2005 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 allocation 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 116L.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; 
 definitions.  (a) For purposes of this section, the following 
 terms have the meanings given. 

    (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 (6), items (i) through (iv), and 
 earnings related to calendar year 2002 in the base program 
 listed in clause (6), item (v), and the amount of spending in 
 fiscal year 2002 in the base program listed in clause (6), item 
 (vi), issued to or on behalf of persons residing in the county 
 or tribal service delivery area. 

    (2) "Adjusted caseload factor" means a factor weighted: 

    (i) 47 percent on the MFIP cases in each county at four 
 points in time in the most recent 12-month period for which data 
 is available multiplied by the county's caseload difficulty 
 factor; and 

    (ii) 53 percent on the count of adults on MFIP in each 
 county and tribe at four points in time in the most recent 
 12-month period for which data is available multiplied by the 
 county or tribe's caseload difficulty factor. 

    (3) "Caseload difficulty factor" means a factor determined 
 by the commissioner for each county and tribe based upon the 
 self-support index described in section 256J.751, subdivision 2, 
 clause (7). 

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

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

    (6) "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) The commissioner shall: 

    (1) beginning July 1, 2003, determine the initial 
 allocation of funds available under this section according to 
 clause (2); 

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

    (3) determine for calendar year 2005 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; 

    (4) determine for calendar year 2006 the initial allocation 
 of funds to be made available under this section based 90 
 percent on the proportion of the county or tribe's share of the 
 statewide 2002 historic spending base and ten percent on the 
 proportion of the county or tribe's share of the adjusted 
 caseload factor; 

    (5) determine for calendar year 2007 the initial allocation 
 of funds to be made available under this section based 70 
 percent on the proportion of the county or tribe's share of the 
 statewide 2002 historic spending base and 30 percent on the 
 proportion of the county or tribe's share of the adjusted 
 caseload factor; and 

    (6) determine for calendar year 2008 and subsequent years 
 the initial allocation of funds to be made available under this 
 section based 50 percent on the proportion of the county or 
 tribe's share of the statewide 2002 historic spending base and 
 50 percent on the proportion of the county or tribe's share of 
 the adjusted caseload factor. 

    (c) With the commencement of a new or expanded tribal TANF 
 program or an agreement under section 256.01, subdivision 2, 
 paragraph (g), in which some or all of the responsibilities of 
 particular counties under this section are transferred to a 
 tribe, the commissioner shall: 

    (1) in the case where all responsibilities under this 
 section are transferred to a tribal program, determine the 
 percentage of the county's current caseload that is transferring 
 to a tribal program and adjust the affected county's allocation 
 accordingly; and 

    (2) in the case where a portion of the responsibilities 
 under this section are transferred to a tribal program, the 
 commissioner shall consult with the affected county or counties 
 to determine an appropriate adjustment to the allocation. 

    (d) 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) Beginning 
 calendar year 2005, each county and tribe will be allocated 95 
 percent of their initial calendar year allocation.  Counties and 
 tribes will be allocated additional funds based on performance 
 as follows: 

    (1) for calendar year 2005, a county or tribe that achieves 
 a 30 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) for calendar year 2006, a county or tribe that achieves 
 a 40 percent rate or a five percentage point improvement over 
 the previous year's 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 

    (3) for calendar year 2007, a county or tribe that achieves 
 a 50 percent rate or a five percentage point improvement over 
 the previous year's 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 

    (4) for calendar year 2008 and yearly thereafter, a county 
 or tribe that achieves a 50 percent 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 

    (5) for calendar years 2005 and thereafter, a county or 
 tribe that performs above the top of its annualized range of 
 expected performance on the three-year self-support index under 
 section 256J.751, subdivision 2, clause (7), will receive an 
 additional allocation equal to five percent of its initial 
 allocation; or 

    (6) for calendar years 2005 and thereafter, a county or 
 tribe that performs within its range of expected performance on 
 the annualized three-year self-support index under section 
 256J.751, subdivision 2, clause (7), will receive an additional 
 allocation equal to 2.5 percent of its initial allocation. 

    (b) Performance-based funds for a federally approved tribal 
 TANF program in which the state and tribe have in place a 
 contract under section 256.01, addressing consolidated funding, 
 will be allocated as follows: 

    (1) for calendar year 2006 and yearly thereafter, a tribe 
 that achieves the participation rate approved in its federal 
 TANF plan using the average of 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) for calendar years 2006 and thereafter, a tribe that 
 performs above the top of its annualized range of expected 
 performance on the three-year self-support index under section 
 256J.751, subdivision 2, clause (7), will receive an additional 
 allocation equal to five percent of its initial allocation; or 

    (3) for calendar years 2006 and thereafter, a tribe that 
 performs within its range of expected performance on the 
 annualized three-year self-support index under section 256J.751, 
 subdivision 2, clause (7), will receive an additional allocation 
 equal to 2.5 percent of its initial allocation. 

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

    (d)(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 as 
 follows: 

    (1) to the extent that particular county or tribal 
 allocations are reduced from the previous year's amount due to 
 the phase-in under subdivision 6, paragraph (b), clauses (4) to 
 (6), those tribes or counties would have first priority for 
 reallocated funds; and 

    (2) to the extent that unexpended funds are insufficient to 
 cover demonstrated need, funds will be prorated to those 
 counties and tribes in relation to demonstrated need. 

    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; 2004 c 206 s 52; 2004 c 288 
 art 4 s 51-53; 2005 c 159 art 5 s 7-9