2003 Minnesota Statutes

     256J.626 MFIP consolidated fund. 

    Subdivision 1.    Consolidated fund.  The consolidated 
 fund is established to support counties and tribes in meeting 
 their duties under this chapter.  Counties and tribes must use 
 funds from the consolidated fund to develop programs and 
 services that are designed to improve participant outcomes as 
 measured in section 256J.751, subdivision 2.  Counties may use 
 the funds for any allowable expenditures under subdivision 2.  
 Tribes may use the funds for any allowable expenditures under 
 subdivision 2, except those in clauses (1) and (6). 

    Subd. 2.    Allowable expenditures.  (a) The 
 commissioner must restrict expenditures under the consolidated 
 fund to benefits and services allowed under title IV-A of the 
 federal Social Security Act.  Allowable expenditures under the 
 consolidated fund may include, but are not limited to: 

    (1) short-term, nonrecurring shelter and utility needs that 
 are excluded from the definition of assistance under Code of 
 Federal Regulations, title 45, section 260.31, for families who 
 meet the residency requirement in section 256J.12, subdivisions 
 1 and 1a.  Payments under this subdivision are not considered 
 TANF cash assistance and are not counted towards the 60-month 
 time limit; 

    (2) transportation needed to obtain or retain employment or 
 to participate in other approved work activities; 

    (3) direct and administrative costs of staff to deliver 
 employment services for MFIP or the diversionary work program, 
 to administer financial assistance, and to provide specialized 
 services intended to assist hard-to-employ participants to 
 transition to work; 

    (4) costs of education and training including functional 
 work literacy and English as a second language; 

    (5) cost of work supports including tools, clothing, boots, 
 and other work-related expenses; 

    (6) county administrative expenses as defined in Code of 
 Federal Regulations, title 45, section 260(b); 

    (7) services to parenting and pregnant teens; 

    (8) supported work; 

    (9) wage subsidies; 

    (10) child care needed for MFIP or diversionary work 
 program participants to participate in social services; 

    (11) child care to ensure that families leaving MFIP or 
 diversionary work program will continue to receive child care 
 assistance from the time the family no longer qualifies for 
 transition year child care until an opening occurs under the 
 basic sliding fee child care program; and 

    (12) services to help noncustodial parents who live in 
 Minnesota and have minor children receiving MFIP or DWP 
 assistance, but do not live in the same household as the child, 
 obtain or retain employment. 

    (b) Administrative costs that are not matched with county 
 funds as provided in subdivision 8 may not exceed 7.5 percent of 
 a county's or 15 percent of a tribe's reimbursement under this 
 section.  The commissioner shall define administrative costs for 
 purposes of this subdivision. 

    Subd. 3.    Eligibility for services.  Families with a 
 minor child, a pregnant woman, or a noncustodial parent of a 
 minor child receiving assistance, with incomes below 200 percent 
 of the federal poverty guideline for a family of the applicable 
 size, are eligible for services funded under the consolidated 
 fund.  Counties and tribes must give priority to families 
 currently receiving MFIP or diversionary work program, and 
 families at risk of receiving MFIP or diversionary work program. 

    Subd. 4.    County and tribal biennial service agreements. 
  (a) Effective January 1, 2004, and each two-year period 
 thereafter, each county and tribe must have in place an approved 
 biennial service agreement related to the services and programs 
 in this chapter.  In counties with a city of the first class 
 with a population over 300,000, the county must consider a 
 service agreement that includes a jointly developed plan for the 
 delivery of employment services with the city.  Counties may 
 collaborate to develop multicounty, multitribal, or regional 
 service agreements. 

    (b) The service agreements will be completed in a form 
 prescribed by the commissioner.  The agreement must include: 

    (1) a statement of the needs of the service population and 
 strengths and resources in the community; 

    (2) numerical goals for participant outcomes measures to be 
 accomplished during the biennial period.  The commissioner may 
 identify outcomes from section 256J.751, subdivision 2, as core 
 outcomes for all counties and tribes; 

    (3) strategies the county or tribe will pursue to achieve 
 the outcome targets.  Strategies must include specification of 
 how funds under this section will be used and may include 
 community partnerships that will be established or strengthened; 
 and 

    (4) other items prescribed by the commissioner in 
 consultation with counties and tribes. 

    (c) The commissioner shall provide each county and tribe 
 with information needed to complete an agreement, including:  
 (1) information on MFIP cases in the county or tribe; (2) 
 comparisons with the rest of the state; (3) baseline performance 
 on outcome measures; and (4) promising program practices. 

    (d) The service agreement must be submitted to the 
 commissioner by October 15, 2003, and October 15 of each second 
 year thereafter.  The county or tribe must allow a period of not 
 less than 30 days prior to the submission of the agreement to 
 solicit comments from the public on the contents of the 
 agreement. 

    (e) The commissioner must, within 60 days of receiving each 
 county or tribal service agreement, inform the county or tribe 
 if the service agreement is approved.  If the service agreement 
 is not approved, the commissioner must inform the county or 
 tribe of any revisions needed prior to approval. 

    (f) The service agreement in this subdivision supersedes 
 the plan requirements of section 268.88. 

    Subd. 5.    Innovation projects.  Beginning January 1, 
 2005, no more than $3,000,000 of the funds annually appropriated 
 to the commissioner for use in the consolidated fund shall be 
 available to the commissioner for projects testing innovative 
 approaches to improving outcomes for MFIP participants, and 
 persons at risk of receiving MFIP as detailed in subdivision 3.  
 Projects shall be targeted to geographic areas with poor 
 outcomes as specified in section 256J.751, subdivision 5, or to 
 subgroups within the MFIP case load who are experiencing poor 
 outcomes. 

    Subd. 6.    Base allocation to counties and tribes.  (a) 
 For purposes of this section, the following terms have the 
 meanings given them: 

    (1) "2002 historic spending base" means the commissioner's 
 determination of the sum of the reimbursement related to fiscal 
 year 2002 of county or tribal agency expenditures for the base 
 programs listed in clause (4), items (i) through (iv), and 
 earnings related to calendar year 2002 in the base program 
 listed in clause (4), item (v), and the amount of spending in 
 fiscal year 2002 in the base program listed in clause (4), item 
 (vi), issued to or on behalf of persons residing in the county 
 or tribal service delivery area. 

    (2) "Initial allocation" means the amount potentially 
 available to each county or tribe based on the formula in 
 paragraphs (b) through (d). 

    (3) "Final allocation" means the amount available to each 
 county or tribe based on the formula in paragraphs (b) through 
 (d), after adjustment by subdivision 7. 

    (4) "Base programs" means the: 

    (i) MFIP employment and training services under Minnesota 
 Statutes 2002, section 256J.62, subdivision 1, in effect June 
 30, 2002; 

    (ii) bilingual employment and training services to refugees 
 under Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 256J.62, subdivision 6, 
 in effect June 30, 2002; 

    (iii) work literacy language programs under Minnesota 
 Statutes 2002, section 256J.62, subdivision 7, in effect June 
 30, 2002; 

    (iv) supported work program authorized in Laws 2001, First 
 Special Session chapter 9, article 17, section 2, in effect June 
 30, 2002; 

    (v) administrative aid program under section 256J.76 in 
 effect December 31, 2002; and 

    (vi) emergency assistance program under Minnesota Statutes 
 2002, section 256J.48, in effect June 30, 2002. 

    (b)(1) Beginning July 1, 2003, the commissioner shall 
 determine the initial allocation of funds available under this 
 section according to clause (2). 

    (2) All of the funds available for the period beginning 
 July 1, 2003, and ending December 31, 2004, shall be allocated 
 to each county or tribe in proportion to the county's or tribe's 
 share of the statewide 2002 historic spending base. 

    (c) For calendar year 2005, the commissioner shall 
 determine the initial allocation of funds to be made available 
 under this section in proportion to the county or tribe's 
 initial allocation for the period of July 1, 2003, to December 
 31, 2004. 

    (d) The formula under this subdivision sunsets December 31, 
 2005. 

    (e) Before November 30, 2003, a county or tribe may ask for 
 a review of the commissioner's determination of the historic 
 base spending when the county or tribe believes the 2002 
 information was inaccurate or incomplete.  By January 1, 2004, 
 the commissioner must adjust that county's or tribe's base when 
 the commissioner has determined that inaccurate or incomplete 
 information was used to develop that base.  The commissioner 
 shall adjust each county's or tribe's initial allocation under 
 paragraph (c) and final allocation under subdivision 7 to 
 reflect the base change. 

    (f) Effective January 1, 2005, counties and tribes will 
 have their final allocations adjusted based on the performance 
 provisions of subdivision 7. 

    Subd. 7.    Performance base funds.  (a) Each county and 
 tribe will be allocated 95 percent of their initial calendar 
 year 2005 allocation.  Counties and tribes will be allocated 
 additional funds based on performance as follows: 

    (1) a county or tribe that achieves a 50 percent rate or 
 higher on the MFIP participation rate under section 256J.751, 
 subdivision 2, clause (8), as averaged across the four quarterly 
 measurements for the most recent year for which the measurements 
 are available, will receive an additional allocation equal to 
 2.5 percent of its initial allocation; and 

    (2) a county or tribe that performs above the top of its 
 range of expected performance on the three-year self-support 
 index under section 256J.751, subdivision 2, clause (7), in both 
 measurements in the preceding year will receive an additional 
 allocation equal to five percent of its initial allocation; or 

    (3) a county or tribe that performs within its range of 
 expected performance on the three-year self-support index under 
 section 256J.751, subdivision 2, clause (7), in both 
 measurements in the preceding year, or above the top of its 
 range of expected performance in one measurement and within its 
 expected range of performance in the other measurement, will 
 receive an additional allocation equal to 2.5 percent of its 
 initial allocation. 

    (b) Funds remaining unallocated after the performance-based 
 allocations in paragraph (a) are available to the commissioner 
 for innovation projects under subdivision 5. 

    (c)(1) If available funds are insufficient to meet county 
 and tribal allocations under paragraph (a), the commissioner may 
 make available for allocation funds that are unobligated and 
 available from the innovation projects through the end of the 
 current biennium. 

    (2) If after the application of clause (1) funds remain 
 insufficient to meet county and tribal allocations under 
 paragraph (a), the commissioner must proportionally reduce the 
 allocation of each county and tribe with respect to their 
 maximum allocation available under paragraph (a). 

    Subd. 8.    Reporting requirement and reimbursement.  (a)
 The commissioner shall specify requirements for reporting 
 according to section 256.01, subdivision 2, clause (17).  Each 
 county or tribe shall be reimbursed for eligible expenditures up 
 to the limit of its allocation and subject to availability of 
 funds. 

    (b) Reimbursements for county administrative-related 
 expenditures determined through the income maintenance random 
 moment time study shall be reimbursed at a rate of 50 percent of 
 eligible expenditures.  

    (c) The commissioner of human services shall review county 
 and tribal agency expenditures of the MFIP consolidated fund as 
 appropriate and may reallocate unencumbered or unexpended money 
 appropriated under this section to those county and tribal 
 agencies that can demonstrate a need for additional money. 

    Subd. 9.    Report.  The commissioner shall, in 
 consultation with counties and tribes: 

    (1) determine how performance-based allocations under 
 subdivision 7, paragraph (a), clauses (2) and (3), will be 
 allocated to groupings of counties and tribes when groupings are 
 used to measure expected performance ranges for the self-support 
 index under section 256J.751, subdivision 2, clause (7); and 

    (2) determine how performance-based allocations under 
 subdivision 7, paragraph (a), clauses (2) and (3), will be 
 allocated to tribes. 

 The commissioner shall report to the legislature on the formulas 
 developed in clauses (1) and (2) by January 1, 2004. 

    HIST: 1Sp2003 c 14 art 1 s 94,106