Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

Office of the Revisor of Statutes

256F.10 CHILD WELFARE TARGETED CASE MANAGEMENT.
    Subdivision 1. Eligibility. Persons under 21 years of age who are eligible to receive medical
assistance are eligible for child welfare targeted case management services under section
256B.094 and this section if they have received an assessment and have been determined by the
local county or tribal social services agency to be:
(1) at risk of placement or in placement as described in section 260C.212, subdivision 1;
(2) at risk of maltreatment or experiencing maltreatment as defined in section 626.556,
subdivision 10e
; or
(3) in need of protection or services as defined in section 260C.007, subdivision 6.
    Subd. 2. Availability of services. Child welfare targeted case management services are
available from providers meeting qualification requirements and the certification standards
specified in subdivision 4. Eligible recipients may choose any certified provider of child welfare
targeted case management services.
    Subd. 3. Voluntary provider participation. Providers may seek certification for medical
assistance reimbursement to provide child welfare targeted case management services. The
certification process is initiated by submitting a written statement of interest to the commissioner.
Certified providers may elect to discontinue participation by a written notice to the
commissioner at least 120 days before the end of the final calendar quarter of participation.
    Subd. 4. Provider qualifications and certification standards. The commissioner must
certify each provider before enrolling it as a child welfare targeted case management provider
of services under section 256B.094 and this section. The certification process shall examine
the provider's ability to meet the qualification requirements and certification standards in this
subdivision and other federal and state requirements of this service. A certified child welfare
targeted case management provider is an enrolled medical assistance provider who is determined
by the commissioner to have all of the following:
(1) the legal authority to provide public welfare under sections 393.01, subdivision 7, and
393.07 or a federally recognized Indian tribe;
(2) the demonstrated capacity and experience to provide the components of case management
to coordinate and link community resources needed by the eligible population;
(3) administrative capacity and experience in serving the target population for whom it will
provide services and in ensuring quality of services under state and federal requirements;
(4) the legal authority to provide complete investigative and protective services under
section 626.556, subdivision 10, and child welfare and foster care services under section 393.07,
subdivisions 1 and 2
, or a federally recognized Indian tribe;
(5) a financial management system that provides accurate documentation of services and
costs under state and federal requirements; and
(6) the capacity to document and maintain individual case records under state and federal
requirements.
    Subd. 5. Case managers. Case managers are individuals employed by and authorized by the
certified child welfare targeted case management provider to provide case management services
under section 256B.094 and this section. A case manager must have:
(1) skills in identifying and assessing a wide range of children's needs;
(2) knowledge of local child welfare and a variety of community resources and effective use
of those resources for the benefit of the child; and
(3) a bachelor's degree in social work, psychology, sociology, or a closely related field from
an accredited four-year college or university; or a bachelor's degree from an accredited four-year
college or university in a field other than social work, psychology, sociology or a closely related
field, plus one year of experience in the delivery of social services to children as a supervised
social worker in a public or private social services agency; or
(4) been authorized to serve as a tribal child welfare case manager certified by a federally
recognized tribal government within the state of Minnesota, pursuant to section 256B.02,
subdivision 7
, paragraph (c), and determined as meeting applicable standards.
    Subd. 6. Distribution of new federal revenue. (a) Except for portion set aside in paragraph
(b), the federal funds earned under this section and section 256B.094 by providers shall be paid
to each provider based on its earnings, and must be used by each provider to expand preventive
child welfare services.
If a county or tribal social services agency chooses to be a provider of child welfare targeted
case management and if that county or tribal social services agency also joins a local children's
mental health collaborative as authorized by the 1993 legislature, then the federal reimbursement
received by the county or tribal social services agency for providing child welfare targeted
case management services to children served by the local collaborative shall be transferred by
the county or tribal social services agency to the integrated fund. The federal reimbursement
transferred to the integrated fund by the county or tribal social services agency must not be used
for residential care other than respite care described under subdivision 7, paragraph (d).
(b) The commissioner shall set aside a portion of the federal funds earned under this section
to repay the special revenue maximization account under section 256.01, subdivision 2, clause
(15). The repayment is limited to:
(1) the costs of developing and implementing this section and section 256B.094;
(2) programming the information systems; and
(3) the lost federal revenue for the central office claim directly caused by the implementation
of these sections.
Any unexpended funds from the set aside under this paragraph shall be distributed to
providers according to paragraph (a).
    Subd. 7. Expansion of services and base level of expenditures. (a) Counties and tribal
social services must continue the base level of expenditures for preventive child welfare services
from either or both of any state, county, or federal funding source, which, in the absence of federal
funds earned under this section, would have been available for these services. The commissioner
shall review the county or tribal social services expenditures annually using reports required
under sections 245.482 and 256.01, subdivision 2, paragraph (17), to ensure that the base level
of expenditures for preventive child welfare services is continued from sources other than the
federal funds earned under this section.
(b) The commissioner may reduce, suspend, or eliminate either or both of a county's or
tribal social services' obligations to continue the base level of expenditures and to expand child
welfare preventive services if the commissioner determines that one or more of the following
conditions apply to that county or reservation:
(1) imposition of levy limits that significantly reduce available social service funds;
(2) reduction in the net tax capacity of the taxable property within a county or reservation
that significantly reduces available social service funds;
(3) reduction in the number of children under age 19 in the county or reservation by 25
percent when compared with the number in the base year using the most recent data provided by
the State Demographer's Office; or
(4) termination of the federal revenue earned under this section.
(c) The commissioner may suspend for one year either or both of a county's or tribal social
services' obligations to continue the base level of expenditures and to expand child welfare
preventive services if the commissioner determines that in the previous year one or more of the
following conditions applied to that county or reservation:
(1) the total number of children in placement under sections 260C.212 and 393.07,
subdivisions 1 and 2
, has been reduced by 50 percent from the total number in the base year; or
(2) the average number of children in placement under sections 260C.212 and 393.07,
subdivisions 1 and 2
, on the last day of each month is equal to or less than one child per 1,000
children in the county or reservation.
(d) For the purposes of this section, child welfare preventive services are those services
directed toward a specific child or family that further the goals of Minnesota Statutes 2002,
section 256F.01, and include assessments, family preservation services, service coordination,
community-based treatment, crisis nursery services when the parents retain custody and there
is no voluntary placement agreement with a child-placing agency, respite care except when it
is provided under a medical assistance waiver, home-based services, and other related services.
For the purposes of this section, child welfare preventive services shall not include shelter care
placements under the authority of the court or public agency to address an emergency, residential
services except for respite care, child care for the purposes of employment and training, adult
services, services other than child welfare targeted case management when they are provided
under medical assistance, placement services, or activities not directed toward a specific child or
family. Respite care must be planned, routine care to support the continuing residence of the child
with its family or long-term primary caretaker and must not be provided to address an emergency.
(e) For the counties and tribal social services beginning to claim federal reimbursement for
services under this section and section 256B.094, the base year is the calendar year ending at least
two calendar quarters before the first calendar quarter in which the provider begins claiming
reimbursement. For the purposes of this section, the base level of expenditures is the level of
county or tribal social services expenditures in the base year for eligible child welfare preventive
services described in this subdivision.
    Subd. 8. Provider responsibilities. (a) Notwithstanding section 256B.19, subdivision 1, for
the purposes of child welfare targeted case management under section 256B.094 and this section,
the nonfederal share of costs shall be provided by the provider of child welfare targeted case
management from sources other than federal funds or funds used to match other federal funds,
except when allowed by federal law or agreement.
(b) Provider expenditures eligible for federal reimbursement under this section must not be
made from federal funds or funds used to match other federal funds, except when allowed by
federal law or agreement.
(c) The commissioner may suspend, reduce, or terminate the federal reimbursement to a
provider that does not meet the reporting or other requirements of section 256B.094 and this
section. The county or reservation is responsible for any federal disallowances. The county or
reservation may share this responsibility with its contracted vendors.
    Subd. 9. Payments. Payments to certified providers for child welfare targeted case
management expenditures under section 256B.094 and this section shall only be made of federal
earnings from services provided under section 256B.094 and this section. Payments to contracted
vendors shall include both the federal earnings and the nonfederal share.
    Subd. 10. Centralized disbursement of medical assistance payments. Notwithstanding
section 256B.041, provider payments for the cost of child welfare targeted case management
services shall not be made to the commissioner of finance. For the purposes of child welfare
targeted case management services under section 256B.094 and this section, the centralized
disbursement of payments to providers under section 256B.041 consists only of federal earnings
from services provided under section 256B.094 and this section.
History: 1Sp1993 c 1 art 3 s 26; 1999 c 139 art 4 s 2; 1999 c 159 s 73; 1999 c 245 art 8 s
12-18; 2001 c 178 art 1 s 44; 2002 c 277 s 26; 2003 c 112 art 2 s 50; 1Sp2003 c 14 art 1 s 106;
art 11 s 11; 2004 c 288 art 3 s 27

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes