Questions about the permanent reductions in the licensed capacity of corporate foster care providers referenced in last week’s cover article were at the top of the list of questions we had for Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) officials on Wednesday (posted on the Advocacy page of our website; click on Care Providers of Minnesota Questions to DHS in Regard to 2011-2012 Budget Bill). Here is a summary of the DHS thoughts at this point.

1) DHS estimated that the total reduction in corporate adult foster care capacity for the first year of implementation would be 31 people.

2) DHS communicated to lead agencies and stakeholders the following message late on Friday, July 22.

“Please do not take any action on the provisions in [the legislative] bill until you receive guidance from the Department. It is our intent to provide you with more detailed information on impacts and implementation procedures in the near future.

“Thank you for understanding that we will need some time before we will be able to provide further information on the legislation for lead agencies, providers or consumers. We will work as quickly as possible to prioritize the work ahead, and provide you with further direction.”

3) In addition, the new language states: “In the event that the recipient chooses to transfer from the adult foster home, the vacated bed shall not be filled with another recipient of waiver services and group residential housing, unless provided under section 245A.03, subdivison 7, paragraph (a), clauses (3) and (4), and the licensed capacity shall be reduced accordingly. If the adult foster home becomes no longer viable due to these transfers, the county agency, with the assistance of the department, shall facilitate a consolidation of settings or closure. This reassessment process shall be completed by June 30, 2012.”

There are also provisions in current law, such as those in Minnesota State Statutes 245A.11 Special Conditions for Residential Programs Subd. 2a, that provide DHS some flexibility in managing the capacity of corporate adult foster care entities and potentially offset some of the decreases that seem inevitable given the new statutory language.

DHS will continue to work on assessing the implications of the new legislation and work with Care Providers of Minnesota and other stakeholders on the implementation.

Phil Manz
952.851.2484
pmanz@careproviders.org

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