who as an applicant for licensure or as a license holder has received
a license denial under section 245A.05, a conditional license under section 245A.06, or a sanction
under section 245A.07 from the commissioner that has not been reversed on appeal; or
(2) a child care provider, or a child care provider who has a household member who, as a
result of a licensing process, has a disqualification under this chapter that has not been set aside
by the commissioner.
    Subd. 3. Unlicensed programs. (a) It is a misdemeanor for an individual, corporation,
partnership, voluntary association, other organization, or a controlling individual to provide a
residential or nonresidential program without a license and in willful disregard of this chapter
unless the program is excluded from licensure under subdivision 2.
(b) The commissioner may ask the appropriate county attorney or the attorney general to
begin proceedings to secure a court order against the continued operation of the program, if an
individual, corporation, partnership, voluntary association, other organization, or controlling
individual has:
(1) failed to apply for a license after receiving notice that a license is required or continues to
operate without a license after receiving notice that a license is required;
(2) continued to operate without a license after the license has been revoked or suspended
under section 245A.07, and the commissioner has issued a final order affirming the revocation or
suspension, or the license holder did not timely appeal the sanction; or
(3) continued to operate without a license after the license has been temporarily suspended
under section 245A.07.
The county attorney and the attorney general have a duty to cooperate with the commissioner.
    Subd. 4. Excluded child care programs; right to seek licensure. Nothing in this section
shall prohibit a child care program that is excluded from licensure under subdivision 2, clause (2),
or under Laws 1997, chapter 248, section 46, as amended by Laws 1997, First Special Session
chapter 5, section 10, from seeking a license under this chapter. The commissioner shall ensure
that any application received from such an excluded provider is processed in the same manner as
all other applications for licensed family day care.
    Subd. 5. Excluded housing with services programs; right to seek licensure. Nothing in
this section shall prohibit a housing with services program that is excluded from licensure under
subdivision 2, clause (25), from seeking a license under this chapter. The commissioner shall
ensure that any application received from such an excluded provider is processed in the same
manner as all other applications for licensed adult foster care.
    Subd. 6. Right to seek certification. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a residential
program licensed by the commissioner of corrections to serve children, that is excluded from
licensure under subdivision 2, clause (10), from seeking certification from the commissioner
of human services under this chapter for program services for which certification standards
have been adopted.
History: 1987 c 333 s 3; 1988 c 411 s 2; 1989 c 282 art 2 s 66-68; 1990 c 568 art 2 s 41;
1991 c 265 art 9 s 63; 1992 c 499 art 3 s 12; 1992 c 513 art 9 s 9; 1993 c 338 s 3,4; 1993
c 339 s 5; 1994 c 483 s 1; 1994 c 598 s 1,2; 1994 c 631 s 3,4,31; 1995 c 158 s 3; 1995 c 207
art 2 s 5; 1Sp1995 c 3 art 16 s 13; 1997 c 113 s 16; 1997 c 248 s 9; 1998 c 397 art 11 s 3;
1998 c 406 art 1 s 4,37; 1998 c 407 art 6 s 3,4; art 9 s 4; 2000 c 327 s 1,2,6; 1Sp2001 c 9 art
14 s 7-9; 2002 c 375 art 1 s 7; 2002 c 379 art 1 s 113; 2003 c 130 s 12; 2004 c 288 art 1 s
8,9; 2005 c 56 s 1; 1Sp2005 c 4 art 1 s 5,6