256K.25 Supportive housing and managed care pilot 
  project. 

    Subdivision 1.    Establishment and purpose.  (a) The 
 commissioner shall establish a supportive housing and managed 
 care pilot project in two counties, one within the seven-county 
 metropolitan area and one outside of that area, to determine 
 whether the integrated delivery of employment services, 
 supportive services, housing, and health care into a single, 
 flexible program will: 

    (1) reduce public expenditures on homeless families with 
 minor children, homeless noncustodial parents, and other 
 homeless individuals; 

    (2) increase the employment rates of these persons; and 

    (3) provide a new alternative to providing services to this 
 hard-to-serve population. 

    (b) The commissioner shall create a program for counties 
 for the purpose of providing integrated intensive and 
 individualized case management services, employment services, 
 health care services, rent subsidies or other short- or 
 medium-term housing assistance, and other supportive services to 
 eligible families and individuals.  Minimum project and 
 application requirements shall be developed by the commissioner 
 in cooperation with counties and their nonprofit partners with 
 the goal to provide the maximum flexibility in program design. 

    (c) Services available under this project must be 
 coordinated with available health care services for an eligible 
 project participant. 

    Subd. 2.    Definition.  For purposes of this section, 
 "homeless" means having no appropriate housing available and 
 lacking the resources necessary to access permanent housing, as 
 determined by the county requesting funding under subdivision 3, 
 and: 

    (1) living, or being at imminent risk of living, on the 
 street or in a shelter; or 

    (2) having been evicted from a dwelling or discharged from 
 a regional treatment center, state-operated community-based 
 program, community hospital, or residential treatment program.  

    Subd. 3.    County eligibility.  A county may request 
 funding under this pilot project if the county: 

    (1) agrees to develop, in cooperation with nonprofit 
 partners, a supportive housing and managed care pilot project 
 that integrates the delivery of employment services, supportive 
 services, housing and health care for eligible families and 
 individuals, or agrees to contract with an existing integrated 
 program; 

    (2) for eligible participants who are also MFIP recipients, 
 agrees to develop, in cooperation with nonprofit partners, 
 procedures to ensure that the services provided under the pilot 
 project are closely coordinated with the services provided under 
 MFIP; and 

    (3) develops a method for evaluating the quality of the 
 integrated services provided and the amount of any resulting 
 cost savings to the county and state. 

    Subd. 4.    Participant eligibility.  (a) In order to be 
 eligible for the pilot project, the county must determine that a 
 participant is homeless or is at risk of homelessness; has a 
 mental illness, a history of substance abuse, or HIV; and is a 
 family that meets the criteria in paragraph (b) or is an 
 individual who meets the criteria in paragraph (c). 

    (b) An eligible family must include a minor child or a 
 pregnant woman, and: 

    (1) be receiving or be eligible for MFIP assistance under 
 chapter 256J; or 

    (2) include an adult caregiver who is employed or is 
 receiving employment and training services, and have household 
 income below the MFIP exit level in section 256J.24, subdivision 
 10.  

    (c) An eligible individual must: 

    (1) meet the eligibility requirements of the group 
 residential housing program under section 256I.04, subdivision 
 1; or 

    (2) be a noncustodial parent who is employed or is 
 receiving employment and training services, and have household 
 income below the MFIP exit level in section 256J.24, subdivision 
 10.  

    Subd. 5.    Funding.  A county may request funding from 
 the commissioner for a specified number of TANF-eligible project 
 participants.  The commissioner shall review the request for 
 compliance with subdivisions 1 to 4 and may approve or 
 disapprove the request.  If other funds are available, the 
 commissioner may allocate funding for project participants who 
 meet the eligibility requirements of subdivision 4, paragraph 
 (c).  

    Subd. 6.    Report.  Participating counties and the 
 commissioner shall collaborate to prepare and issue an annual 
 report, beginning December 1, 2001, to the chairs of the 
 appropriate legislative committees on the pilot project's use of 
 public resources, including other funds leveraged for this 
 initiative, the employment and housing status of the families 
 and individuals served in the project, and the 
 cost-effectiveness of the project.  The annual report must also 
 evaluate the pilot project with respect to the following project 
 goals:  that participants will lead more productive, healthier, 
 more stable and better quality lives; that the teams created 
 under the project to deliver services for each project 
 participant will be accountable for ensuring that services are 
 more appropriate, cost-effective and well-coordinated; and that 
 the system-wide costs of serving this population, and the 
 inappropriate use of emergency, crisis-oriented or institutional 
 services, will be materially reduced.  The commissioner shall 
 provide data that may be needed to evaluate the project to 
 participating counties that request the data. 

    Subd. 7.    Sunset.  The pilot project under this 
 section sunsets on June 30, 2006. 

    HIST: 2000 c 488 art 10 s 25